Applying for a job would mean having to do two things:
1) Creating and updating your resume and
2) creating your very own cover letter for that resume.
Believe it or not, many experts in job seeking and career building always suggest writing good cover letters just as anybody would write a good and impressive resume. A cover letter is the first page that the human resource managers will take a look at when submitting your application, so you have to make sure it is a good and interesting read for them. This will be your first impression to the company so you can imagine how deep they put their judgment in this piece of paper.
Unfortunately, many applicants tend to disregard the use and importance of coming up with their own cover letters that they would simply download a free cover letter example over the internet and submit that as their own. Many websites who sell free cover letter templates would encourage this, telling applicants that HR managers do not usually read cover letters and that this is just icing on the cake. Most of the time, this tactic works, but in the end the applicant doesn't get any interview invites or is barely hired at all. This is because using a free cover letter example as your own would indicate laziness and unwillingness to put effort even in the simplest tasks such as cover letter writing. The bosses of any company wouldn't want a person like that on their workforce so you have to make an effort to write your own unique and creative cover letter for your resume.
Another reason why applicants use free cover letter templates is because they do not know how to write cover letters in the first place. This can be solved by consulting a free cover letter example and using it as a guide in terms of format, content, and motivation to come up with something original and unique for revisions. As long as the final output is not generic, dull, and boring then you can submit your cover letter and resume to the HR department with a confident smile on your face. An area where you can seep in your creative juices is the content of the letter, so as much as possible put a voice into your letter to give the bosses an idea who you are as a person. They prefer interesting and hardworking people in their team and one of the earliest and simplest ways to find out if an applicant falls under those categories is through their cover letter.
How will you know if a sample cover letter is a good guide for you? Check to see if they have all the necessary details, easy-to-understand instructions and guidelines, and even good feedback from other people who have used the same sample in their own cover letters. Just make sure that you do not follow the letter word-per-word as this would definitely lower your chances of impressing the bosses and getting that dream job.
