When you apply for a job, chances are you're building your application to demonstrate that you meet the qualifications listed. Right?
Sometimes, this ends up getting a little rote, and you write stuff like "I have great communication skills" even though if you really had great communication skills, you would have found a better way to communicate that than just saying "I have great communication skills."
But that's not actually what your application should do. Sure, you want your resume (especially your resume) to have evidence of the raw years of experience and specific skills they're looking for. But "meet the qualifications" should never be your bar. That's saying "I'm perfectly adequate for this job."
You know who else is perfectly adequate for the job? Probably 25% or so of the applicant pool. At least. Your real competition isn't the shallow end of the pool. You need to compete with the best applicants for the job. You get hired by being the #1 (ish) person after several rounds of evaluation. You don't pass that bar merely by "meeting qualifications."
But, you might say, meeting qualifications is how you get the interview! Once I get talking to a person, I'll slam it out of the park.
Sure, that's possible. Except that hiring managers have to make some hard choices about their time, and that often means rejecting out of hand plenty of people who could do the job. By the end of the process, they're probably going to reject some folks that can do the job really well, because that's the reality when there's one open position.
The fact of the matter is, in every application you submit, you have to make the argument that you are the actual best person they could hire for the role. (I'll make a small note here, which is that you can also try to make the argument "I might not be exactly the candidate you pictured, but my unique background is what this position really needs" but that's just another way you're the best candidate.)
The best way to do this is with your cover letter. Leave your qualifications to your resume. Use your cover letter to show how you operate on the job, to demonstrate that you have ideas no one else has, that you go the extra mile when someone else wouldn't. That's the bar.
A list of attributes like "I have great communication skills and work well both individually and with a team" suddenly isn't looking too special, is it?
Meeting the qualifications is table stakes. You've still got to move chips and make bets.