It’s not enough for some potential employers to simply get a cover letter and resume in response to a job advertisement anymore. They may want a biography, a more detailed look into who you are personally and what your life experiences have been. It is a mini life story, and a good one will take a little work on your part. Do not make the mistake of enclosing a biography with just a standard resume and cover letter, for a job that does not specifically ask for it. Do some research on your job field specifically, and learn the protocol for when and where to submit a biography, if at all. A person applying as a construction worker probably won’t require one; whereas a CFO might.

Start by reading over biographies on the Internet or from the library. Look particularly for those that are short and attached to curriculum vitae or resumes, especially those of people who hold positions you might be interested in pursuing. Keep an eye out for ones that appeal to you personally, and set them aside as a rough guideline for how to conduct the writing of your own biography.

Next, take your resume as a launching pad, providing you with a clear chronology of events. Flesh out these events with any remarkable happenings in between or around your work and educational backgrounds, like accomplishments, professional development, or volunteer work, or personal details that were meaningful to you at the time. This is a brainstorming session, so throw on anything you find interesting or important to you, and edit it at a later point.

Now, pinpoint happenings in your life (education, background and career) that might be relevant to the position for which you are applying, and expound on those events. Be detailed as to what they meant to you, and, if needed,  who the key players were in your experiences.

The hard part comes now, with editing. You’re going to want to cull down your brainstorming session into three or four relatively short paragraphs that are succinct, and relevant to the job you’re going for. You’ll want a strong introductory sentence, followed by a chronological personal history. If it helps, make an outline with headings and subheadings, and write a sentence or two for each of them. Sell yourself, not being too modest, and not being too show-off. You should be proud of your accomplishments, but not appear as though you have nothing new to learn.

When you’re finished, read it out loud to yourself and listen to your tone. Fix any awkward phrases or poor flow, and then have at least two other people whose writing and reading abilities you respect read over the content. Ask them to examine readability, relevance to the topic (the job you want), and look for grammatical and punctuation errors. Ask them for tough editing. Ask them too, if there is anything missing or they would like to know more about, pretending to be a potential employer.

Your cover letter is your first impression with a company, even before an interview occurs. There is some debate among job seekers now about the importance of cover letters, now that email and online applications have replaced postal mail. However you apply for a job, though, a cover letter is still very important, and making yours stand out from your competition is equally important. So how can you make your cover letter unique, without looking desperate for attention? Here are a few guidelines to writing an effective cover letter that presents your personality in a way that sets you apart from the competition.

Don’t use a template : The most effective way to write a unique cover letter is to avoid templates or form letters. Not only will the reader be aware that you’ve put some thought into your introduction this way, but it will also open you up to different formats that will allow you to express your thoughts in the most concise manner. Maybe you want a bulleted list of keywords at the top, or you have particular experience in an aspect of the job, and want more time to explain – don’t pigeonhole yourself into skipping it because it doesn’t fit a pre-made template.

Make the cover letter appropriate for a quick scan : Sure, you want to tell a potential employer all about why you’re the best, but chances are the HR staff doesn’t have time to read 50 individual cover letters. Make your letter easy to digest with a quick 5 second eye scan. Include your skill set in an easy to read bulleted list at the top, or format your letter with the main points in bold text. People start skimming when they hit a block of text, so tell their eyes where to go. Make sure they can see all the most important information within 5 seconds of opening your email.

Remind them that this is just a highlight of your full resume : The point of the cover letter is to tell the employer at a glance why they ought to bother looking at your resume. So don’t forget to remind them that it’s attached.

Include links to your information in a clickable format : You may not have your own website, but you probably (and should) have a LinkedIn profile. Even better, you may have a work appropriate, or industry related blog. Use these to let employers get to know the real you. Let them see that you’re an expert in your field by sharing a blog you’ve created, or an article you’ve written. Let them get a glimpse of you that’s deeper than the resume. This is important though, make any links clickable. They probably won’t bother typing in a URL.

Make your text catchy, just in case they do read it : If you have interested an employer enough that they read your full cover letter (keep it short, though), then make sure that what you do write is well written. Aside from making sure it’s grammatically perfect, make it an interesting read, too. Add a bit of humor, or a clear opinion about something. If your cover letter is just rote information, then it’s no more informative than your resume.