Want A Winning Cover Letter? Try This

When applying for a job, your cover letter works as an interface between you and your prospective employer. How you articulate yourself in your cover letter and more importantly, the content you choose to put out, determines whether or not the recruiter will even get to reading your CV.

Very often, we focus all our attention on making sure everything is perfect on our CV, and in the bargain end up writing a rather hasty cover letter. That might be the death of your application. The reason being, your cover letter is actually your chance to communicate to your prospective employer why you should make it to the interview, and probably even a predetermination of your chances of bagging the job.

What are the three most important things your cover letter absolutely must communicate? Read on.

1. Your interest in the profile you are applying to – Why does the role excite you? Is it a challenge you seek to accomplish? Speak about all this and more. Communicate how through your skills you will be able to add value to the role, and also how the role will add value to your existing skill set. Demonstrate how your past work experience (if any) will aid you in doing justice to the role you are applying to.

2. Your interest in the organization – This is something that you must speak about in your cover letter, especially since your CV doesn’t provide scope for that. Articulate what about the organization’s mission statement and objectives stood out for you. Your cover letter is a chance for you to mention how and why you think you are a fit for the organization’s culture, and what about the organization’s culture appeals to you. This is an extremely important part of your cover letter since you are communicating to them why you believe in what the organization stands for.

3. A long term vision – Write about how you see yourself assimilating what you learn through the role you are applying to, into something bigger you might have planned for yourself. While your plans may change, and the change would be absolutely valid, and perhaps even necessary, demonstrating that you have a long term vision infuses your recruiter with confidence about having you on the team.

Once you have thought about how you are going to articulate the above three things, pay attention to the finer details of the cover letter. Address your cover letter to the appropriate person. Remember at all cost to refrain from recounting what is already mentioned on your CV, and in conclusion, write in order to be able to make a strong case for yourself.

Read here for some great advice on how to make your cover letter stand out.