How to write a cover letter

How to write a cover letter

The first thing a potential employer is likely to read about you is your cover letter. It's a chance for you to make yourself stand out from the pack and prove to the recruiter that you’re worth the time they will take to read your CV.

Here are some helpful tips to get your cover letter to make you look good:

1. Paste your cover letter in the email body – recruiters often have to sift through hundreds of CVs in their inbox, they’re unlikely to open all the attachments so write or paste your cover letter in the email body to ensure it’s read.
2. Make it short – think of it as a sales letter, selling YOU. Three or four paragraphs are enough to get the recruiter excited about opening your CV. Write in a fascinating way, using action words like, “I achieved…, I closed a major deal…, I saved the company thousands…”  etc.
3. Show why you’re ideal for the job – refer to the job ad and show how you have what the employer is looking for in terms of education, skills and experience. If you don’t happen to tick one or two of the boxes, don’t leave it out, use your cover letter as an opportunity to beat the shortfall, for example: “I have three years’ experience in the advertising industry but I have another three years’ experience in a recruitment agency where I was in charge of writing and placing all the job adverts...”
4. Close with a call-to-action – make an unapologetic appeal in the last line like, “I look forward to meeting you to discuss how I can add value to your business, please let me know when it’s suitable for us to meet.”

5. Personalise your covering letter - one of the biggest jobs you’ll have is to personalise your cover letter for every company you send your CV to. Why? Because bland generic letters get you nowhere. Here’s how to personalise your cover letter:
   1. Find out who the right person is to address the email to, personalise the email with their name, for example, ‘Dear Shelley’, or whatever their name is.
   2. Find out what they’re looking for (if it’s not a job opening, research their website to find out what they do) and highlight your strengths in terms of those exact requirements.
   3. Follow up about a week later with another personalise email. This one is a friendly note that says something like, “I am sure you have been inundated with CVs, I just wanted to wish you the best with your recruitment process. If you’d like to meet to discuss how I can start adding value to your business, I would love to come through to chat with you.” Leave your CV attached so they can refer back to it. This is a very effective technique – the message is personal and friendly, it almost treats them as a friend which adds warmth, and it puts your email back in front of them a bit after the deluge of emails they received from applicants. And possibly most importantly, it invites them to contact you, in other words there’s a call-to-action.

Three mistakes to avoid when writing your cover letter

Although a cover letter is more personalised than your CV, it doesn’t give you the license to be unprofessional. Too often, candidates believe they can bare their souls in a cover letter.

Here are some of the most common mistakes candidates make in their cover letters that result in their emails being deleted:

• Beginning a cover letter by writing, “Although I don’t have the experience (or skills, or knowledge) you’re asking for, I hope you will…” Instead, start with all the boxes you do check.
• Telling the employer what you want. For example: “I’m looking for work that will fit in with my school schedule etc.” Instead, tell the employer how you will add value to the company with what you’re bringing to the table.
• Slang, SMS language, grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. You just won’t make a good impression, no matter how perfect you are for the job if you can’t write a professional cover letter.

Remember, first impressions count! And cover letters are the first thing employers read when they open the emails. Use these tips to score an interview!