When applying for a job, including a cover letter helps you stand out from the crowd. A good cover letter should show that you are intelligent, well spoken, interested in the company and experienced. Cover letters are a great tool for expanding on your C.V, giving the recruiter more of an insight into your personality and dedication to work. Often, when recruiting for graduate level positions, recruiters will only view applications that include a cover letter. Here are our top tips for writing a good quality cover letter;
1. Always be professional
This one seems obvious, but many people forget when writing their cover letter that it is a formal letter to their potential employer. Therefore, it is always important to remain professional when writing your cover letter. Open with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or similar, and never use colloquial or slang terms in the body of your letter. This also goes for the appearance of the letter itself, so try to make sure it is well formatted and your paragraphs are coherent and lead on to one another smoothly and always proofread. Appearing professional in your cover letter will give the employer an insight into you as a person before they even meet you at an interview, which will make them want to meet you more.
2. It’s OK to use a template; but try to make it unique
There are many templates online for cover letters that have most of the work done for you before you even begin. However, if you are going to use a template, remember that recruiters have seen them many times before and it may come across as ‘lazy’. Therefore, the best idea with templates is often to take elements from 3 or 4 different ones and write your own template using their ideas. This will make your cover letter still come across as individual, while still helping you if you are stuck for things to say. What you don’t want is for a potential employer to think that you haven’t put the effort in to writing your own cover letter, so it is really important to make sure your own writing style and personality shine through if you are going to use a template to help you.
3. Expand on your C.V
A cover letter is your opportunity to expand on the relevant experience and qualifications from your C.V and talk about why they would benefit you within the role that you are applying for. Use this opportunity to talk about yourself; what did you like/dislike about the last job you worked for? Does your education give you transferrable skills to the role that might immediately benefit the company? Always remember to include the most relevant experience from your C.V, as your potential employer isn’t necessarily interested in experience that won’t benefit them if they hire you.
4. Make the language you use stand out
One of the most common mistakes when writing a cover letter is using generic terms and phrases that employers have heard many times before. In order to stand out, try to think outside the box when writing about why you think you’d be perfect for this job. Instead of saying you are ‘passionate’ about something, try explaining why the role excites you and what drives you to work in that industry. Uniqueness and individuality in a cover letter is always going to catch the eye of an employer and make them read on, which gives you a better chance of getting to interview stage.
5. Do your research; talk about the business and the role at hand
A cover letter is essentially you saying why you are perfect for the role that you are applying for. Therefore, to achieve the best results, adapt the cover letters you write for each role so that the employer feels that you have really got an interest in working for their company. Look them up online, find out what their specialties are and why they are a great company to work for. Often this information is included in the ‘about us’ and ‘work for us’ sections of the company website. If they have any awards or achievements for great care of their staff, for example, showing that you know this in your cover letter will help the employer to feel that you are more personally invested in their company and working for them specifically, rather than you have sent out applications en-masse.
So, now you know the basic information you need to write a good cover letter and it really is that simple. If you follow these tips when writing your cover letter you should see great results in your job applications, as it can often make or break the decision to invite you to interview. Finally, you can always ask family or friends to read your cover letters for you and tell you if they sound interesting and professional enough. Never shy away from a second opinion! So what are you waiting for? Get applying through Recruitment Avenue with your shiny new cover letter and have a happy New Year from all of us!
