Your cover letter could be a very powerful tool when you're on the hunt for a job, but only if you use it to its maximum efficiency. A lot of people don't know how to get the best out of their cover letters, so you could have a serious edge if you do!

A cover letter can give you the awesome power to determine exactly what sort of first impression a potential employer gets of you. Think about it! YOU control exactly what he or she thinks of you! Not everybody knows how to use a cover letter this well, so if you can get it working for you you'll be ahead of the vast majority of your competition.

First, you need to make absolutely sure that you know all you can about the business you're going to apply to. Who's the boss, what does the company do, and what do they expect of their employees? What skills do you have that would benefit the company? Step one of the process is gathering as much information as possible.

Next is to write the letter itself...and there are a lot of guidelines. A cover letter should never go over a page, which is commonly about 2-4 paragraphs. It should only cover very specifically relevant information, no extra biographical information or rehashing of the resume. Fix any spelling or grammar errors you can catch (have a friend help you as well, it really helps to find those ones you may miss on your own).

Above all, make sure that your cover letter is specifically tailored to be completely uniquely relevant to the specific business that is going to receive it. Too many people make the serious mistake of printing off a bunch of identical copies of the same generic cover letter and sending them to a bunch of different companies. All this will get you is a lot of rejections, so make sure your cover letters are custom-made to really impress upon specific companies.

Those are all tips for making your cover letter itself the most relevant and powerful for a given company...but it can still be a complete loss if it never gets to anybody important. As part of your preliminary research, find out who at the business has the power to simply hire you and make sure your cover letter and resume gets in front of him or her. Don't let the endless basins of papers at Human Resources devour your resume, instead send it directly to the office of whoever can hire you on the spot...THAT is the person you need to impress.

Be proactive...don't wait around for people to get back to you or call you to set up an interview. Make the calls yourself, and be readily on-hand to answer any questions they may have or to supply any additional required information. Take the initiative and you'll get respect for it. Businesspeople like to have employees who have what it takes to get things done, so be one of those people and you'll have a lot going for you!

If you can get your cover letter operating at maximum power, you'll have an excellent shot at getting almost any job you apply for. So few people understand just how powerful that simple sheet of paper can be, that coming across competition who know what you know is pretty rare, so most of the fights you'll be in will be no challenge at all! All you have to do is get out there and go for it!

Looking for an idea of where to start? Get into the right frame of mind with free cover letter examples. Free tips and resources at http://www.squidoo.com/coverletterexamples