We get it, applying for a new job can be stressful. After hours, days, and months of searching, you find a great opportunity.
You spend time and energy on making sure you’re putting your best foot forward. You refresh your CV, and fill in application forms, only to then be faced with the dreaded cover letter.
Most of us at some point in our lives have sat at our screen, staring at a blank document, and thinking… what do I write?! But don’t panic!
Cover letters don’t need to be daunting anymore. We’ve created a simple how to write cover letter guide to help you get the most out of your cover letter and to make writing one a breeze.
What Is a Cover Letter & What Makes It So Important?
First things first, what is a cover letter? A cover letter is effectively a written handshake.
You are introducing yourself to the hiring manager and the company. And as we all know, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
Too often, cover letters are treated as an afterthought. Instead, you should see your cover letter as the first opportunity to make yourself stand out from other applicants.
Unless the company specifies otherwise, you should always, we repeat, always write a cover letter
The key is to make sure your cover letter is insightful, relevant, and not just a regurgitated version of your CV. A good cover letter will entice the hiring manager into wanting to learn more about you and make them excited to read your CV.
Benefits of a cover letter include:
- A chance to show your personality
- Highlights your specific experience relevant to the role
- Provides more context to your CV
- It shows you’ve taken the time to really think about the opportunity and why you’d be a good fit
- An opportunity to place yourself above your competition
What Makes a Great Cover Letter?
Now you know what exactly a cover letter is and why it’s important to write one, let’s look at how to write a cover letter.
Show Your Understanding of the Role
It’s important here to show the hiring manager that you’ve taken the time to read the job description by highlighting the key responsibilities of the role and explaining your own understanding and approach.
Describe exactly what you believe you can bring to the table to add value and to help the company thrive. You could speak about prior relevant experiences and how these have shaped and informed your approach moving forward.
Focus On the Company
We cannot stress this enough: an interview is a two-way process.
No doubt you will have thought long and hard about exactly what type of company culture appeals to you. You wouldn’t apply for a role or a company that you don’t think you would be a good fit for, so explain that.
Make it clear why you are wanting to work with this company over their competitors. Demonstrate in a sentence or two that you’ve researched the company, note company values and explain not only why you’d be a good fit, but what you can add to their existing culture.
Demonstrate Skills Through Examples
Saying you can do something and proving you can do something are two very different things.
It’s important that you choose your top relevant skills to highlight, and make sure you give a highly pertinent example to back up your claim.
Writing about one very specific example is far more effective than writing vaguely about multiple examples.
Pick skills that are necessary for the job. Make sure to be clear and concise in your writing, and to always relate the example back to the opportunity you are applying for.
Highlighting exactly how your skills will be beneficial to the role will help to automatically communicate to a hiring manager that you know what you’re talking about.
Showcase Your Passion & Enthusiasm
Your cover letter is often your first chance to communicate ‘one on one’ with the hiring team. Don’t be afraid to show your personality.
You can ensure you keep ‘on topic’ by communicating your enthusiasm for the role and the company. When wanting to communicate on a more personable level, the best advice is to write as if you were standing in front of the person speaking to them. By doing so, you can keep your writing professional, while communicating in a less formal register.
The below example shows you how you can communicate with passion while keeping on track!
Example: “Your company values of Care, Commitment and Courage are aligned with my own, showing how I would be a good fit”.
Becomes: “Your company values of Care, Commitment and Courage resonated with me on both a personal and professional level, and I would love the chance to join a team and culture with such strong and important standards”.
Ensure You Have the Basics Right
This may seem obvious, but make sure your writing is clear and concise. Ensure your sentence and paragraph length is appropriate – hiring managers will be reading through MANY cover letters, so it’s important to keep their interest.
Check that your spelling and grammar is correct, make sure you’re writing in letter form, and always provide your contact information.
Take some time away from the letter before you proofread it. As a safety measure, ask someone else to also proofread it too.
If you are worried about the tone of the letter, a great practice is to read it aloud to check that; it makes sense; it sounds professional; you have been concise and informative; you have displayed your personality.
Keep it Relevant & Brief
All of the above may seem like an awful lot, but you should be able to write each of the above sections in 1-2 sentences (2-3 max!). Keeping your cover letter relevant and brief makes sure that you stay on track and remain concise.
In general, you should aim to keep your cover letter to less than 2/3 of a page. Any more than this and you’re at risk of CV regurgitation or losing the reader’s interest!
The very act of providing a cover letter will automatically separate you from those who haven’t. By simply following the above guide, you can also make sure that your cover letter is a valuable complement to your CV and that you convey yourself and your experience in a precise and personable way.
If you need help with CV and cover letter writing, feel free to send us a message or reach out to us for free advice at hello@incconsulting.co.uk
