A cover letter is an additional document that is attached with your Resume Editing Services and job application. The purpose of a cover letter is to give additional information about you and your skills. It tells the employer why you are perfect for the job. Do not just repeat whatever is written in your resume. Think of it as an advertisement for the employers and you are the one being advertised. Write it in such a way that it is interesting and unique. Through a cover letter you will be able to market yourself and engage the employer. It should be written in a very impressive way so that the employer is compelled to hire you just by reading your cover letter. Always include a cover letter in your resume, even if it is not asked for. It will show that you’re very interested in the job and have put in additional efforts. Let’s look at the specifics of a cover letter.
What is the purpose of writing a cover letter?
The purpose of writing a cover letter is to basically introduce yourself to the employers. In it you mention what job you are applying for and why? Through it you are able to showcase your skills and how those skills will complement the job post. Talk about how each skill will benefit the company or is needed for the job.
How long should your cover letter be?
A cover letter is more like a summary of your resume. Summaries are not that long and your cover letter should be around 300-400 words. You need to make sure you don’t include any unnecessary details that will extend the length of your cover letter. You need to make it short and sweet. Be concise all the while making your point. There’s no use of writing a long cover letter if the recruiter is not going to read it entirely.
Link your cover letter to the job
Do not use the same cover letter for every job. Your cover letter should customize to fit the job description of each job. Doing this will make your cover letter very general and you will not be able to hit the specific points of specific jobs. Write a customized cover letter for every job so that the employer knows you’ve put in special efforts. It will not take you a long time and it’s not difficult to write so do not shy away from writing customized cover letters. Use these tips to write customized cover letters.
- Be specific about the person you’re sending this to. Do not address it as “to whom it may concern”. It is the world of technology; you will easily be able to find out what the name of the recruiter is by searching online. Get it a quick Google search and snoop for the name. Address your cover letter to the specific individual responsible for it. You can even call up the company and ask who you are supposed to send your resume, if they don’t give you a name you can specifically ask for one. As per professional etiquettes it is important that you do not address them with their first name. Use their last name with an honorific such as Mr. and Mrs. Also make sure that the gender is confirmed. It is very aggravating when people misjudge your gender because of your name.
- Dig up information about the job. When you call them up to ask for the name of the receiver you can take this opportunity to ask for details related to that job. The answers to these questions will give you matter to write in your cover letter. You will be able to write a much better cover letter with it. First ask them if you could ask a couple of questions and with their approval ask them different things like:
- What does the job entail in your company?
- Who will I be working with if I get the job?
- What are the key qualities you are searching for in the candidate?
Asking these questions and more, can be very beneficial.
- Look up the company on various sites and try to know everything about them. Visit their website and read their about page. It will give you a lot of information about the history of the company, their motto and even their future plans. You can use it to your advantage and talk about similar goals and ambitions in your cover letter to show the recruiter that you are both on the same page. In some cases, companies put up job advertisements anonymously. Contact them on the given details and ask them about the name of the company.
Things that you must include in your cover letter:
Cover letters can be tricky to write as you need to make sure that all the necessary information is included. Here is a comprehensive list of things you must include in your cover letter.
Must Include:
- Your name and complete details. Write your full name with the correct spelling. When writing your details cross check it to make sure that it is correct. Insert your address, nationality and contact details such as phone number and email address. Make sure that your phone number is not missing a digit as it can cause great confusion if you were to get the job. Also use a professional email address, do not use the one you’ve been using ever since you were a cool teenager. Your email address should represent maturity and seriousness. If you don’t have one, make one as soon as possible.
- After you have written your details you must write the details of the person you are sending this cover letter to. Their name, the post they are stationed on and their own contact details. Make sure all the information you have written is a hundred percent accurate. As mentioned previously, to get this information if not provided, you must call the company and straight away ask for it. If that fails then you can use a generic address such as ‘to whom it may concern’ or ‘Dear Sir/Madam’. But try your level best to get the information of the employer and only use this as your last option.
- Mention the job that you are applying for at the beginning of your cover letter, this helps the recruiter sort out candidates applying for a certain position. There are two ways you can do this. Make a separate line for this before you start the cover letter or use it as a beginning sentence. The main motive is to mention it in the beginning.
- After you have made clear what position you are applying for you should move on to talk about your skills and how they match the job description. You can either do this using a paragraph format or using bullet points to make a list. It is better to make a bullet list as it will be easier for the employer to read and go through each skill individually. But keep in mind that just the mention of a skill will do you no good; you have to explain how you’ve used it in your previous work experiences or how you plan to use it in the future.
- Explain why you are the right person for this job. You can refer back to your skills and use them to explain why, or you can even refer to your previous work experiences and share how they have taught you several things that will be very useful when you get employed for this job.
- Use field related jargon that will show that you are well acquainted with all the concepts and are an expert at what you do. Talk about specific job related actions that you can do very well, such as if you are applying for a position at a bank, you can talk about how you are good at handling cash or that you are very trustworthy.
- Finish your cover letter by mentioning that you are waiting for their response or that you look forward to hear from them. This can be a much needed push for the employer to decide on contacting you.
That’s it, use these tips and write a customized cover letter that will impress your employers greatly. There are some things that you must not include in your resume and can put a negative impression on the recruiter. Here is a list of things you must avoid at all costs.
Avoid These:
- Typing errors or spelling mistakes are completely unacceptable at this stage. Make sure that your cover letter has perfect spellings and grammar. Read it several times to make sure that there are no mistakes. However, we often over look several mistakes so to make it absolutely certain that there are no errors ask someone to proofread it for you. A fresh pair of eyes will be able to identify mistakes your tired ones have overlooked.
- Do not write your entire resume in your cover letter. It is of no use and defeats the purpose of having two individual documents. Just give a hint of your resume in your cover letter. Do not add the complete details; leave them for your resume.
Avoid these things and your cover letter is good to go. Good Luck!
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