Job Search: Part 2—Cover Letters
July 29, 2008 by Lillie
Table of contents for Job Search
- Job Search: Part 1—How to Write an Interview-Winning Resume
- Job Search: Part 2—Cover Letters
- Job Search: Part 3—Interviews
When I wrote the post about writing a resume, I did not intend to create a series. That post has become the most popular I’ve written. Part of the popularity, of course, came about because the post was part of a group writing project and was Stumbled several times. However, there does seem to be a strong interest in job search advice, so I decided to make that post the first in a series of three about the job search process.
Today, we’ll talk about cover letters. The resume is a sales tool to get an interview; the cover letter is a sales tool to get your resume read. These tips will help ensure that your cover letter gets the right attention from the hiring manager.
- Address the letter to the right person. You may need to dig a little to find the right person, but your letter will more effective if it is addressed to a specific person—the person who will be reviewing your resume.
- Customize the letter for every job. Several commenters on the resume-writing post recommended that the resume be customized for different jobs. While this may be helpful, it is more important to customize the cover letter. After all, the cover letter is what the hiring manager sees first and what will determine whether the resume is reviewed or not. If your resume doesn’t include relevant experience and qualifications, revise your resume for this position. If your resume includes the information, highlight the most important elements (experience, skills, education, certifications) in the cover letter.
- Use letterhead stationery with your complete contact information. If you don’t have stationery, you can create it on the computer. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should look professional. If you sending the cover letter by e-mail, format it like a letter in the body of the message.
- Keep the cover letter to one page. Include the important information in a short, concise document.
- Capture the reader’s attention at the beginning by explaining why you are applying at this company. If you’re not familiar with the company, do some research so you can address why you are a good match for the company and/or the position.
- Emphasize how you will contribute to the company. Stating you want to work for the company because they have the best benefit package of any company won’t make a favorable impression. Telling the employer your experience in quality control will contribute to the company’s new department will impress.
- Show how your qualification match the employer’s requirements. If you’re responding to an ad or job posting, mention specific requirements (such as x number of years of experience, license, degree, knowledge of particular equipment) and demonstrate how you meet or exceed those requirements. If you not responding to a specific job listing, mention your strongest qualifications for a job in the industry or type of job.
- Conclude with a strong close. Let the employer know you are eager to meet her to discuss the needs of the company (or how you can contribute to the company’s goals). Repeat your contact information for your preferred method of contact as well as when you are available.
- Proofread carefully. If possible, ask someone else to read the letter both to catch grammar and spelling errors and to be sure the letter makes sense and flows smoothly.
You can read examples of the various elements of the cover letter at How to Avoid the Four Most Common Cover Letter Blunders.
Next, we’ll discuss interviews.
Cover Letters are essential and really give a glimpse of who you are. I feel that if you should spend time on one thing it should be the cover letter. Thanks
The importance of cover letters are often overlooked and rushed. Your article provides excellent guidance in getting this, at first sigh unimportant, part of the job hiring process done RIGHT!
.-= Konrad@Job Tips´s last blog ..Job Interview Preparation: Be the Interviewer =-.
Thanks for the reinforcement of the importance of cover letters, Konrad.
Unfortunately, addressing the letter to the right person isn’t always possible when responding to an online application. But everything else is spot on. Great tips, thanks!
Joe,
You’re right—cover letters are critical to getting your resume read. Job seekers too often spend lots of time and effort on the resume then dash off the cover letter as an afterthought. They would be wise to spend more time on the cover letter.
The cover letter is truly important. I have read quite a few that were poorly worded and pretty much made certain that their resume was going to end up in the trash.
You are right about customizing it too, because you can tell if it is just a form letter and that also helps move your resume towards the trash.
So often job seekers focus on the resume and just whip up a form cover letter without realizing how important it is. Thanks for reinforcing how important a well-written, customized cover letter is.
Lillie,
This post provides excellent advice on how to craft a superior cover letter — one that will get results! Every element you’ve mentioned is critically important to ensuring that a job applicant’s finished letter will command the hiring manager’s attention. Your expertise shows!
