How to Create an Eye-Catching Cover Letter ??

How to Create an Eye-Catching Cover Letter

What is the purpose of a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is used to demonstrate your interest in the role, company, and an opportunity to stand out and expand on what impact you can make from your background and experience. A cover letter gives you a fantastic opportunity to express why this position is the ‘dream career move’ for you as you can impact a personalised message to the company you’re applying to, showing why this role is for you and to hire me!

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What makes a great Cover Letter?

An ultimate and impressive cover letter should include a standing opening statement about yourself, your relevant skills and qualifications, and a compelling finish with a call-to-action. This content should be all within one page and tailored towards each position you’re applying to! As a recommendation, you should have a master cover letter that you can tweak according to different positions and personalise.

Important Note: Remember that we’re in the digital age and that your cover letter needs to function on each Application Tracking System (ATS) so make sure your letter is on a Word document that is formatted and won’t be hindered by ATSs.

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What should be included in a Cover Letter?

·?????????Contact Information

·?????????Greeting – Personalised or “To Whom It May Concern”

·?????????Open Paragraph / Opening Statement

o???If you know someone working within the organisation, then this will be a great opportunity to refer them and mention you have a connection working at the company.

·?????????Middle Paragraphs

·?????????Closing Paragraph and Call-to-Action

·?????????Signature / Sign Off

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What do I write about?

Opening Paragraph

Imagine this cover letter introduction is your sales pitch on Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank, to grab their attention they’re expecting an eye-catching headliner to begin your speech. This is the same but in your cover letter to grab your audience’s attention! Introduce yourself and enthusiastically tell the employer why you’re applying for their position. Tailor this paragraph mentioning why you’re excited about the job listing and company and how it fits into your career aspirations.

To help with your beginning statement, think about what your why is. Simon Sinek describes our why as “the compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as a source for all we do”. You can take this principle into why you’re applying for the job in your cover letter, you’re not applying because you NEED a job but why you are a brilliant fit for the position. Additionally, to help, look at the company’s vision, YouTube page, specific stories, and case studies that can help formulate your enthusiasm.

Middle Paragraphs

Now you’ve introduced yourself and the reader has established your reason for applying, it’s now time to expand into your relevant experience, qualifications, and skills which make you the perfect match. In one to two paragraphs, create a narrative between your previous accomplishments and readiness for this position.

Important Note: The employer may have already read your CV at this point so don’t repeat what is on your resume in these paragraphs.

Closing Paragraph

The main objective of your final paragraph is to thank the employer for their time and consideration. You can express an interest in continuing to the next stage in the recruitment process and close the letter with your signature.

If you feel there might be some gaps between your experience and the requirements, then this could be a good opportunity to address this and clarify. For example, you may have a major gap(s) in your career or express that you’re upskilling in some of the key requirements through courses you’re undertaking.

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Why is it important to submit a Cover Letter? Insights into the data:

According to a survey conducted by ResumeGo found the following insights regarding cover letters which should be considered on why it’s impactful for you to create a cover letter for your next job:

-??????Do you bother reading cover letters at all when you go through job applications? 87% Yes / 13% No

-??????Do you value cover letters tailored to your specific company and job opening significantly more than generic cover letters? 81% Yes / 19% No

-??????How much time do you spend reading a cover letter for a typical job application? 52% 10 seconds to 1 minute.

-??????If you are someone who takes the time to read cover letters, what are some reasons why? 59% believe it will cover valuable insights to what wouldn't be in a CV/Resume.

-??????How important is it to avoid using a generic cover letter and tailor each cover letter to the job description? 61% believe it's very important.

However, to balance the argument, ResumeGo states that only 35% of recruiters admit that cover letters do not materially influence or sway their opinion when reviewing them for the hiring process but that doesn’t mean your cover letter has to be a part of this statistic and can support you later in the process!

Site Reference to: https://www.resumego.net/research/cover-letters/

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From my personal experience and opinion, personalization goes far when reviewing cover letters and shows that you've researched the company, express your interests and highlighted the reasons why you're a perfect fit, and expresses areas which can not be seen in a CV. Why leave yourself a small chance of not being selected due to not having a cover letter attached to your application and not leaving personalizing it to your audience? Represent yourself in the best way possible!

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I hope that you’ll now have an eye-catching cover letter and get your dream job!

I hope you found these insightful and helpful! Good luck!