He’s wonderfully human…we all have our little self-indulgent and downright selfish moments. Relaxing in a steaming bubble bath, burning candles, drinking wine, playing jazz, nothing in the world but you and happiness. Or kick back, feet up in front of your favorite movie, freely popping a 2 lb. box of Sees Candy in your mouth, smiling, phones off (I like that one!).

It’s not a crime, is it? We work to exhaustion. And after slaving away all week, we certainly deserve our sweet, selfish little moments.

But when you’re creating your resume cover letter, it’s better to dig into yourself and turn off this egotistical mode. Completely.

When writing your resume cover letter, one of the biggest mistakes you want to avoid is focusing too much on yourself. What matters to the employer is not how far you want to move up in the company and the salary he is looking for. I think it’s safe to say that employers care more about one thing: exactly how you can benefit their company.

So here’s a great idea: Before writing your resume cover letter, do some research on the company you want to work for. Yes, I know, it’s extra work, but believe me, it’s worth it. Find out what the latest events are. What particular challenges they might be facing. An exciting product that they could have recently developed. With our technological blessing that we all know as the Internet, we can find information about almost any company these days.

The best way to find information is to take a trip to the company’s website. If you don’t have their web address, do a Google search; surely something will turn up. When you find the website, read each page, cover to cover. Read the “About Us” section, recent press releases, their company philosophy, and the products/services they currently offer.

Now don’t grit your teeth if you can’t find the company’s website. There are other sites you can check out that specialize in helping you find information about a specific company. Two of these sites are Vault.com and WetFeet.com.

Mention something interesting you learned about your company in your resume cover letter. Doing this will show that you have a genuine interest in their organization and a strong drive to work for them. Because? Because you took valuable time and effort to learn about your company.

Here is a paragraph from a resume cover letter that focuses on the needs of the company (this person applied for a position as a copywriter with a marketing company):

I hear you’re looking for a copywriter with strong research skills and the ability to create persuasive sales copy. I have more than 5 years of experience

doing this, and I’d love to share some ideas I have for your new ‘Healthy Diets’ ad campaign.

Focusing on what a company wants and showing them what you can bring to the table can add tons of value to your resume cover letter. It also helps you to stand out to a great extent as one of your worthy candidates.

And when you finally get hired for the position you want, feel free to celebrate with your own creatively selfish little moment. You deserve it!