A cover letter indicates that you want to work in a particular company. A good letter will help a candidate stand out from the rest, especially if there are many applicants for the same position and their work experience is similar. A cover letter is an added advantage that helps you stand out from other candidates. It allows you to demonstrate writing skills and how you can formulate thoughts. After all, the resume describes the experience, and the cover letter explains why you are useful for a particular position. It also shows the sincere interest of the candidate in the vacancy. So, how to write it?

Top Tips on How to Write a Cover Letter

So, a cover letter is a small text (smaller than an A4 sheet) that helps attract the employer’s attention to your resume. It also better reveals your professional and personal qualities. A letter is sent along with a resume by email or when applying for a vacancy on the site. Experts advise sending letters, even if the vacancy doesn’t indicate such a requirement.

The resume speaks about your experience and education, and a cover letter reveals you as a person. By the style and information contained, recruiters can understand how interested you are in the vacancy, what additional qualities and skills you have, and why you consider yourself a suitable candidate.

Of course, a cover letter is no guarantee that your resume will be opened and read. But there are exceptions. A good letter can make a potential employer pay attention to you (especially if there is a highly competitive vacancy).

Yes, writing a cover letter often doesn’t make sense if you are applying for a line staff position, such as a salesperson or cashier. As a rule, the flow of responses to such vacancies is large, and the recruiter may not have time to read the letters of all candidates. Therefore, it is up to you whether to write a letter in this case.

A cover letter is useful if you need to clarify information from your resume. For example, you have decided to change your profession and don’t have suitable work experience. Then, in a cover letter, you need to explain why you decided to change work and how you see yourself in a new area.

Here are some essential rules you should remember when writing a cover letter:

1. Find out as much information about the organization as possible to indicate in your cover letter why you want to work in this particular position and what contribution you are ready to make to the company’s development. The recruiter has to see your interest.
2. Briefly show why your skills and experience are suitable for the job. In addition, you must indicate why the recruiter needs to consider your candidacy for this position.
3. A resume and cover letter should complement each other. Of course, you can’t repeat the resume’s content in the letter, but there should be no disagreement between these two documents.
4. Be polite. You shouldn’t write such phrases: “Hi, this is my resume. Good luck, and see you soon.” You should adhere to the business style of communication! Instead of the standard formula “I am applying for a job that you posted on a site…”, use, for example, this appeal: “As a sales manager with ten years of experience, I am interested in this position because…” and clearly explain your motives.
5. Stand out from the crowd. Try to enter one or two phrases into the text that will make you special in the eyes of the employer. For example, applying for the project manager position, note that you created a website for fans of a famous band in your spare time. But if you still think it is difficult to interest a recruiter with your personality, the online resume writing service can help you with this.
6. At the end of the letter, try to initiate contact. For example, you can simply write: “I hope for an answer from you.” Be sure to thank your counterpart for spending their time on your letter.

What shouldn’t you write in your cover letter?

1. Don’t indicate your entire biography in the letter. The employer or recruiter is only interested in those facts and qualities that will help solve the problems of the business.

2. Don’t write too formally, using complex sentences and terms. The employer and recruiter are real people, not robots. So, this writing style will not interest them, or the letter will be lost among hundreds of others.

3. Don’t download standard templates from the Internet. Firstly, they could be outdated, and secondly, recruiters read such letters every day, and they may get annoyed with them. You will be considered lazy since you didn’t want to compose a letter from scratch.

4. Don’t overdo it with creativity and epithets. Yes, sometimes it is useful to stand out from others, but it shouldn’t look outrageous.

5. Don’t write about problems at previous jobs and don’t give characteristics to former employers. The future employer will not appreciate it.

6. No need to retell the content of the resume. The letter is an “additive” to the resume, not a copy.

Study the company and the vacancy, prepare, and write a response. The combination of “a clear resume and a competent cover letter” is your secret to success and employment in the desired job. Be sure to proofread your cover letters aloud. This is how the most “secret” mistakes are caught, which the eye doesn’t notice during silent reading.

In Conclusion

So, how do be remembered and stand out in a stream of monotonous responses? Write an effective cover letter. Let us tell you a secret: just a letter and a portfolio are often enough for a recruiter to pay attention to your application.

Writing a good cover letter is an art. Having mastered it, you will feel much more confident. Experience in writing letters will also help you in the interview. You can apply the most successful theses and wording in conversations with recruiters and make a favorable impression on them.