Author Max Messmer has some excellent tips for writing a terrific cover letter, most importantly, get to the point!

Courtesy of Max Messmer in Post-Gazette.com’s Business News:

Your cover letter is an ideal opportunity to showcase your strong writing skills for prospective employers. You don’t need to craft Pulitzer Prize-winning prose to accomplish this; the key is to be focused and succinct. The following long-winded candidate took a few sentences too many to get to his point:

“On a recent elk hunt in the mountains, an unexpected intruder crossed my path. In a dense thicket no more than three feet away appeared a monstrous, nostril-steaming 1,500-pound bull moose in full rut! Fortunately for the moose, I did not have a moose tag. Fortunately for me, the moose decided I just might have a moose tag and took off for the hills. My passion for hunting elk reflects the focus of my business career.”

Your aim is way off target with this cover letter.

Read the rest of the article here.