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How to Write a Killer Cover Letter

You’ve found the perfect job, your resume is ready to go, but there’s one last thing on your to-do list: the dreaded cover letter .

While it might seem easy to write a one-page letter touting your strengths, many job seekers struggle to understand what, exactly, an employer is looking for and how to translate that into a couple of paragraphs.

Cover letters are unavoidable, and many employers consider them the most important part of any job application. As much as you’d prefer to let your resume speak for itself, your cover letter is truly your chance to make the best first impression. This is your opportunity to showcase your talents, stand out from competing candidates, and help hiring managers get to know you outside of your resume.

It’s time to give that cover letter the TLC it deserves. Below are a few simple tips to help you write a cover letter that lands your dream job:

1. Always Submit a Cover Letter

This bit of advice might seem pretty obvious to you, but many people think cover letters are optional. Even if the job description doesn’t specifically ask for one, you should still include one.

Applicants who don’t take the time to write a cover letter are typically seen as less motivated, and most hiring managers won’t even look at an application that lacks one. Cover letters are a must! We all know the time and stress that goes into writing one, but by going the extra mile, you prove your interest in the job while showing you’re willing to put in the effort.

2. Don’t Regurgitate Your Resume

Yes, it’s okay to talk about the things listed on your resume, but don’t copy and paste them right from the document. Instead, elaborate on your previous experiences and highlight things that relate to the position you’re applying for. A cover letter lets you put your skills into full sentences rather than just bullet points. Use this time to share additional details you weren’t able to squeeze onto your single-page resume and tell a story about why you’re the perfect fit for the job.

3. Don’t Apologize for Skills You Don’t Have

This is one of the most common cover letter mistakes. For some reason, we all feel the need to apologize for our perceived shortfalls — but why? If you don’t meet all of the job requirements, don’t draw attention to that fact. Instead, stay positive and focus on the skills you do have. It’s better to highlight your strengths than to apologize for your weaknesses.

4. Don’t Be Too Formal — Show Some Personality

Remember the person receiving your cover letter is just that: a person. Spare the overly formal constructions and put some personality into it. Reading through cover letters can be exhausting, and employers often only skim them. Dare to get noticed. Make your cover letter stand out. Give employers a reason to stop and read your full letter. It just might be the thing that lands you an interview.

5. Pay Attention to the Details

The smallest grammar mistake will most likely land your application in the “no” stack. It doesn’t matter what job you’re applying for; hiring managers are always looking for smart, detail-oriented individuals. If you misspell a word or forget a comma, don’t think it will go unnoticed. Be sure to proofread thoroughly your cover letter before submitting it. Consider having a colleague or friend review it as well for added security.

6. Be Yourself

Last and most importantly, be yourself. There is nothing worse than someone trying to be something they’re not. If you land the interview after blatantly lying in your cover letter, the employer is going to find out, and you won’t get the job. Be confident in yourself and highlight your true strengths. An honest cover letter will go a long way.

While it can be stressful to write, a cover letter can make or break your chance of landing an interview. Be patient and give your letter the attention it needs. You’ll be happy you did.

Ahnaf Bashir is the vice president of human resources at Advance Financial .

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How To Write A Killer Cover Letter + Example + Free Template

We all know how important is it to have a top-class resume to deliver to your prospective employer or company recruitment officer, but many job seekers tend to forget how crucial it is to back up your resume with a solid cover letter .

A killer cover letter will also help you stand out from the crowd when employers are sorting through their list of prospectives. Many people also make the huge mistake of keeping a generic cover letter on file and sending it to multiple employers without a second thought. Big mistake!

It would come as no surprise to find most people have sent out the same cover letter to prospective employers at one point or another. This is especially true if you have been looking for work or trying to change career for some time. We all tend to get a bit weary of the constant application process over time.

Harsh as it may sound, the reality is that neglecting your cover letter can lose you that job , no matter how good your resume is. Many people think that your resume showing your skills, qualifications and work experience should be enough. Sadly this isn’t true.

Make sure you have an exceptional cover letter to back up your resume and you will be sure to stand out from all the other candidates. Employers have to wade through hundreds of applications to sort out their shortlist. Take your chance to show how perfect you are for the role and make it impossible for them to ignore you.

