The document provides advice for writing an effective cover letter. It recommends customizing each cover letter for the specific job opportunity by highlighting the most relevant experiences from one's background. The goal is to extract the applicable experiences and requirements for the position from the job description and address them directly in the cover letter using bullet points and specifics. An example cover letter format is provided that outlines the job requirements and demonstrates how the candidate's qualifications and achievements meet each one.

1. The Lost Art of the
Cover Letter
I wanted to pass along some thoughts about
writing a proper cover letter. Most cover letters
take a one size fits all approach. I’m a big fan of
customizing cover letters and resumes depending
on the opportunity because there are relevant
experiences in your background that are
applicable to one position and not another. The
goal is to pull the relevant experience out and
bring it to the forefront.

2. Jason Lewis
Vice-President
The Alpine Group
I’ve been recruiting for 7 years and have
consistently ranked in the top 10% of 3,000
recruiters. My specialty for the past 6 years has
been with Biotech and Medical Device companies
in the area of Reimbursement, Payer Relations
and Managed Care. I’ve placed numerous people
from Reimbursement Specialists to Vice-
Presidents and CEO’s.

3. A few things to consider
when writing a cover letter:
Most Cover Letters and Resumes are “scanned”
by the hiring manager
Please keep white space and avoid long
paragraphs. Bullet points are shown to be read
more than a paragraph style. The shorter and
more to the point the better.

4. A few things to consider
when writing a cover letter:
The goal of a cover letter is to bring out your most relevant experience
and how it pertains to the position you’re applying for.
This is effectively accomplished by cutting and pasting the
Requirements needed from the Job Description and adding bullet
points below those requirements with your experience and
background on how you meet those requirements.
The more concrete the details on achievements the better.
Add numbers and specifics to your achievements.
What were you most proud of?

5. An Example:
Minimum of five years experience of Medical Device Marketing
experience
I’ve spent 12 years with Medtronic and Ethicon as a Marketing
Manager and promoted to Director of Marketing
Create and execute marketing strategy for the Cardiac Device
Rhythm Management Division
While at St. Jude I had full P&L responsibility, marketing strategy
creation and managed the advertising agency relationship for their
CDRM Division which resulted in a 12% market share gain.

6. Dear [Recipient Name],
Thank you for the opportunity to apply for your [position name] at [Company Name]. I
wanted to make your job easier in determining if I have the background needed for this
position. I’ve outlined your requirements and how my background meets those
requirements:
Insert Bullet Points here
I’m not one who normally brags but I wanted to share with you some of the achievements
I’m most proud of:
Insert achievements in Bullet Point form here
From what I’ve learned about your company I’m very interested to talk with you, this would
be a great step in my career.
Sincerely,
[Your name]