How to write a good Cover Letter...
Ok, I think it’s time we spoke about cover letters.
One of the first videos I did over on my YouTube channel was all about perfecting your CV and ever since that video I have had many messages asking me to give some advice on cover letters too.
I did touch upon it slightly in my recent Q&A video but I think it’s time for a whole dedicated article on how you can write a better cover letter to increase your chances of getting the job you want.
I’ve read a lot of cover letters in my time and if I am being honest, the majority of them are not very good. Thinking back to the old cover letters that I used to do, they were probably crap too.
In this article I am going to share my opinions on what makes a good cover letter, going over what to include, and also what not to include.
I’m going to start with the main two things that you need to remember.
Let’s start with number one.
When I say tailor the letter to the job I don't just mean include the job in the first line of the letter. I say that because that is what a lot of people will do.
Have the job specification with you and really go over at what they are looking for. Explain how something you have done before could benefit this club, or be applied within the role you are going for.
Do some research on the club. How do they play? Can you do some research to see if anything worth noting has happened there recently. Maybe they won, or did well in, the FA Youth Cup, or developed a number of good players? Maybe they have gone from a category 3 academy to category 2?
Let them know why are you applying for the job, and BE GENUINE!
With point number 1 in mind, it goes without saying that you should have a completely different cover letter for each application. There may be some similarities if it is a comparable role, but every club is different and I’m sure the job specification will have some differences too. Don’t try to save time and copy and paste etc. Put time into your letter. You want to be noticed!
So, let’s get to the next point which was not regurgitating your CV and I think this is really important. Your CV is there to show your qualifications and recent job roles. You don’t need to include all of that again on your cover letter. If you do, not only is it boring, but you are missing an opportunity to sell yourself. You want to get across why you are a great fit for the position, whilst showing you are knowledgable, qualified and all round passionate about the role.
If you have a skill on your CV that you are proud of, can you explain how you could use that skill in the role if you were successful, and how they would benefit from it?
Don’t just say you know how to do x, y and z... tell the reader how you used these skills in the past. Also, how could you use them in this new role.
For example, let’s say you have watched my other videos (I have over 20 video on my YouTube channel) and you have created yourself a portfolio of work. Maybe you have niched to defenders and the stats of them across the top leagues in Europe. What have you learnt from this? Could you apply this knowledge to the club you are applying for. The answer is probably yes.
If you can demonstrate you have a good skill that can be of benefit to the club, they may well just hire you just for that alone.
Next, the first line of your letter is important, treat it like a dating profile. Establish quickly you are qualified and ensure the person reading wants to continue.
The length of the letter is also important. Personally, I would never go over one page. Anything longer than that and you are probably waffling and I will probably not read the whole thing anyway. You want to be interesting whilst being concise and straight to the point. Another thing I will say on this is that is the application asks for a one-page letter, that is even more reason to stick to a single page. If you cannot follow simple instructions, it's not the greatest of starts.
Next is the formatting...
Make it look nice on the page. By this I mean don't just have one huge block of text. Split it into paragraphs (and even bullet points). I would probably try to make it consistent with your CV, as they do usually come as a pair. By this I mean use the same style of font, and even include a similar header with your name on so it matches nicely with your CV.
Finally, make sure you spell check letter. Then, save it as a PDF and name it accordingly:
"Chris Gill - Cover Letter"
Then email it to the correct address, along with your CV with a short message. Don't just send a blank email with two attachments, at least say who you are and what job you are applying for!
I have done a video version of this article which may (or may not) have a few extra points. You can view that video below. If you found this article (or video) useful, please do consider sharing it and also subscribing to my channel where I put out a new video every week on the sports industry and getting jobs etc.
Thanks again for reading and have a great day!