Jeanne
Thank you, Jeanne. I hope this helps job seekers get the interview that can lead to getting the job.
[...] Table of contents for Job SearchJob Search: Part 1—How to Write an Interview-Winning ResumeJob Search: Part 2—Cover LettersJob Search: Part [...]
Lillie, I Stumbled this article as well:
http://jobmob.stumbleupon.com/review/24080693/
Jacob from JobMobs last blog post..Offbeat Yet Normal Israeli Marketing Writer Job Interview Story
When I was a hiring manager years ago I was always surprised at the number of resumes I would get that did not even include a cover letter. Your points are all excellent!
Larry
damnIneedAjob.com
Thanks for the feedback. It’s always great to hear from someone who has actually been on the receiving side of the cover letter/resume—especially when you agree with me.
I think cover letters are really important – We recently did some recruitment of which I was partly involved in and those apps with cover letters stood out much more…
Andy
Andy,
It’s always helpful to hear from someone involved in the hiring decision. You speak with an authority that a writer doesn’t so I hope job seekers will pay attention.
Hi Lillie,
It’s interesting actually – my cousin is in recruitment and he doesn’t consider them that important, but I feel if someone takes the time to write a cover letter, then normally (not always though) they are slightly more enthusiastic about the role!
Take care,
Andy
Andy,
That is interesting. In my experience, when someone is applying for a specific job, a well-written cover letter that focuses on the job requirements can capture the attention of the hiring manager. However, if the job seeker is submitting a resume to an executive recruiter, either to see if the recruiter has a suitable position or to engage the recruiter to search for a position, the cover letter would by nature be rather generic and not as helpful.
Well, sometimes you might not have the name of the right person to address the cover letter to. What do you do then? “To Whom It May Concern?”
Val,
Sometimes you can’t find the name of the person because the company goes to great lengths to keep you from finding out. I would first try to find the name—sometimes all it takes is a phone call to the company and a question to the receptionist.
When you can’t find the name, however, I would address the cover letter to a title rather than “To whom it may concern,” xomething like Dear XYZ Company Personnel Department or Dear Hiring Manager.
In my experience if you cannot find the name of the person to address it to, it is always better to address something like “Hiring Manager” or “Human Resources” rather than “To Whom it may Concern”
Hope that this helps.
creating (if you wrote YourName@Keyword, I could address you as a real person, and you would still get your keyword link),
Thank you for agreeing with me.
Cover letters that can catch the employer’s eyes are the most effective. I have read many times that when employers are looking through cover letters or resumes, they separate the “attractive” ones from the “plain” ones. I’m not sure if this is true or not but it doesn’t hurt to add a little bit of creativity to your cover letters keywords being “little bit”.
Chris,
I think you’re right on the “little bit.” The cover letter (and the resume) should be laid out in a nice format with plenty of white space and in a font that is easy on the eye and attractive. However, I’ve always heard that hiring managers don’t like anything too creative. Things like brightly colored or odd-sized paper or very unusual fonts stand out too much, and not in a good way.
Writing a cover letter these days is more important than it ever was in the past. This economy makes it difficult to be considered for a position, so explain to the employer why they should consider you.
illmill,
You’re right that cover letters are more important than ever.
I think it is important to adapt your cover letter to each individual company you are sending your resume too. It is the first thing that is seen and should identify what you are looking for in this job opportunity.
Absolutely right, Anthony.
As a customer support manager responding to candidate queries, it still amazes me how many speculative applications we receive on behalf of our clients, where the candidate hasn’t even bothered to confirm the type of position they wish to apply for, let alone write a covering letter. Do they honestly believe their application will be considered?
Alext,
Writers do the same thing—they send query letters to publishers that don’t publish anything remotely similar to what they’ve written.
I guess in both cases, they think they’ll toss out a bunch of stuff and see if anything sticks.
