It’s that first impression that can make or break a final job offer. Writing a powerful cover letter is an art especially in this rapidly changing job market. Your cover letter needs to open the door for you to get that all important interview. It introduces you and directly ties in your qualifications to what the potential employer is looking for – in other words – the awesome value you bring.

But slow down. Don’t start writing yet. These three steps come first – then the writing is easy. First, identify your key selling points and then condense each into a strong summary sentence. Second, do market research on your targeted potential employer – what are their needs and problems. Third, think about how you can be their solution to these issues – this is the value you bring to them.

Now you can do a draft cover letter. Keep it simple by remembering that your cover letter just needs to do these five things:

• Introduce Yourself
• Capture the Reader’s Interest in You
• Highlight & Link Your Qualifications to the Needs of the Reader
• Identify the Clear Value You Will Bring Upon Hire
• Motivate the Reader to Call You!