The opening paragraph of an effective cover letter should do three things:
Tell why you are writing this letter so that the recipient doesn't have to
waste time wading into your letter before determining what it's about.
Convey this information in a way that grabs the reader's attention.
Your opener should not grab attention for the sake of grabbing attention but
should give the reader a sense of what you can do. It should contain a pithy
statement -- which you'll elaborate on later in the letter -- about how you can
meet the company's needs.
