Jobhop Jobhop's blog : 7 Key Steps for Writing an Interview-Securing Cover Letter
So, you’ve found a job that screams that it’s the job of your dreams and you want to do everything you can to secure that all-important job interview to get the part. For most of us though this is easier said than done, especially in a situation where 100’s of people are applying for the same role.
However, even if you have a stellar CV, this isn’t enough. As well as this, you’ll also need to include a captivating cover letter that makes the employer say, ‘this is who we want’. So, to make this level of cover letter possible, here are seven essential steps you need to know.
Get Personal
The first thing you’re going to want to do is to do some research on the vacancy that you’re applying for. In particular, you’ll want to keep an eye open for any information, maybe on their ‘meet the team’ page, on who the hiring manager is in that company.
This way, you’ll be able to write your cover letter personally to that individual. “Not only will this surprise the hiring manager, but it will also show your incredible research skills and attention to detail. Only use ‘to whom it may concern’ as a last resort” – explains Chris Gardner, a Recruiting Manager at Uktopwriters.
Use a Professional Format
Although we’re talking about writing a cover letter that’s going to stand out from the crowd, that doesn’t mean that you should go overboard. This means keeping your cover letter in a professional format that your employer can easily follow.
Additionally, you’ll need to make sure that you have all the information that you should be including. This includes your contact information, including your name, address, phone number and email address, the date (to show it’s been written especially for this role) as well as the name of the contact we researched above.
Try to keep all elements of your cover letter in a professional format. For example, if you’re adding references or citations to your content, try using tools like Cite It In In or Assignment help to add them in properly.
New Job, New Cover Letter
Just like you would a CV, it’s important that you write a new cover letter for every single job role that you apply for. This is because the recruiters are not stupid and have possibly been in their role for several years, if not decades. This means they can spot a generic cover letter incredibly easily.
Whereas you might edit your CV to suit your job role, it’s for the best if you write a new cover letter from scratch for every vacancy since you can fully customise it to suit what they are looking for, dramatically increasing your chances of securing an interview.
Writing the perfect cover letter may be quite difficult if you’ve never done anything like it before. If this is the case, try using writing services like Boom Essays or Grammarix who can help you achieve an accurate form of writing.
A Cover Letter to Accompany Your CV
Writing a cover letter doesn’t mean you’re simply writing a detailed CV but a document to go alongside it. This means not repeating the information you’ve included in your CV but instead complementing it by going into further detail on the points that the recruiter will be interested in.
A cover letter is also a great opportunity to go into detail about your personality and what kind of person you are, as well as what kind of company you’re interested in working for.
It’s not easy trying to find the right balance of added detail and refreshing content, so, to make sure it doesn’t sound like you’re rehashing your CV, use writing guides like Academadvisor or State of Writing to get the right balance.
Easily Digestible Content
When a recruiter is reading through your cover letter, it’s important to remember that they probably have hundreds of applications to read through and if they get to yours and it’s several pages long or just a big block of text, they’re not going to want to read it.
Help your recruiter along but formatting your content into an easily digestible format. This means short sentences and only several sentences to a paragraph.
Imagine if this article was in a solid block format without being broken up with line breaks or paragraphs. Chances are you’d take one look and click the back button.
Keeping Things Precise
One of the most important points to remember when writing a cover letter is trying to keep things short and to the point. In fact, in most cases, you’ll only ever need three paragraphs; an introduction, information on how you are exactly what the company is looking for and then a final paragraph on why you want the role and why this job is perfect for you.
You can use tools like Easy Word Count to track your word count easily and efficiently, as well as writing guides like My Writing Way to make sure you include all the essential information in a digestible format.
Check it Over
Before you attach your cover letter to your CV, it’s essential that you check it through with an eye for detail. Even if the content of your cover letter is perfect, spelling mistakes, typos and grammatical errors will stand out like a sore thumb, and it says to the recruiter that you haven’t put enough effort into the detail of the work you produce.
Even if you’re not able to spot all the mistakes, you can use online editing and proofreading services like Paper Fellows or Oxessays to check it for you, or simply just get a friend to look over it with a fresh pair of eyes!
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things to be aware of when it comes to writing the perfect cover letter. By giving the recruiter the easiest experience to read your content and including all the relevant information they want to see, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of securing an interview for your next dream job.
"Gloria Kopp is a resume writer and a career adviser at Resume service. She is a founder and a writer at Studydemic project for international students and educators.Gloria is a contributor at Microsoft, The Tab and Academized."
- Career