[MUSIC] A cover letter is much more than just an introduction to a resume. Actually, the name cover letter, does little justice to this highly strategic piece of marketing. It really should be called an interview generating letter, because like the resume, its purpose is to impress an employer so he or she will call you in for an interview. A powerhouse cover letter is a piece of masterful advertising, so construct it as a piece of masterful advertising. Use the basic principal of AIDA. It's been shown to work time and time again across a wide variety of media. Whether in classified ads, display ads, electronic media, or websites, the AIDA thought process applies. If you know AIDA, the principle is worth reviewing, because it must be used in your cover letters. If, by some chance, you don't know it, here it is. Attention, interest, desire, and action. The employer is the customer, and you or your services are the product. So your resume and cover letter are your advertisement. They must follow the laws of advertising to achieve maximum results. There are hiring managers who admit to not reading a cover letter, but most employers say they read the cover letter first. So the cover letter must incorporate the AIDA principles to get the employer to read your resume. And then the resume must use the principles you've learned in the previous modules to convince the employer to call you. In one statement, this is how AIDA applies to your cover letter and resume. To get the attention of the employer to read the resume with enough interest to create the desire to make them take the action to contact you to schedule an interview. The first action desired of the cover letter is getting the employer to read it, and to continue on and read your resume. The second action desired of the cover letter is for the employer to call or contact you. Now, some cover letters have enticed the reader to call the candidate without even reading the resume. A winning cover letter is an extremely focused marketing piece, and it completely supports the specific job objective of the resume. It is sent to one specific person, typically regarding one specific job. This means you will likely need a different cover letter for each job or organization you apply to. And like the resume, it has a secret underlying structure that induces a prospective employer to take action. That structure is to grab attention, arouse interest, stimulate desire, and motivate action. This leads to three steps in writing a cover letter. In the first step, you grab attention. And here´s the good news, for the cost of some paper and a stamp, or virtually nothing via the Internet, you should already have your prospect's undivided attention. They are usually sitting down with your advertisement in front of them, your resume and cover letter, with the sole purpose of reading it. Even if only for a few seconds, you have their attention. This is your first big chance. Now, the cover letter must generate enough interest for the reader to read it all, and enough desire to take the first action. What action? The action of reading your resume. The cover letter can also serve a dual action purpose and assist in generating the action to call you. Following the basics of layout and grammar is a must to maintain interest and creating good copy will encourage your reader to continue. If you’ve been following along in this specialization, you know you should find out all you can about the employer and the position. Read and reread their employment advertisements, read the ads for other positions within the same organization, look for similarities in wording. Then using the key skill words the employer has used in the ad, using the power vocabulary that you've learned and conveying your limited availability, you create the desire to find out more about you. You'll learn more about conveying limited availability in the third lesson. The action you want from a cover letter and resume is a call to schedule an interview. This involves more than placing your phone number on the letter and resume. This involves a specific strategy that you'll also learn more about in the third lesson of this module. Recruiting experts say that only about 15% of cover letters follow the principles of AIDA. In the next lesson, you'll learn how to make sure that your cover letters do. [MUSIC]