You Still Need a Cover Letter
A cover letter will not land you a job. It is not a silver bullet. However, if well written, it can encourage the hiring manager or the recruiter to spend more than the typical 6 seconds reviewing your resume. So here are some important points to remember in writing a great cover letter.
1. Be Brief. Your resume should tell your story quickly but comprehensively. This is the time to put your ability to tweet deep thoughts in 140 characters (or less). Your cover letter should not look like it is a long read. If it does, it will be pushed aside.
2. Be Human. Do not be generic. Do not make the reader feel that they are reading a template that has been sent to 50 other companies. Tell the recruiter something interesting about yourself in the first two sentences. Employers want to hire people, not templates; if you send the same cover letter to 50 people with only the readers’ names changed, you will not get an interview.
3. Exhibit your passion. You may be desperate. You may need this job, but do not state that. Instead, tell the hiring manager why would love this job. Resumes cannot express passion; they express skills and achievements. Your cover letter helps differentiate you from all the thousands who only fill out an online form or simply attach their resume to an email. Make sure you tell them why they should ask you in for an interview.
4. Make it easy to read. Formatting is as important as content. If your cover letter looks like a dense novel, it won’t get read. Use spacing, bulleted lists and short paragraphs to improve the readability of your cover letter.
5. Highlight your “softer” skills. Intangibles can earn you a job, and your cover letter gives you a chance to mention these soft skills. This can include traits such as eagerness to learn new things, an ability to work independently, project management skills, or the ability to multi-task.
6. Sell your qualifications. Pull out and briefly highlight a couple of key elements of your resume that you believe the recruiter or hiring manager will find of interest. What have you achieved that you believe the organization will find relevant and desirable?
A well-written cover letter can still make a difference if you are creative enough to position yourself properly. Make it compelling; make it fun to read; make it succinct. It sets the tone for your resume and for your interview, so take the time to make it a great one.
Want to know more about how to differentiate yourself during the job search? Visit Snelling’s Candidate Resource Hub for all the information you need to put your best foot forward during the job search. When you are ready to start looking, visit your local Snelling office, where our talented staffing managers can work with you to find your best-fit job.
