Writing a cover letter is an important part of the job application process. It’s your first chance to impress a hiring manager, and it should showcase why you’re the best candidate for the position. But writing an effective cover letter isn’t always easy: what do you include? Where do you start? And how do you make sure that your message is clear? In this blog post, we’ll explain how to write a great cover letter that will help get you noticed by potential employers!
Write a targeted cover letter
With so many people applying for each vacancy, you have to make sure your covering letter is relevant to the job you are applying for. If not, it’s likely that yours will be ignored and never get read by the hiring manager. Always use keywords from the job description in your application materials (like “accountability” or “customer service”) and tailor your cover letter accordingly – if there are words like these in their copy, make sure they appear in yours too!
- Use it to demonstrate why you’re a good fit for the role. Your cover letter should clearly demonstrate why you’re a good fit for the role on offer – why do they need someone with your experience and skillset? What results can they expect from giving you this opportunity? Make sure these points are covered towards the end of your document so that hiring managers can see how well suited they’d be working together before finishing reading through all of its contents!
- Sell yourself! A great way of doing this is including bonus points such as: “I’m currently learning French” or “My parents own a small business which has been successful since 1990.” You don’t want them thinking about what else might be going on outside work hours when it comes time choosing between two candidates – show them how great potential future employee could be by highlighting achievements outside work hours (if applicable).
Highlight your strengths
The best way to describe your skills is by using specific numbers, such as “My sales targets have been consistently achieved,” or “I’ve worked with over 50 clients.”
If you don’t have any hard numbers to work with, it’s still important to include examples of the types of tasks that you’re skilled at. For example: “I helped an intern learn how to use Microsoft Excel and Word” or “I taught my team members how to set up Google calendar reminders so we could all stay on schedule.”
It’s also important to be honest, even if it means admitting that there are areas where your skill set is lacking. The only way for employers and recruiters alike will know what needs improving is for them see it written down in front of their eyes (in this case).
Include numbers
You’ve got to be able to quantify your achievements. For example, if you’re applying for a job at a sports store and you want to appear as though you’re an avid runner yourself, mention how many miles per week or month you have run over the last year. If that’s not possible, another way to demonstrate your fitness is by saying how many jobs it took before landing one in which running wasn’t an essential part of the role (e.g., “I originally applied for a job as a receptionist at a health club but didn’t get through – I tried again with my current employer and am now working on their marketing team).
Use the job description
Make sure you’re using the same job description as your hiring manager. If they have posted a job listing, reference that.
It’s important to understand what the company is looking for in a candidate and be specific about what you can offer them. In addition to highlighting your strengths and qualifications, use the job description to show how you would fit in with this particular organization or team. You should also bring up any similarities between yourself and their business that may be relevant (for example: if they are a small company, mentioning that you have worked at small companies before).
Write about your accomplishments
Start off with a strong opening. Don’t write ‘To whom it may concern,’. Instead, be specific and write something like ‘To the Human Resources Department at Acme Manufacturing Ltd.’. It will help your letter stand out from all the others who have just sent a generic one. Then, introduce yourself by using the word ‘I’ so that it is clear from whom you are writing in case there are several people with similar sounding names (or even surnames).
Next, showcase your skills and experience to demonstrate why you’d be great for this job. Give examples of how you’ve used them to benefit previous employers; if possible, include quantifiable data to show that what you say about yourself is true. For example:
My role as Operations Manager involved managing a team of four people on an annual budget of £75k per year; through careful planning and communication across departments we were able to increase sales by 15% in one year while maintaining profitability within 3%.
It may also be worth mentioning any professional certifications or additional qualifications such as A Levels or GCSEs here too; these can help demonstrate not only your commitment but also provide evidence that shows why they would want someone with those qualifications working for them!
Tailor every cover letter to the exact job you’re applying for.
Once you’ve done your research and picked out a few companies to apply to, it’s time to tailor your cover letter.
Every job posting is different and every company has its own culture. To stand out from the crowd, you need to make sure that your cover letter matches what they’re looking for in an applicant. So take a look at each job description carefully and make sure you understand exactly what qualities they are looking for—and then find ways of demonstrating those qualities in your application materials (including the cover letter).
If possible, try to use some examples from your previous work experience or school projects that demonstrate these skills and qualifications. The more specific you can be about how those experiences relate directly to this specific role, the better!
Hiring managers can get sick of reading the same things over and over, so be different.
As a hiring manager, I can tell you that I’ve read thousands of job applications. At this point, the “I am a hard worker” emails are starting to blur together into one big blob of boring text. This is why it’s important to be different—you want your cover letter to stand out from all the others so that it gets read by someone who can actually help you get a job there!
Here are some tips for writing an interesting cover letter:
- Don’t repeat yourself over and over in every paragraph; make sure each sentence has something new or interesting about it (for example, don’t say “I’m looking for a new job because my old one wasn’t very fun”).
- Use language specific to what you’re applying for (for example, if you’re applying for an internship with a company that specializes in AI research, mention how much you love robots or anything else related). Make sure whatever sentence(s) show off your knowledge of this industry have at least one concrete example. If nothing comes up naturally when reading through their website or publications/blogs/etc., ask someone else who works there what they like most about their business before submitting anything—this will allow them time beforehand so they’ll write something better than generic introductory paragraphs which won’t impress anyone anyway.”
Conclusion
After reading this post, hopefully you’re inspired to write a cover letter that will really stand out from the crowd. Remember to keep it short, personal and specific to the job you’re applying for. Use numbers where possible and don’t forget to tailor your letter for each role so that hiring managers can see why you’re perfect for them!
