Most job vacancy announcements list a cover letter as one of the application requirements. In fact, cover letters play a key role in making you stand out from the crowd and convincing your potential employer that you are the perfect candidate for the job. Along with a good CV, a good cover letter can ensure that you are selected for the position. An excellent cover letter is especially important for those who do not have that many years of experience to put on their CV. Based on the arguments of your cover letter, an employer can still feel that you are the right candidate even if you do not have the necessary experience.
Going through thousands of CVs is a boring task for your potential employer. Few people actually take the time to examine all CVs carefully. Therefore, it is essential that you grab the employer’s attention with your cover letter. It is often the case that only CVs accompanied by superior quality cover letters are taken into consideration. This is the most important thing to keep in mind when writing a cover letter you must convince your potential employer that you are different.
Before sitting down to write a cover letter, take time to do some research. Browse the Internet for examples of winning cover letters and adapt them to your specific background and personality, as well as the jargon of the type of work for which you are applying. Use refined language by looking in the dictionary for synonyms. For example, let us say that you want to use the word get. Look it up in a thesaurus and opt instead for another word like obtain or acquire. Repeat this process to replace all the words that sound too common and ordinary. This may look like boring and tedious work, but it is better to invest a couple of hours into writing a great cover letter than regretting that you were not selected for an interview later.
Research is crucial and you should therefore make sure to learn all the details about the company. Visit their website and study the terms that they use for the specific jobs. Do some brainstorming to come up with the key terms that you should use and work around these. Moreover, take notes of the key qualities and skills that are part of the job requirement. Once you have all this written down, you can begin writing your cover letter.
It is important to distinguish between the purpose of your CV and the purpose of your cover letter. While your CV provides general data on your educational and work background, as well as your general interests and abilities, your cover letter should only focus on the information that is relevant for the specific job opening. It essentially serves to highlight the aspects of your CV that the potential employer may consider to be important. Do not include irrelevant information as this will bore your potential employer.
Start your cover letter by describing your keen interest in the vacancy announcement and where you came across it. Subsequently, mention relevant previous work experience. If you do not have any relevant work experience, write about some situations in your life in which you had to deal with similar issues. Mention any extracurricular activities or volunteering experience. Then, move on to describe some relevant aspects of you personality, e.g. list your biggest strengths. This should be followed by an account of your enthusiasm for the field of work. Write a couple of sentences about how much you are dedicated to the field and how a position such as that one represents the best job in the world for you. This will convince your potential employer that you will carry out your duties with passion and dedication. Last but not least, close the letter with confidence and expectation. State that you look forward to hearing from the potential employer and that you are available to attend an interview if necessary or answer any further queries that they might have. If required in the job application, make mention of a couple of referees, such as your past employers or university professors, who can provide positive feedback about your personality and work or study experience.
2 Comments
Dalirin
January 17, 2009 at 10:02The cover letter is also important, but I hate writing it. I hear it takes a recruiter about 30 secs to review a cover letter. So you have to sell yourself to the recruiter in 10 secs.
ivaylo
February 19, 2009 at 17:43I think than most important in a cover letter is:unique words and write format!Be different don`t be
predictable!