I recently went through the song and dance of job searching, and I'll soon be happily employed with a great company in SF. My resume isn't spectacular, but it's good (decent GPA at a good school). To my surprise, some amazing companies granted me interviews, and I believe it had a lot to do with my cover letters (like I said, not a spectacular resume).
Understand that my opinion is that of a junior engineer (1 year of experience).
A strong cover letter ought to be engaging, to the point, clear, and genuine. My general strategy leveraged casual language, an honest portrayal of myself and my desires, and dollop of self-deprecating humor. I got some friends to review my cover letters, and made sure that they laughed. I figured, if the recruiter enjoys my cover letter, my application won't get dumped immediately.
YMMV. This might be awful advice, but it worked for me. Good luck!
Understand that my opinion is that of a junior engineer (1 year of experience).
A strong cover letter ought to be engaging, to the point, clear, and genuine. My general strategy leveraged casual language, an honest portrayal of myself and my desires, and dollop of self-deprecating humor. I got some friends to review my cover letters, and made sure that they laughed. I figured, if the recruiter enjoys my cover letter, my application won't get dumped immediately.
YMMV. This might be awful advice, but it worked for me. Good luck!