Crafting the perfect cover letter can often feel like a daunting task. A well-crafted cover letter can serve as a beacon to catch the recruiter’s attention. Cover letters are a chance to showcase your personality, skills, and enthusiasm on a single page. Mastering the art of the cover letter can significantly elevate your chances of landing that dream role. Whether you are a seasoned professional or embarking on your first job hunt, writing a strong cover letter can greatly increase your chances of getting a callback. Here are 5 cover letter tips to help you navigate this step of your application journey.
1. Tailor Your Cover Letter To Each Position
When creating your cover letter, you want to be sure to create new cover letters for every position you apply for. A standard cover letter may not always be relevant to the position you are applying for, and it ends up being no different than not submitting a cover letter. When tailoring your cover letter for each position, here are a few things to remember.
a. Use Keywords Relevant To The Position
A job description will have certain skills in it that an employer is looking for in a prospective employee. As you write your cover letter, be sure to include these keywords when applicable. A prime opportunity is relating a previous job experience to something the employer is looking for.
However, if you mention that you are skilled in something, it is important that you actually are. You will likely be asked about it, so it is vital that you can show that you do have what they are looking for.
b. Use The Hiring Manager’s Name
As you address your cover letter, it is best to try to find the hiring manager's name. Sometimes, this can be found in the job posting. Other times, you may have to look on the company website or browse LinkedIn. In the event you cannot find a name, you can use a general “Dear Hiring Manager.”
c. Keep It Relevant
One of the biggest reasons to customize your cover letter for each application is to make sure that the experiences you reference are relevant to the specific job application. While you are able to frame a position in a lot of different ways, there will not be one way that works for every application that you apply to.
2. Address Potential Concerns
Your first thought may be to try to avoid any weaknesses you may think that you have. However, you should use your cover letter to address any concerns you think the hiring manager may have.
Leaving concerns unaddressed could allow the hiring manager to remove your application from the possible candidates. However, addressing possible concerns can show initiative, and it can convince the hiring manager to keep your application under consideration.
3. Close Strongly
After you cover your relevant experience and why you are a good fit for a position, you want to be sure to end strongly. The ending of your cover letter will be the last thing that the employer reads, which will also mean that it is likely the thing they will remember.
As you finish your cover letter, you should end it with a call to action to try to encourage further communication with the employer. A few options include:
“Please contact me at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email Address] to discuss my application or schedule an interview.”
“I would love the chance to meet with you in person to discuss how I can contribute to the continued success of [Company Name].”
“If you have any questions or need any additional information or references, please don't hesitate to reach out at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email Address].”
4. Proofread Carefully
Similarly to your resume, we cannot stress the importance of proofreading your resume enough. Hiring managers look for ways to quickly remove applications from consideration. Spelling mistakes are a great way they do this.
Multiple spelling mistakes can tell the employer that you do not check over your work before finishing everything, or it can even come across that you do not care about the work you are doing. Regardless of the reasoning, be sure to proofread everything.
In addition to asking someone else to read over everything, you can use online proofreading tools like Grammarly.
Also, you should make sure that you do not overly use certain adjectives. Indeed has great article that explains how you can provide yourself, and it provides some adjectives to prevent repetition.
5. Always Create A Cover Letter
A lot of jobs like to say that a cover letter is optional. As long as there is a place to upload or submit a cover letter, you should always treat it as required. Every position is going to get many other applications.
If you do not submit a cover letter, hiring managers are looking for any way to reduce the number of applicants. If you are one of the only ones who did not submit a cover letter, your application will be thrown out early. On the other hand, if you are one of the only ones to submit a cover letter, your application will stand out.
In summary, a cover letter is an important piece of your application. Despite many job applications framing a cover letter as an optional addition, you should always include a cover letter in your application. A well-written cover letter can set your application apart from other applicants and can help you secure an interview.
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