A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume. This free resume cover letter tutorial assumes that you will be sending your resume and resume cover letter by email.

In the age of e-mail your Cover Letter should go in the message of the e-mail and not as an attachment. Hiring managers and recruiters receive too many resumes to open and read each and every cover letter that comes as an attachment to an email. The chances are very good that a Cover Letter sent as an attachment will not be opened and read and it fact the email will simply be deleted.

Keep your resume cover letter brief and to the point. Assume that the person receiving your resume is busy - very busy. They are reviewing other resumes - many. Your cover letter is introducing you to the person who could be hiring you.

So be thoughtful - keep it brief and to the point. You are not writing an essay or a novel. You are trying to communicate with someone who is very busy and you are competing for their attention. You need to help them see that opening your resume many lead them to the person - or persons - that they are looking to find.

The following pages take you step by step through the nine components necessary in a cover letter including a sample cover letter.

Maximizing your e-mail impact

For the most part, as an IT professional, you will be sending your Cover Letter and resume by e-mail. Your e-mail will be one of many in the inbox of a recruiter or employer.

Meeting you for the first time

Your e-mail represents you walking into the office of the recipient. They are meeting you for the first time.

Make it easy to read your e-mail

Remember the goal is to make it as easy as possible for the recipient of your e-mail to decide to open your e-mail, read your e-mail and then open and read your resume.

Your Cover Letter is going into the message or body of the e-mail delivering your IT resume.

Let's take the example of an employer or recruiter who is looking to fill the position of a "SCO UNIX Support Technician".

Be clear and concise

Be clear, concise and specific in the Subject Line and use the Job Title found in the advertisement or job posting plus your name:

Subject line :

SCO UNIX Support Technician job application by J. Itguru

Now let's look at the nine (9) components of a Cover Letter that goes into the Message or Body of the e-mail.

Writing a good Cover Letter requires following some basic steps such as the 9 steps that follow.

The Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume and uses the following nine(9) components:

1.Your name, telephone number and e-mail address at the top of the Cover Letter.

2. Address the letter to someone in particular, if you can, or use To Whom It May Concern.

3. Name the position that you are applying for unless a file reference number is requested, then use the file reference number.

4. Briefly give an overview of your experience as it relates to the position being applied for.

5. In point form list the 3 or 4 most career highlights that relate directly to the job according to the ad that you are responding to.

6. Tell them that you have attached your resume that provides a detailed overview of your skills, experience, education, training and achievements.

7. Thank the person reading your resume.

8. Sign the e-mail with your name, home telephone number and personal e-mail address.

9. Add a PS to the note telling the recepient that you check your voice mail and email on regular daily basis.

Take action and write a resume cover letter to introduce your IT resume. Just follow the steps in this tutorial and write a cover letter that works for you.

Let's review the basics so you can get started:

- use the Job Title found in the job advertisement in the Subject of the email;

- the Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume;

- there are nine (9) components that make up the Cover Letter.

Resume Cover Letter Action Steps

Now print off a copy of the Cover Letter and write your own using Notepad or some other text editor.

When you are finished you can easily cut & paste into any email that you then send.

Richard E. Ward, the IT Job Coach, has many years experience as an IT Headhunter and provides IT professionals personal coaching through ITJobCoach.com. Review our online tutorials at IT Job Coach Online Tutorials