The First Contact

One of the most common way of applying for job is by responding to an advertisement by submitting the application letter and resume. This is normally the first point of formal contact you have with your prospective employer. It is thus important that you create a favourable impression of yourself. Like a double-edged sword, it can either work to your advantage or disadvantage. So great care must be taken in preparation of these 2 documents.

DOs

• Make sure they are free of spelling error and grammatically correct. Do run through your documents using the spell and grammar checker.
  
• Be concise and straight-to-the-point
• Use simple sentence structure and easy-to-understand words.
• As rule-of-thumb, the application or cover letter should just be 1 page and the resume no longer than 3 pages.
• Use quality, plain white, A-4 letter paper, type-written and printed on quality printer.
• Use standard font type and size (e.g. Font type Arial or Times Roman with font size no smaller than 10 points)

What you do not want to do is to give your prospective employer the impression that you are careless, long-winded and incomprehensible. Also a neatly presented document that is easy to read and understand is to your advantage.

DON'Ts

• Use coloured paper, unless you are applying for a job in the creative industry.
• If you can help it, do not fold your application letter and resume.
  

First impression does matter! The effort you put in to come up with good cover letter and resume reflects a lot about you. If you have the benefit getting help from a head hunter or job search company, they would advise you on how to improve on presentation. But not everyone has this privilege. Still you should be able to find samples of good cover letter and resumes in the library or just by searching the internet.