When you're on the job hunt, taking the time to put together an attractive cover letter and resume can open up the right doors of opportunity. The cover letter is your introduction to the potential employer; many employers review these alone, well before glancing over the resume itself. The cover letter needs to include the reasons why you are applying for the position, and provide a brief summary of your strengths. Your potential boss is looking for the key skills you could bring as an employee, and making sure you understand the job description as thoroughly as possible can help with this step.

The Cover Letter

The key components of the cover letter should include:

• Letter basics including the date, employer's name, and salutation
• A short 2-3 sentence first paragraph covering why you are applying for the position, and how you heard about it
• 2-3 points on why you're qualified for this position
• 2-4 sentence final paragraph requesting information on what should happen next, and when you will follow up to confirm receipt of your letter and resume

You'll always want to keep the cover letter as professional as possible; many employers simply use an introductory e-mail as a cover letter, and you'll want to maintain a neutral tone and professional ‘voice' in all of your correspondence. Avoid overusing ‘I' at the beginning of each sentence; this will require some creativity, but you do need this short and concise letter to have high impact! Make sure you run a spelling and grammar check, and use quality paper to print this on if you are mailing it.

The Resume

Your resume is a complete presentation of your skills, work experience, contact information, and sometimes references. The first step in composing your resume is really defining your objective statement. You don't have to use this in every application, but it's important that you can narrow down exactly what you are looking for in your future position.

The resume will need to be visually appealing, but also provide only the necessary information that will help you obtain the position. Avoid going through each and every position you've held in excessive detail; most employers are looking for brevity, but you want to deliver an impactful presentation as well.

It's best to avoid using a generic resume for every position you apply for; you should be able to customize it so that you can focus on only the relevant areas. The best strategy is to match the needs of your future employer; you'll want to tailor your message to make you a perfect fit!

The key components of the resume should include:

• Highlights of your strengths and skills with bullet points
• Buzzwords that define key areas of each position
• Plenty of action works when describing the nature of your work; avoid using the passive voice as much as possible
• Clear but short descriptions of projects and work you were involved with
• Your current contact information
• Links to any portfolios, or a statement that allows for ‘samples upon request'

Always be sure to follow up with a thank you note or message with professionalism, and be sure to include your contact information. Your cover letter and resume are valuable marketing tools on your job search; use them for high impact, and look forward to starting your new career!