College Crunch

So you have decided that writing a cover letter is a good idea to assist your job application. A good choice, a cover letter is unlikely to hinder your application whereas there is a good chance it might give it a much needed boost.

But it is important to make sure that you are putting yourself in the best possible light by giving plenty of relevant information. So use this guide to ensure that you give yourself the best possible chance of getting an interview.

Introduce yourself and say which job you are applying for.

The reader won’t know you so make sure that you give an introduction that says a small bit about yourself and the position that you are applying for. A comment about your current job title, how long you have been in the industry and what job you want. The hiring manager may have a dozen jobs being advertised at any one time and will appreciate being told which it is.

E.g. I am an nurse of 20 years standing and I am interested in your ward sister position as advertised in the Times.

Tell them what relevant skills you have.

Next you want to go into exactly what you can bring to the advertised position. Make sure you reference the skills they are advertising for. I know you will have them in your resume already but this is your chance to include them all in one place rather than spread out across a number of jobs

Industry Experience

Follow this up with any experience within the companies industry that you might have. Companies always like to have people that have been working in their industry so push your knowledge. If you don;t have the industry experience but other industries to translate skills across well say why, you can’t do that on a resume but you can here.

Statistics

ONLY include of relevant. But any relevant stats about value of projects worked upon etc can really impress ability onto a reader.

Research

Feel your cover letter doesn’t stand out as much as others will? Then include some research about the company, industry etc and why you suit it. Talk about rivals and market movements. Make yourself stand out from any ‘cookie cutter’ cover letters out there.

Sell yourself

Summarize by saying exactly why you are the right person for the job. Reiterate anything you have to, remember that repetition aides memory. Make sure they end their reading of your cover letter knowing exactly why they should being you in for an interview.

Cover letters are a wonderful tool for letting the reader know what you have done in the past and what you can do for them in a far more focused way than a resume or CV, make sure you take that chance by emphasizing exactly why you are the right person for a job.