Cover Letters: To Write or Not to Write?
Psst... think that cover letter you're writing should be about YOU? Think again.
Cover letters are the bane of job seekers and hiring managers alike! Job seekers hate to write them; prospective employers/recruiters hate to read them. But when well-done, the cover letter is a powerful job search tool.
Most people get it wrong because they don’t understand the true function of a cover letter: To show the employer your interest in the organization, and how you can help them solve their challenges. Only a tightly-targeted document will accomplish this; most cover letters are rambling accounts of meaningless education and experience. An employer has to wade through a lot of "I - I - I" to find relevant information.
Here’s what a cover letter SHOULD contain:
- An attention grabbing first sentence which contains:
- The name of a mutual acquaintance who recommended you apply for the position
- A current organizational win – new client, mission, award, etc.
- WHY this information draws you to the organization
- An action-packed second paragraph:
- Targeted to only the skills in the job posting
- Provides examples of how you’ve used the skill in previous situations
- Includes any additional skills that make you an even better candidate
- A call-to-action third paragraph:
- What do you want them to do as a result of reading your letter and resume?
- Contact you?
- Further discuss the position and your qualifications?
- Ask you if they need further information?
- What are you going to do? Follow up after a certain period of time?
- What do you want them to do as a result of reading your letter and resume?
Don't forget to thank the reader for their time and consideration.
There are critical benefits to the job seeker as well:
- The cover letter has a very unique perspective in that it allows you to pull together experiences from all over your resume in order to showcase certain skills. No other tool allows you to ignore chronology.
- Most ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) scan cover letters as well as resumes, so you have an additional opportunity to add keywords.
ALWAYS write a cover letter when provided the option to do so. Remember - you're writing about what the employer is interested in, not that cool (but totally irrelevant) project you did in undergraduate school. Make it count!
Public Health Enthusiast
9 年Good tips!
[Him, etc.] Training / enablement / upskilling strategist who knows how people learn technologies, across trends and industries.
9 年Great point about mentioning that you, the letter writer, will follow up in some period of time. Probably a great thing to put into a post-interview thank-you note, too. So many organizations interview, and then leave the process hanging for days or weeks, even after saying, "We'll be making a decision in ___ [time]."
Thank you for sharing. Maybe you have other recomendaciones for interviews.
Talent Acquisition Partner
9 年Great! Thanks for sharing.