5 Secrets for Writing Cover Letters That Get You Hired
A cover letter is highly important when applying for a job, and although many listings don’t explicitly say they expect one from you, it is recommended that you send it anyways, unless the job description expresses that cover letters should not be sent.
If you struggle with writing a cover letter, this post will come in handy. Below you can read about the top 5 secrets for writing a cover letter that will get you hired and that will impress all hiring managers and recruiters.
1. Don’t Turn Your Cover Letter Into A Second Resume
This is a common mistake when writing a cover letter that is recommended that you avoid, thus you already have a resume.
The goal of your cover letter is to show a company or business how you can help them solve a problem, as well as share what you can bring to their team. To do this, you can highlight relevant skills or knowledge you have but in a simple yet straightforward way.
There’s no need to describe your entire resume, and doing so will only lead to your cover letter and resume being archived or not considered properly.
Take a look at the job listing’s description for an idea of what the company is trying to solve with this search. If they’re looking for an assistant, they probably struggle with their current organization system, for example.
When you write a cover letter, try to describe how you’d solve the problem in the first paragraph, in short, meaningful sentences.
2. Write A Cover Letter Based On The Company’s Goals, Style & Tone
Writing a cover letter that will stand out implies examining the company’s style, tone, and goals, so you can later match your cover letter to them. For every job you apply to, you should write an original cover letter.
Check out their website and social media accounts to have an idea of the language they use, what they say, and how they address certain concerns. In your cover letter, you don’t need to write over and over again that you’d love to land the job but rather express your desire by connecting with the company’s values.
Focus on the company and explain why you’re the best candidate they can come across. Use your skills and abilities to back up your claims, and don’t be afraid to include numbers as well. If you increased sales by a certain percentage or sold a specific amount of something in the past year, add it to your cover letter if it’s relevant.
3. Keep Your Cover Letter Short But Unique
Perhaps one of the best cover letter writing tips is to keep your document short, like three to four paragraphs, but write it in a unique way that will be memorable for the recruiter.
Bear in mind that hiring managers and recruiters spend hours going through different applications, resumes, and cover letters, so they probably have seen it all. If you begin your cover letter with a simple “My name is X, and I’m applying for the position of…”, you just bought yourself a one-way ticket to the archive pile.
Space is precious when it comes to writing a cover letter that will stand out, and the sentence just mentioned is a simple waste of time. Recruiters have seen your application, therefore they know who you are and the position you’re interested in. Find a new way to start your cover letter, such as kicking off with a relevant anecdote, a quote that best describes you or what you want to say, etc.
4. Properly Adress Your Cover Letter
Whether this is the first cover letter you write or the hundredth, you should always know to whom to address your cover letter.
You can find this information by checking the job listing’s description, thus sometimes companies share the name of the hiring manager who will be reading the cover letters, or who posted the job listing in the first place.
If you can’t find this information, you can simply email the company and tell them that you’re interested in applying to a certain position and you wanted to know which department to contact to possibly get a name and address your cover letter to.
Once you find this, you’re ready to write a good cover letter that will stand out.
5. Proofread & Edit Before Sending Your Cover Letter
No matter if you have the best cover letter template, or the most suitable skills or abilities, if you send your cover letter with grammatical errors you surely won’t be considered for a possible interview.
After you write your cover letter, spend some time proofreading and editing it before sending it with your resume. And you don’t need to do it on the same day.
If you don’t feel your cover letter is your best work yet, take some rest, ease your mind, and get back to it the next day.
You can also ask another person to read it, and if you know someone with more expertise on the topic, it can help you acquire valuable cover letter writing tips.
Writing A Cover Letter That Will Get You Hired Conclusion
In this post, we talked about how to write a good cover letter that will get you hired every time. The five secrets mentioned are key when assembling your cover letter, whether you’ve been writing them for years or this is your first time drafting one.
After you’ve successfully written yours, you can use your cover letter template for future jobs as well as to improve your cover letters over time.
To sum up, the most important secrets when it comes to writing a cover letter involve not copying your resume, following the company’s style, tone, and goals, keeping your letter short, properly addressing your cover letter, and spending some time proofreading before sending it.