What is a Cover Letter? ›

What should I concentrate on?

The key points that an employer is interested in are:

1. Why are you interested in seeing them?

2. What are your relevant skills and experience?

Although these are vital questions for a hiring manager, it can be difficult to get the information across in a CV. You will probably use your cv to approach several companies and while industries and roles may have common characteristics, every organisation is different with sometimes very different, competing priorities. It is a tough ask to make your CV convey your interest in one specific company, given all of the possible essential and desirable criteria available.

With a cover letter you have an opportunity to explain to the hiring manager your interest in their company or the vacancy. One approach that people often take is to describe why your background is a good fit for the organisation’s ethos, goals or future plans. For example, if the company is an innovator and well known for their groundbreaking products you may want to explain how your background matches this. Remember that it is not enough to say you are an innovator. You must back this up with evidence from your background.

So:

‘œXYZ is a company I have long admired for the way its innovations constantly change the way consumers view everyday products. In my own career I have sought to achieve a similar outcome, such as introducing Web 2.0 applications in client presentations that have helped to demonstrate the breadth of our company’s technical expertise.’

Think about why you would like to work for Company A and then review your own skills and experience. This should help you to find a match for the cover letter.

The beauty of the cover letter is that you can concentrate on specific areas that are relevant to the situation. You CV might mention some of the relevant tasks among your other activities but when you know what the key criteria for a job are you can highlight it clearly for the reader. Remember, the cover letter is all about matching your relevant skills and experience with the job.

As a tip, if you are emailing your CV or application, you can paste the content of your cover letter in the body of an email. Obviously remove the address details.

Use the cover letter to match your skills and experience with the company. Keep it under one page and make sure the tone is professional and polite.

Types of cover letters

Using a generic template will not work – recruiters and hiring managers can always tell – and it will do your cause more harm than good if you do not take the time to personalize your approach. There are several types you can use, depending on the context. Some of the most widely used cover letters are:

Applying for a definite vacancy

This is where you are know there is a definite opening, either because you are responding to a job advertisement or you just know that a company is hiring. You should tailor the cover letter for the particular job and you can do this by:

1. Listing the key requirements of the position;
2. Explaining why you are interested in the job;
3. Describing how your experience is a 100 percent match;
4. Thanking the reader for their consideration, requesting an interview and providing your availability (e.g. Interview dates and notice period).

Referral or Networking

Often one of the most successful routes into a new company is via a personal contact and this letter can be chosen when you and the organisation or hiring manager have someone in common. In this situation you already have an ‘In’ and the reader is almost always willing to give your approach at least the courtesy of consideration. When using this type of letter you must:

1. Mention the name of your mutual contact and your relationship to them;
2. What you know about the organisation and why you are interested in working for them;
3. Why you are contacting them (Is it to be considered for specific roles/to gain experience etc.?;
4. Very briefly describe your skills or experience as it is relevant to the organisation or the type of role in which you are interested;
5. Thank the person for their consideration and offer to meet informally for a chat at a convenient time.

Speculative approach

Here you are not aware of an actual vacancy but are contacting the company ‘out of the blue’. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and most companies will appreciate your initiative as long as you word the letter in the right way. The key points to get across are:

1. Why you are applying to the company i.e. Why you want to work there;
2. What you have to offer (based on what you know about the organisation);
3. Thank the person for their consideration and offer to meet informally for a chat at a convenient time.

Finally, some general pointers:

• Be polite and professional
• Avoid humour or arrogance – you have no idea of the reader’s sense of humour and the wrong tone can easily misfire. Arrogance does not demonstrate confidence – just arrogance.
• You can allow your personality to come through – a cover letter has a slightly different tone to a CV and you can take advantage of this. However, avoid going over the top and bear in mind the points above. Think of this as the first of three dates.

Good luck!