Standing Out with Cover Letters

Like your LinkedIn profile, a cover letter is another opportunity to tell a hiring manager more about yourself than your resume alone conveys. It’s a chance to show the hiring manager how what you like to do and are good at can provide meaningful value to their organization. Your cover letter should include why you’re interested in the organization and how you think you can help that organization; this is something that your LinkedIn profile and your resume don’t address specifically. Here are three key points for you to know about cover letters:

-            Consult guidance available online for creating an effective cover letter

-            Your cover letter should explain how work you like to do and are good at can meet a specific target organization’s unmet need(s), instead of just an abstract idea about the value you can provide

-            Continue to emphasize quality in both your cover letter formatting and the research you do on the organization to help you develop your cover letter content

Consult guidance available online for creating an effective cover letter

Lots of online sources provide extensive information about writing cover letters. Your job seeker website should be an authoritative source, with something like the CareerForce cover letters webpage that provides general guidance and examples or templates. Reviewing at least one or a few sources will be helpful for making an outline for your cover letter that leads you to fill in the right details in the right places.

Applying what you like to do and are good at to specific organizations and their needs

A well-structured cover letter should make it easier to clearly demonstrate what you know about a target organization and what you have to offer. If you know your strengths, the depth of those strengths, and how they can fulfill a given organization’s unmet needs, you’re in a great position to articulate the value that you can bring to that organization. This is the most compelling thing you can do in your application, and the cover letter is your chance to convey this in an easily readable way.

Continue to emphasize quality when writing your cover letter

As a cover letter is part of your professional portfolio presented to a hiring manager, it should be created and maintained to the same quality standard you would apply to your resume or LinkedIn profile. While it might save time to try to make a cover letter template that’s not hard to use for more than one job application, you should write a tailored cover letter for each application; complete fewer high-quality applications instead of more low-quality applications. Take a reasonable amount of time to complete research on the organization you’re applying to. Only apply for jobs you really want and are definitely qualified for, both so you create stronger applications and because when you do land a job, you’ll be happier with what you have.

Ask your support person to review each cover letter you write to ensure there are no silly mistakes that will undermine your credibility with the hiring manager. Does your support person agree that you’ve done a good job explaining how what you have to offer can meet an unmet need of the organization receiving your letter? They may be able to ask you thought-provoking questions to help you determine if you’ve done the right amount of research about the organization.

Conclusion

Writing a cover letter for each job application can help you stand out from other applicants and increase your likelihood of getting an interview. Look at guidance offered from job seeking websites for how to write an effective cover letter. Cover letters are your opportunity to explain how what you have to offer can help meet the organization's unmet needs as part of your application. Continue to emphasize quality in each cover letter you write by doing adequate research on the organization before drafting your letter and asking your support person to proofread it after.

Write a cover letter for each application to emphasize to your target organization why you’re a can’t-miss candidate!

The next post on the roadmap: Applications: Introducing Yourself for a Job