When
you apply for almost any modern job vacancy, a covering letter
is pretty much an essential item to send along with your CV.
Indeed, even if the job does not necessarily require a very
formal application (certain blue collar jobs for example), a
good covering letter can only make a good impression on an employer.
Covering
Letters serve several purposes:
Firstly,
they act as a reference for your contact details but more importantly,
they offer a great opportunity to 'break the ice' with a prospective
employer and to highlight your key (relevant) skills and why
they should take you and your CV seriously.
When
should you include a covering letter?:
When you
are enquiring with a possible employer about whether they have
any vacancies available but not actually applying for an advertised
vacancy.
When you
are applying to a job advert and submitting your CV to an employer
When you
are sending your CV in to a Recruitment Agency. Either with
a specific vacancy in mind, or to register your details with
them for future vacancies.
What should
your Covering Letter contain?:
You should
make notes from the job advert or job specification and use
these when writing your covering letter and CV.
Your Covering
Letter has to make an impact! It should be
Professional, and directed to the person who is named in the
advertisement or if no one is named you must find out who is
in charge of HR at the firm (during your research on the company...right?!)
You
should address the individual you are writing to as Sir or Madam.
Your
Covering Letter should also be brief. Remember, the person you
are writing to will be very busy.... Your letter must be no
longer than 1 page of A4 and ideally 1/2 to 2/3rds of a page
of A4. Use a size 11 or 12 Arial font so they can actually read
it!
Make
your Covering Letter easy to read. Use proper paragraphs,punctuation
and spacing and if you are unsure, get someone you know who
is strong gramatically to assist, because it will make a big
difference.
DO NOT
repeat your CV in the covering letter! Instead, you should elaborate
on the specific points of your CV that are relevant to the position.
These are details that you could you not expand further on in
you CV due to keeping your CV to 2 or 3 pages..(you did keep
it to 2 or 3 pages right?)
When
expanding on your skills in the Covering Letter, be sure to
relate how they will transfer to the position you are applying
for. This is very important.
Close
the Covering Letter with a 'Yours Sincerely' or a 'Kind Regards'
Customising
your CV to a specific position
Your CV
should cover most (or all) of the desired attributes they are
seeking from the new employee! This is an art form and a few
examples of how to 'customise' your CV are shown below.
If for instance
the Job Advert specifies - 'Must have experience of motivating
a large team and be able to demonstrate good leadership qualities.
'' and
your experience was working as a senior team leader of 4 factory
shift teams.... You could turn it to your advantage and think
around the requirements...by saying:
3 years
as a team leader overseeing 5 x 5 men shift teams within XXX
business. During this time I encouraged and motivated my staff
to meet their targets and exceed their goals, demonstrated by
the XXX and YYY results I achieved whilst in this position.
In addition to this and due to my strong leadership skills I
was promoted during this period to the position of senior team
leader in overall operational charge of all shift personnel.
I now report directly to the commercial director who has highly
commended my efforts in developing our Lean Manufacturing Environment.
Dig Deep...Think
about all aspects of your work and home life that could be applicable
to a work situation. For example, if you ran a local amateur
football team in your spare time, you would add this in to your
CV but translated into how it could be applicable to the business
environment. For Example, 'after running a 5 aside football
league for over two years I have developed exceptional organisational
and project management skills after scheduling and managing
XXX teams playing XXX matches at YYY locations every week..
I believe these skills would be strongly evident in your work
environment and demonstrate my suitability for this position.'
Useful
Covering Letter Links
Covering
Letter Samples
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