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Is Your Cover Letter Denying You Your Dream Job?

Posted on 03. Nov, 2009 posted by Bill in Cover Letters, Employment News

There’s (still) a recession out there, and the competition for jobs remains fierce. Unfortunately, the biggest challenge for many job seekers is not competition, but communication.

Because your cover letter is your first opportunity to make an impression on a hiring or recruitment manager, it can make or break your job application.

Here are 7 tips to help you craft an impacting letter:

- Avoid Boiler Plates. Tailor your cover letter specifically to the company in question. Hiring managers have an uncanny ability to spot generic cover letters, so don’t take the risk

- Avoid Long Paragraphs. These days, attention spans are very short, on the internet in particular – very important for email cover letters. Therefore, have no more than two or three sentences in a paragraph. Otherwise, the reader may feel overwhelmed and quickly lose interest.

If you have a lot to say about a particular job experience or position, use several paragraphs with appropriate transitions

- To Whom It May Concern. Never send out a cover letter addressed to no one in particular, even if you are writing a “prospecting” cover letter

- in which you inquire about possible openings rather than apply to a particular opening

“To whom it may concern” or “Dear Hiring Manager” shows you’ve not done your homework. Call the company to get the name of the hiring manager – be nice to “gatekeepers” when you call.

If you can’t get the hiring manager’s name through HR, then check things like press releases, annual reports, news items, etc., for the name of any insider and call that person to direct you to the right person or department. Note that someone in HR may not necessarily be the right person to send your cover letter

- Have A Strong Lead. Your “lead” is your first paragraph after you’ve stated where you saw the job opening. Don’t say you’re interested in the job because the company is the biggest and the best, or because you can walk over water. These are lame reasons that will get your letter dunked into the wastepaper basket or the “deleted” e-mail folder.

You want to have a lead that will grab attention and differentiate you from the rest of the applicants. A simple and smart way to do this is to study public information on the company – annual report, company research, mission statement, website, etc. – and find something you can frame or highlight as your motivation for applying to the company

- It’s Not About You. Too many “i’s” always spoil a cover letter because “i” tends to put the focus on you, rather than on the company. Therefore, keep the total “i’s” in your cover letter to no more than six

- What If You’re Stuck for Words? Since your resume already lists your accomplishments, your cover letter should really be about how your skills match the job requirements, and especially about how you can help the company achieve its goals. In other words, while the resume is about what you’ve done in the past, the cover letter should be more “forward-looking”. However, if you are stuck for what to say on a cover letter, one trick is to take one of the accomplishments stated on your resume and discuss this further in your cover letter

- Don’t Just Hope to Hear Soon. A strong closing is just as important as a strong lead. Rather than closing with the usual “I hope to hear from you soon”, you will make a bigger impression by stating what you intend to do next.

Perhaps you intend to follow up your cover letter with a call in a couple of days, or you intend to seek out the company’s personnel for a discussion at an upcoming recruitment fair or Expo. Make sure it’s something tangible, proactive, and related to your pursuit of the job.

All the best with your job search.

Gbenga Alaran is the Lead Copywriter for Aran Meta Copywriting, a web copywriting service that promotes businesses online to multiple income status using words that sell, and web marketing strategies that improve online exposure and visibility fast.

To promote your product or service online to business buyers using persuasive writing and pervasive marketing visit Aran Meta Copywriting.

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