When applying for a position, a cover letter should almost always be added in addition to sending out a resume. The cover letter serves a few purposes. First, it helps you focus the attention of hiring managers so they can see exactly how you fit into a certain position and work environment. Second, it might be the only way they are able to judge your communication skills. Your writing skills are on display, and the way you logically tie ideas together is also on show.

Click here to read "The 10 Steps to Building a Resume that Gets Interviews: A Solid Resume Template"

In essence, a cover letter is the same as a sales letter and you are the product or service someone is buying to help fit the needs of a company.

In this article, you will learn how to compose a cover letter that will land you job interviews.

STEP 1: Don’t apply to every job.

Instead of playing a numbers game and copy/pasting emails with generic cover letters, narrow your focus. Yes, this will take time, but honing in on the four or five positions you REALLY want will help you focus your resume and craft careful emails to hiring managers.

 A study from the University of Sydney’s workplace research centre says “The average working week in Australia among full time employees is 44 hours. And one in five Australians work more than 50 hours a week,”

Having suitable experience to get your first job can be tricky. It’s your first job so what experience can you list on your resume?! And references? What are they? It turns out work experience isn’t the only thing employers are looking for, especially for entry-level jobs. After all those doing the hiring were once out there trying to get their first job too. If you can show you are responsible or considerate of others - your skills are in high demand! Even better, using this strategy your experience and skills will be laid out in an easy to follow format for the person reading your resume and doing the hiring. Make sure you have your contact details on your resume on every page – in the header or footer is fine.

Congratulations, you've got a job interview! That is, you found the job, you wrote the cover letter, you addressed the criteria, you made sure your resume was best practice, in a word doc and in a generic layout and font, you have the right experience in a similar business and you managed to get lucky enough to get an interview invite.