How to Protect Your Phone Screen from Scratches

A great cover letter can entice the hiring manager to call you even before they read the attached resume. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? What’s even better news for you is that your covering letter can be exactly like this – provided that you follow the set of professional writing rules.
There’s an ongoing discussion about whether cover letters are still necessary for a modern job-seeker. Some recruiters admit to never reading cover letters at all! However, this only stems from the uniformity of cover letters. 90% of them sound similar, don’t promote the job-seeker for the role and contain lots of mistakes.
Whether you write cover letter for a job or academic institution, the structure is basically the same and contains the elements as follows:
If you are determined to write a selling cover letter, rely on our professional advice. It works pretty effective for all careers. If you’re an engineering PhD, creator or a copywriter, use the tricks below, and you’ll be a huge step ahead of your competitors for the job. By the way, professionals of our resume agency use them when creating letters for clients.
There isn’t a universal advice for all career situations, but in most cases an ideal cover letter should be 3-4 paragraphs in length and take a half or ¾ of a page. This length is enough to share the juiciest career details without lengthy preambles and secondary facts.
Generic cover letters don’t work. Hiring managers have to process hundreds of applications, and they can spot a cookie-cutter letter at a glance. And this kind of letter won’t be of any help for getting an interview, as the recruiters typically don’t read them. For some, a meaningless letter is a reason to reject your resume as well.
Luckily, writing that letter from scratch every time isn’t necessary. If you apply for similar roles, you’ll only need to customize a paragraph or two – for instance, provide different examples of skills and accomplishments.
Don’t see a cover letter as another version of your resume. It should be informative and make sense as an independent document. Use the facts from the resume and present them under different angle – or provide a few extra details. For example, if your resume states that you’ve exceeded sales target by 35% quarterly, in a letter you can mention that this was achieved through incorporation of innovative technique of sales. Probably, the company representative schedules an interview with you just to find out more.
The worst salutation ever is ‘To whom it may concern’ - in 2020 is unforgivably rude. It indicates both lack of your interest in a position and lack of customization. Moreover, there are a plenty of ways to find out who is hiring: you can determine the name of the HR person via LinkedIn, call the company to find out who is hiring for a certain role, or at least Google this information. Address your letter to that person directly and send your application to their email rather than sending it to a generic email or uploading via job site. Thus, you’ll get more chances for a close consideration.
The lion’s share of applicants writes cover letters without keeping the focus on the employer’s needs. They brag about their past experiences and accomplishments, but fail to ask themselves how those accomplishments can be connected with the company’s needs, our resume expert says. So, before putting something on the cover letter, ask yourself: does this information helps demonstrate the traits the company is seeking? Can this accomplishment serve as proof of my ability to deliver outstanding results for them?
For instance, if the company is looking to hire a blogger to build the connection and establish credibility, it makes sense to highlight successes in written communication. However, if they need a blogger to appear in search results more often and get more reads, it’s the SEO optimization and internet marketing that you should focus on in that cover letter.
Nothing entices hiring managers more than the reasonable use of numbers. The money you saved, people you led and trained, sales targets you exceeded – all is good to prove your professionalism. Even if you haven’t worked with numbers actually, there’s always a way to quantify your experiences. You can’t help but agree that: “Improve the office processes to reduce time loss by 15%” sounds better than “An organizational efficiency adept”.
A cover letter writing advice that never gets old is making it personal. Among the dozens of generic letters full of clichés, the one that tells your personal story immediately gets noticed. How you can make that letter sound personal? Tell about your connection with the company’s product or service - for instance, a story about how you first bought the company’s cosmetics. Or, if the company has an environmental responsibility program, you can showcase the fact that you’re a vegan or buy recycled goods only. It will show your motivation behind the money.
One of the things a cover letter is meant to highlight is a cultural fit. The proven way to do it is to review the company’s website and other materials to get a sense of their values and tone of voice. Mirror them as you write, and you’ll sound like a perfect cultural fit.
Thoughtful job-seekers insert the positive feedback from their boss or client straight into a resume. You can go even further and use a testimonial in a cover letter. Just make sure that it isn’t a bit generic: feedback that sounds like “Marylyn is a great programmer and I enjoyed working with her” gives no information for a potential employer.
Cover letter mistakes are huge deal-breakers. As you’ve completed writing, be sure to proof it for mistakes. Devote enough time to correction of the grammar, spelling, style of writing and check facts. If possible, have English resume proofreaders to take a look at it prior to submission. Most hiring managers decline the application with errors, so don’t put your interview chances at stake.
Pick a few tips which are easy for you to implement and start creating your letter. If you use the professional advice right, this letter will distinguish you from other job-seekers. But be careful: if you create a truly irresistible cover letter, you might be spammed with job offers. In this case, figuring out how to decline job offer will do you any harm.
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