In olden days cover letters were of less importance and not deemed much. But in today’s competitive world and stringent recruitment process cover letter plays a vital role. One of my Human Resource Executive friend who is in-charge of recruitment for a corporate giant, told me that he never reads the resume initially. All he cares about is that how relevant the covering letter is and whether the candidate has the required educational qualifications. Resumes which qualify the previously said attributes only will be shortlisted. Lillie, I think the proofreading part has to be emphasized a lot. Not only for covering letters. It is applicable for emails, blog post, articles or whatever form of writing. People never proofread what they have written. As soon as they are done they just hit the send button.
.-= Girish@Car Rental Auckland´s last blog ..Rugby World Cup Car Rentals =-.
Girish,
It wasn’t very long ago that only top executives needed resumes. Now everyone looking for a job needs one. And you’re right, the cover letter has become very important. That’s what sets the applicant apart from others enough for the hiring manager to look at the resume.
And you’re also right that people should proofread more. It’s very important to make sure we’ve said what we meant and said it without errors. As I mentioned yesterday in an editing workshop I presented to a writers group, though, I’ve never seen a perfect book. We may never achieve perfection, though we may come close on short pieces like e-mail and blogs, but we should strive to make our writing as nearly perfect as possible.
So many people just whip up a quick cover letter and call it good, but this is such a big mistake to make. You really need to spend time on it and do it right.
Kevin,
Sometimes I think people aren’t sure what to do so they just throw something together. Other times they don’t understand how important the cover letter is. And sometimes people are just lazy.
With the downturn slowly winding the unemployment rate is slowly diminishing. I bet this article would be helpful to those who are again starting over. They can create some flawless and appealing resumes if they follow your tips. They are so appropriate and right. Thanks for sharing this tips for free with us
Michael,
I’ve written or edited a lot of resumes and cover letters so hope my experience can help job-seekers who rarely have a need for these documents.
Your post is very informative for the job seekers getting a good job in this time of recession is not easy. You should follow a useful guideline to make it. Resume is an important thing for job seekers. It should be well written so that easy to understand and it should be impressive too. Well your tips are up to the mark dear. Thanks.
monika,
Yes, it is more important than ever in a down economy to have an exceptional resume and cover letter.
Well writing the resume in a correct way does help a lot in getting a job.thanks for tips.This will help a lot of people.
Michael,
I’m glad you found the post useful.
Hi great post. Cover letter can in reality suplement a candidates resume because it personalize his skills and skills .It without doubt will make an enormous difference for any candidates applying for an interview and land them the jobs of their wishes. I wonder how many applicants are familiar with these things! i bet not many….
Justin,
Too many candidates work hard on their resume, then toss off a quick letter for the cover letter without realizing they may be destroying any chance of getting the resume reviewed.
Cover letters are very important. If you could not be bothered to write a cover letter with your job application, will you be bothered to do your job properly? Cover letters also prove to companies that you have the ability to clearly organise your thoughts and that you have good spelling and grammar skills. You also get an extra chance to prove your suitability for the job position.
Charlie,
Those are excellent reasons to put a lot of effort into the cover letter.
I think the most important is that you show how your qualification match the employer’s requirements and how you will contribute to the company. In my experience i noticed that this had the most impact on employer.
Robert,
Excellent points—what you can do for them, not what they can do for you.
I agree, I think the covering letter with a job application can make all the difference. It was to this that my current employer referred to during my interview.
lynne,
Congratulations on having a cover letter that helped you get the job.
I worked for 2 years as a HR assistant manager and let me tell you that everything you have written here is true. People should read what you have written here and learn it by heart. If you want to get a good job or even if you just want to get a job, do what it takes to succede. That includes having a professional resume, cover letter and everything else that the employer might want from you.
Cristian,
Thank you for validating my advice. It’s always helpful to get information from someone who has experience on the hiring side.
A cover letter is a letter of introduction to an employer, which is used to formally submit a resume for employer review. The purposely of the cover letter is to identify your intent to “apply for” or “seek out” a specific position within a company. it also formally presents yourself as available for a job position or range of positions within a company.
