Getting a job today isn’t as easy as it used to be. In the current job market, competition is fierce, and the positions are seemingly in short supply. It’s no longer enough to simply submit an application and hope that you get called for an interview. An excellent cover letter can make your troubles all the easier, but you’ll need to know a few very important things about it.
I’ve built a list of the top 3 most important things about your cover letter or that it should do. They’re not all that surprising, and if you think about it a little bit I’m sure you could come up with them…but here they are anyways, in black and white for you to simply read and absorb.
First Point: HAVE ONE. I can’t stress enough to you how critical it is to have a cover letter, period. As tough as your jobhunt may be, it’ll be almost impossible to nail a decent job without a half-decent cover letter. Usually the cover letter is the first line of scrutiny when an employer is sifting through hundreds of applications.
Having a cover letter is not a luxury or a bonus, it’s essential. Without a cover letter, you’re very likely to fail the first round of the elimination process and lose out to all the people who had a good cover letter. The most important thing to remember about a cover letter is that in order to get the benefits of what a good one can do for you, you have to actually have one.
Second Point: Outline your qualifications and tell why you, personally, are a good choice for the position. This isn’t a bragfest, and your references and work experience will be enclosed on your resume, but the cover letter opens up an opportunity to “personalize” it. The prose-like cover letter is able to convey a much more rounded view of who you are and why you’re qualified than a simple grid of filled-out data fields.
Your goal here is to identify yourself with the position available, to plant ideas in the reader’s mind of why you’d be qualified for the specific position. Now, it’s not to be written as “I’m good for this job because I _______.” It’s too blatant. Instead of saying “I’d be a great choice for this restaurant management position because I spent 4 years as manager of a Red Lobster in my hometown,” simply say “I was manager of my hometown’s Red Lobster for 4 years.” Qualify yourself without stating that you’re qualifying yourself. They know what position you’re trying for, and they know how managing a Red Lobster for 4 years would qualify you; it’s not necessary to waste valuable words.
Third Point: Having a cover letter is key, but the most important part of the cover letter you DO have is to make sure that you propose an interview or initiate active communication to establish an interview. Getting the interview is absolutely critical to getting the job, as you can probably imagine. Words on a piece of paper are one thing, sitting in front of the employer and letting him see who you really are is another. After the interview stage, it gets a lot easier.
So always remember that you simply MUST broach the subject of an interview in your cover letter, usually towards the end. Suggest a potential time for the interview, or notify them of another particular time when you will again contact them for setting up an interview. Never simply say “please contact me at (012)345-6789 to set up an interview.” Chances are good you’ll never get that call. Always be the one to initiate contact. “I’ll call you on Tuesday to set up an interview” beats the prior example any day.
To see these concepts in action, take a look at these free cover letter examples. They’ll help you learn how to write a cover letter so that it more powerfully conveys the information you need, and does its job all the better.
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