In the course of my ongoing job hunt, I've sent out 60 cover letters (and with them, of course, resumes). I've been comparing notes with my fellow job seekers, and there's something I've been doing in these letters that most of them haven't. It seems to be working, in that I've been called for seven interviews so far, so I wanted to share it here for what it's worth. I'm calling it the Flattery Paragraph.

I used to think that cover letters were the dumbest conventions ever. What is a cover letter saying other than "I need a job, so please look at my resume?" I always viewed them as irritating hoops to jump through.

Over the last four months, though, I've discovered a surprising level of enjoyment in writing cover letters. There's an art to it. I don't claim to have mastered it, but I'm getting better as I write more of them. The sweet thing about a cover letter is that it lets you set yourself apart from the herd—and in this competitive economy, it is truly a herd of fellow job-seekers I am going head-to-head with every time I apply for a position.

Most cover letters are yawn-inducingly generic. The writer starts out by telling how she found out about the opening ("I saw your posting on Monster.com for the position of..."); then goes on to describe her relevant skills; then closes on a poignant, hopeful note ("I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience").

Snoresville for the hiring manager! And for the writer, what a soul-deadening process, framing herself as a generic commodity over and over again.

So, what I've been doing is inserting a Flattery Paragraph into my cover letters. The FP (usually my second in the letter) basically extols the virtues of the company to which I'm applying. It tells the hiring manager exactly what excites me about them--why the idea of working for them makes my heart beat a little faster. It massages the ego of the hiring manager, but more importantly, it shows them that I've actually thought about their organization, admire it, and have affection for it.

Sound screwball? Well, you don't want to go overboard on the flattery; this paragraph needs to be just as professional as the rest of the letter, and is certainly an OMG-free zone. But too many job seekers are afraid to flatter a potential employer. And flattery is a powerful, powerful marketing weapon. Research has shown that, even when people know they're being flattered, flattery is still effective in making them buy stuff. (And what they're buying here, potentially, is me!)

Here's an example from a cover letter that landed me an interview at a health-care-related nonprofit, with names changed to protect the innocent:

As a former Peace Corps volunteer, it’s important to me to work for an organization I can believe in, and Health Care Gurus sounds like that kind of place. Your mission makes so much sense: to improve the quality of life of direct-care workers, and thus of the people in their care. I was also impressed to see that you train inner-city women to become home health aides.

Masterpiece? Totally not. It's a little stiff and clunky. But that doesn't matter. Health Care Gurus is now all puffed up with pride. Their mission "makes sense." They're "an organization [to] believe in." They're impressive. They ate it up!

This also shows HCG that I did my homework by going on their website and finding out about their programs. I've been trying to incorporate the catchphrases and key terms that I see on an employer's website into my cover letter to them, thus using the power of their own branding as an asset.

Note that this only works if the emotion behind your words is genuine. If I honestly didn't care about HCG as a company, and their mission didn't resonate with me, I would have a hard time writing my Flattery Paragraph for them. This is why I'm trying very hard to apply only to places that I'm genuinely interested in—that I have at least a little crush on, if not a swoon-inducing state of lust for. They can tell.

Fellow job hunters, do you use flattery in your cover letters? Has it been working for you? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Anya Weber is a writer and editor looking for work in Boston and New York City. You can find her on Facebook and LinkedIn.