Mark,
I think the purpose of a cover letter, as I stated in the post, is to entice the hiring manager to review the resume. It must be much more of a sales letter than a letter of introduction.
Nice article there Lillie!When applying to a specific job, it is nice to put in your cover letter and resume what the company is looking for or the job requirements. Make your self as the best employee suits for the specific job you are applying for.
hector,
Exactly. You want the hiring manager to realize you are the person they are looking for.
I agree with your points. You need to customize your cover letter for every job. Most hiring managers will only spend few seconds on your letter, therefore make it easier to read and emphasize in bullet points that you exactly have what they’re looking for.
Great article.
Thanks for the validation, Nick.
Thanks for your nice post
My comment is that with employers receiving hundreds of resumes you must make sure that your resume hooks an employer’s attention within a 5-second glance. A great way to do this is to use job titles and skill headings that relate to and match the jobs you want.
Good advice, James. Thanks!
A “formula” approach is fine, but each letter should reflect your personality and your enthusiasm. Let it shine through. Take pride in who you are and what you’ve done. The reader is looking for a human being, a person who knows what he or she can offer and can express it well.
bill,
I like to help my clients prepare a template cover letter with several areas for customization.
Dear [Client Contact Name]:
The job listing for [job title] caught my attention because [why this specific job is a good match for you or why you are interested in specific company]. …
That way they have a “formula” to follow and don’t have to create every cover letter from scratch, but they customize it with pertinent information for the specific opening.
A good cover letter is short, concise, and lays out exactly what you are looking for and why you are qualified. It should give the recruiter a reason to call you. Keep it professional and keep it relevant.
jim,
Only one thing you said that I would clarify: “exactly what you are looking for” is best described in terms of what the company is looking for. Make it all about what you can do for the company, not what the company can do for you.
A cover letter can serve the same function as the objective statement on your resume, and expand upon it. Some applicants are reluctant to limit themselves by including an objective on their resume. Although it is best for a job-seeker to target the type of work desired as specifically as possible, you may be open to more than one option.
robert,
Interesting to see the differences of opinion in this regard. I’m of the school–as are most of the career counselors I know–that the objective isn’t necessary on a resume, and in fact may be a detriment. The resume and the cover letter should be all about what the applicant can do for the employer, not vice versa. Stating an objective can not only limit the openings the applicant may be considered for, it also puts the primary emphasis on what the applicant wants, not what the employer needs.
Great advise – thank you for posting
Now I know I’m prepare to my job search.
Prageeth,
Good luck in your job search.
In my view Cover Letter is supplement to the resume. The information that we can’t add in a resume’s rigid structure can easily fit in Cover Letter
Jack,
I agree, but I also contend that the purpose of the cover letter is to convince the employer to read the resume.
Consider the resume cover letter required. It is considered business etiquette and is noticed, if you fail to include it. Use it as an opportunity to market YOU. It is an incredible sales tool and should be used for the mileage that it can give you in the interviewing process. Invest time in creating one. It really can be quite pivotal to your interviewing success.
Lee@Free Job Search Websites recently posted..Job Interview Questions and Answers Job Interview Advice Job Interview Questions
Lee,
Thanks for the reinforcement.
it is important that you have a professional resume that will make you stand out among often hundreds of other applicants, that sells YOU effectively and that give’s you the justice that you deserve.
Len@Auckland Rentals recently posted..Intellectual and Moral Education 14
Len,
Cover letters and resumes are both essential.
Lionel,
Sometimes you can dig a little and find out the right person by calling the company or searching their Web site. But, you’re right, sometimes the online job posting doesn’t give you enough information to do that. If you’ve looked and can’t find the right person, then you have to go with something like “Dear Sir or Madam.” But if you can turn up the right person, you will have demonstrated initiative and resourcefulness that will set you apart from other applicants.
Thanks, Jacob. I need to get better about remembering to Stumble great posts. I appreciate your Stumble.