By now, your heads probably exploding with resumes and keywords, so let’s take a break from resumes and move onto crafting a fabulous cover letter. Your cover letter format is really important because some hiring managers don’t even look at a resume and only look at the cover letter. That’s because the cover letter should really give them a great introduction and background to who you are.

It should capture the most important items from your resume. So don’t set your cover letter aside like it’s not important. Let’s get started!

Submitting a cover letter soon? Here’s a simple checklist to ensure your cover letter format has all the items that recruiters are looking for before you hit that submit button.

Cover Letter Format 10-Step Checklist

General:

1. No misspellings or grammatical errors.

2. Personalized with correct company name and job title. Letter is conversational and genuine.

3. Letterhead matches resume.

First paragraph:

4. Shares how you found out about the job opening.

5. Has a strong opener communicating your job target and key strengths within the first few lines.

6. Is the content engaging and relevant to hiring managers’ needs? Content is unique and not copied verbatim from resume.

[RELATED: The 10 Best Resume Templates You’ll Want to Download Now]

Body:

7. Explains what work experience do I have that fits the job requirements in the company’s listing?