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The cover letter is a valuable tool to demonstrate critical job skills and highlight your accomplishments. It gives you the opportunity to demonstrate how your skills can benefit the organization. It’s a showcase to demonstrate written communication skills. Personalizing the cover letter sets the stage for the reader to want to learn more.
For a Good Cover Letter, Consider the Following:
- Use the same quality paper your CV is printed on
- Address a person, not a title
- Do your homework/research
- Tailor the information to the reader. “Your ad on xyz.com captured my attention and motivated me to learn more about your practice. I’m convinced yours is the type of group I want to be associated with and I could make a significant contribution”
- Refer to a specific job. “As a specialist in the field of ______, I felt you might be interested in (specific skills) and (behavior traits)”
- Include a short paragraph that highlights one or two special contributions or achievements
- If the job requirements reveal an aspect not addressed in your CV it should be included in the cover letter
- After researching the position, it’s an opportunity to highlight areas not covered in the CV that may be beneficial to the employer, i.e., foreign language, computer skills, etc.
- Be specific: Include information relevant to the job you’re seeking
- Make it clear to the reader that you want to talk
- Detail when, where, and how you can be contacted or that you will follow-up at a certain point in time
- Set a tone that is both professional and friendly
- Demonstrate flexibility, i.e., shift work
- Provide examples of what you can do for them and the benefits. “I am very organized and detail oriented, so all charts that I keep will be complete and easily understood by others. I have good communication skills and interact well with others so I will be able to work well in a team environment”
- Emphasize core values, hard work, honesty, and respect
Good Cover Letters:
- State the purpose of the letter
- Tie it specifically to the company and a specific job
- Include references to personality or behavioral traits crucial to success in your field
- Use sentences that begin with or contain action verbs and phrases that demonstrate your skills and positive traits
- Include power phrases. For example, “What you need and what I have to offer sound like a match. I have a strong background in and talent for...so I could...” “I know how to...”
- Emphasize with italics, underlined phrases, boldface or capitalized titles
- Are printed on good quality paper
Good Cover Letters Avoid:
- Wasting space by listing irrelevant responsibilities or job titles
- Cramming too much information into a small space making the letter hard to read
- Being too short
- Grammatical and spelling errors
- Hand writing or using a typewriter
- Unorganized layout
- Using more than one font on a page
- Faxing or emailing. If required to do so, always follow up with a hard copy
