Covering Letters

Whenever you apply for a job by sending in your CV, always attach a covering letter – it is (almost) as important as the CV itself.

It is likely that these two documents will be glanced at between coffees, meetings, phone calls and emails - so you need them both to be thought-provoking and interesting, while remaining succinct.

Your covering letter wants to prompt the following response: "oooh yes, this person looks very promising... gimme a look at their CV." Then the job of your CV is to find its place on a YES pile for interviews.

There is no set formula for covering letters, but it's important that you are able to put across a hint of your personality while demonstrating to your future employer that you have the key attributes they are looking for. Across the CV and covering letter you need to show how your past experience and achievements fit the job requirements and that you have potential to expand into the role they are advertising.

Before you start writing, make sure you do your research. Whoever reads your letter will want to know that you understand their list and their competitors. You can look at the publisher's online catalogues, look them up on bookshop websites and visit actual bookshops, too (one day). You want to know some of the publisher's key authors and their most recent successes. You won't write about all this in detail on your covering letter but the key is to say as much as you can in as few words as possible.

Here are some of my top tips:

• Make sure your passion for the industry shines through in a subtle way. You could mention one or two of their books that you've read, or explain what makes you feel absolutely thrilled about working in publishing.
• Be specific about the job role itself – what is it about editorial, sales, production etc that fires you up?
• Demonstrate that you understand publishing is a commercial business that has to make money. Mention key trends or some of your predictions for publishing.
• Also, be tech savvy. Showing an awareness of the development of digital and audio will show that you are looking ahead to expanding consumer needs.
• As with your CV, make sure you proofread it multiple times/get other people to take a look. In my opinion they should be around 1/2 a page or 2/3 of a page.
• Always revisit your CV for every single job you apply for. Make sure there is nothing contradictory in there and that the two documents support each other.

In week eleven of my editorial apprenticeship, we carry out a thorough inventory of your CV and online presence, and I provide a covering letter template that can be adapted for any role. In week twelve, we carry out a practise interview, with real questions from publishers. If you are interested in this, email [email protected] for all the info.

Good luck!