What Is A Cover Letter?
A cover letter is a short document sent to potential employers that summarises the job seeker’s work experience, relevant skills, and personal interest in a particular job opening. It is meant to introduce the job seeker and serve as a personal supplement to a CV.
Do Your Research Before You Start Writing
First things first, you need to do your research.
Take some time to look into the company and role you are applying for – and then use this information to adapt your cover letter accordingly.
Doing this research beforehand will also help give you an idea of the appropriate tone to use in the cover letter and of any points you should mention, bearing in mind such factors as the organisation’s sector, ethos and values.
The important things you should research before writing are:
- Who will be receiving and reading your letter?
- The skills and experience mentioned in the job description
- What does the company do?
- Who are the company’s competitors?
- The sector and any recent news or trends
- The organisation’s target audience
- What are the essential skills for the role?
Based on the answers you find to your research questions, you will then be able to express to the prospective employer within your cover letter how your skills and abilities, and potentially values, align with those of the required role and company.
How To Format A Cover Letter
It is essential that your cover letter is well-presented, concise, and to-the-point.
But pay particular attention to:
Format
- A professional business layout is important, addressed to a named individual – This information is easier to find than it has ever been before, so there is no excuse as to getting any names wrong or not addressing the cover letter personally to the employer.
- Start with your address and contact details in the top right-hand corner – Make sure your contact details are sensible – email addresses like starboy86@hotmail.co.uk will not make you look very professional! You should then follow this with the address of the company you are applying for and the date further down and on the left-hand side.
- Aim for a maximum of one side of A4 – preferably half a page if possible, and using the same font style as you have used in your CV.
- State the position that you are applying for – This may sound obvious but many applications will say “I would like to apply for the role advertised”, this may do the job in small companies, but for larger companies they may have more than one vacancy at any given time, adding unnecessary confusion to your application.
It is always best to address your letter to the reader directly, e.g
Dear Full Name, e.g. Dear Peter Jacobs,
Dear Mr Surname, e.g. Dear Mr Jacobs,
Dear Ms Surname, e.g. Dear Ms. Jacobs,
(never presume marital status, so write Ms instead of Miss/Mrs)
If you do not know the name of the person who will be receiving your placement cover letter, there a few things you can do:
- Contact the company and ask for the name of the person who is tasked with reading the cover letter.
- Address your cover letter to the manager of the department you will be working in.
- If you cannot locate the person who handles recruitment, address your placement cover letter to someone who works in HR.
What To Say
- Briefly introduce yourself – State what position you are applying for and where you saw it advertised. For a speculative letter, include the type of work you are seeking.
- Start with a strong introduction to draw the reader in – The first sentence of a cover letter will either grab an employer’s attention or lose it, so it needs to cleverly prove that you understand what their current requirements are. In the first paragraph communicate your unique selling points that will help them solve their problems, such as relevant sector experience, skills, qualifications and achievements, instead of the generic “I would like to apply for the role of XXX.”
- Express an interest in their company – Let the employer know why you picked their company, this will allow them to see that you have a genuine interest in working for them.
- Tell them why they should choose you – As with our generic cover letter above, don’t just write that you think you are suitable for the position, tell them why you think you are suitable. Provide evidence of your key strengths by referring to experiences on your CV. Aim for your key strengths to reflect the requirements of the employer and position.
- Indicate your availability for an interview.
- Sign off professionally – Conclude the main body of the cover letter with a power phrase such as, “I would like to discuss in greater detail the value I could bring to your organisation,” and close with the formal and widely accepted “Best regards” or “Yours Sincerely”. If you did not find the name of the person end your letter with ‘’Yours Faithfully.’’
The Don’ts
- Don’t drivel on – keep it brief. The employer is usually strapped for time and will only be interested in the concrete facts rather than quirkiness or clichés.
- Don’t just repeat what you’ve said on your CV or LinkedIn profile – a cover letter should complement these other job application materials, and should really server as a means to support and enhance your overall profile as a prospective employee.
- Don’t write in the third person – A cover letter is, after all as its name suggests, a letter, and if written correctly as described above, addressed directly to the employer. You are essentially using this document as a personal marketing tool, and while a cover letter’s tone of voice should be professional, it should also be sufficiently conversational to engage the employer and communicate your personality, values and interest in the role.
Sending A Cover Letter In 2021
With today’s technology, it is common to send a cover letter – and a whole job application, for that matter – online or via email.
With this in mind, if you just need to send your cover letter as an attachment, then write it as explained above, but when it comes to saving it, make sure you save it as a PDF file; this will allow any computer &/or smart-phone mobile device to be able to view the file, and as a bonus all of your text/font formatting will be preserved as you intended it to look.
If however you have been asked to send your cover letter as an email, your method will need to be slightly changed. First, make sure you format the subject line of your email like this:
Application for [Job Title] [(Job Ref No.)] – [Your Name]
e.g.
Application for Recruitment Consultant (REC001) – David Peters
Once you’ve done that, then there’s also a few changes to make to the layout of your cover letter. The core paragraphs can be the same as an A4 copy of your cover letter, but for the email version you should remove the heading and footer elements such as the addresses, date and signature.
The team at Chief Recruitment are here to help and support you with your recruitment needs or any general job advice. Please reach out to us at info@chiefrec.com
