The value of the cover letter is often sorely under appreciated amongst job hunters, who often don’t realize how closely employers study them. Many things can go wrong in a cover letter, yet it is also very easy to get right if you know how to approach it. Just follow these two simple rules.
Rule 1 - Always, always, always include a Cover Letter!
Ignoring this rule is one reason why candidates don’t hear back from employers, particularly when applying “cold” i.e. not responding to a posted job vacancy. Cover Letters are an excellent opportunity for you to sell yourself, demonstrate your written communication skills, attention to detail and explain your interest in the role or company.
Never underestimate the value of your cover letter. Many job ads specifically ask for a cover letter to be provided. If you don’t provide one, what does it say about your attention to detail?
Rule 2 - Don’t use a generic Cover Letter
Tailoring your cover letter does not mean simply changing the name of the company and the person to whom it’s addressed (though many candidates forget to do this), it’s tailoring the content of the cover letter to issues specifically raised in the job ad.
Though it’s hard to comprehend at first, your cover letter is not actually about you. It’s about the employer. Many job hunters make the mistake of listing everything that they want and forget what the employer wants. It’s all well and good outlining all your skills, but if they don’t specifically address the job criteria all you’re doing is firing blindly, hoping one of your skills catches the employer’s eye. However, more often than not, such cover letters look misdirected, unstructured and lazy.
Think about how you respond to a mass-email. How much time do you spend reading a mass email compared to an email sent specifically to you and no one else? Employers feel the same way about generic cover letters.
This isn’t to say you must write a brand new cover letter from scratch for each and every job you apply for. You can use a template, as jobs you apply for will obviously be similar, but remember to edit your cover letter based on specific information contained in the job ad. Most ads make it easy for you to do this; take note of bold, italicized, or underlined text and bullet points. These are usually key criteria. Next, specifically address these criteria in your cover letter.
For example, if the job ad asks for someone with strong leadership skills, give specific examples of instances where you have shown great leadership.
The final word
A great cover letter introduces yourself, tells the employer the specific job you’re applying for, why it is of interest to you and why, using specific criteria outlined in the job ad you’re the best candidate.
On the off chance you hadn’t noticed, be specific! A specific cover letter is a focused cover letter, a structured cover letter and tells the employer you’ve read the job ad, you understand what they’re looking for in an employee and you have a genuine interest in the role and the company. A cover letter does not have to be an essay. One page or 300 to 400 words is easily sufficient.
Specific.
Jeremy Bost
http://www.youngprofessional.com.au/content/view/282/131/
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