Watch our short video guide explaining how to write a cover letter that gets results

How to make writing your cover letter easier

If you are not a natural born writer, or even if you are, crafting a killer cover letter can seem hellishly difficult to achieve. Many people make the job more complicated than it actually is, so let’s take a look at how to simplify your cover letter writing.

Basically, a good cover letter needs to get across three important things:

• You have the necessary skills to fit the job at hand
• You have strong communication skills
• You will seamlessly fit in with their team

So how exactly do you convey these three points in your one page cover letter?

Start out strong and to the point. You need to grab the readers attention, so anything wishy-washy or too vague will be very boring to read and will see your letter consigned to the bin in the first 15 seconds of reading. The first sentences of your letter are the most valuable . Don’t beat around the bush here – launch straight into why you are perfect for the job.

Here is an example of an attention grabbing introduction:

“You are looking for a person who can communicate extremely well on all levels, someone who is self-assured and confident, and can be trusted to work independently or cooperatively within a team. I believe I am the person you need.”

Once you have your reader hooked, you can then move on to convincing them that your skills and experience are a perfect fit for the role.

Put the above advice into practice by using our free cover letter generator – a quick tool for creating an attractive cover letter in PDF.

Mirror the language of the job description

Most businesses will have their own company language and this is usually reflected in the chosen wording of their job advertisements. You can use this to your advantage by mirroring the language used in the advertisement as much as possible to show how your skills match perfectly with with their needs. For example, if you previously worked as a ‘content writer’ for a company, but this firm calls it ‘copywriting’, then you should also call it copywriting. You are more likely to get noticed if you already speak the same language as the company does!

Remember to inject some personality

Your killer cover letter serves the purpose of demonstrating why you are a good fit for the job in hand, but you don’t want to come across as some sort of unfeeling robot. Employers hire people on a combination of both their skills and their personality. They like to hire people that they can get along with and be able to work well with others. By making your letter conversational in tone and not overly formal, you can demonstrate that you are friendly and approachable. This will add a good feeling to your cover letter that will make it shine.

Never use a generic “To Whom it May Concern” salutation. If you know the hiring manager’s name, you may use Mr or Ms first and last name. If you are unsure, you can address it to the department hiring manager or the job title hiring manager.

Debi Douma-Herren HR Consultant & Career Strategist LinkedIn

The key to a killer cover letter is making the employer want to meet you. Steer-clear of those classically overused catchphrases that recruiters see over again in generic cover letters and you should easily stand out from the crowd. Try to avoid phrases like: “I am passionate about…”, “I am a team-player”, and “I am a fast learner.” Believe me, these phrases litter most cover letters and are so overused that employers can go cold at the sight of them.

If you see a job that is worth applying for, always thoughtfully tailor your cover letter to suit the language being used. Avoid boring the reader to death, and inject a bit of your personality to get yourself noticed in a sea of cover letter mediocrity.  You can do it!

Why do we need a cover letter?

While you think that adding a cover letter to your resume is an extra time-consuming task, you may wonder if you can get away with just sending your resume without one. However, in most cases, especially when you are applying for a job in a competitive industry, a good cover letter will greatly help to boost your chances of getting through to the interview stage.

Done correctly, your cover letter will help to highlight your most valuable skills and experience for the job in hand, and can make all the difference between making it to the ‘yes’ pile for short-listing for interview, or being rejected.

Your cover letter is a great opportunity to deliver key information to the employer without them having to search your resume for it.

What should I include?

What you should make sure to include in your cover letter is your previous experience that directly relates to the job that you are applying for. This instantly shows the employer that they have a candidate that can hit the ground running.

Remember to keep your cover letter short and sweet. You don’t want to overload the employer with too much information, especially if it repeats what they will find in your resume. Three to five paragraphs is sufficient, but make sure each paragraph is targeted to a different aspect of your application.

Go through the job description and search for key words and phrases. This is what the employer is looking for in a candidate, so you should make your cover letter answer their requests. If they want a candidate with sales experience, tell them in your cover letter that you have sales experience.

What to avoid with your cover letter

A well written cover letter can have a very positive influence on an employer – but don’t forget that the opposite is also true! A poorly constructed cover letter isn’t going to win you any friends, so keep it on point and relevant.

Avoid making your cover letter too long. An employer can be very put off when they see a very lengthy cover letter with huge blocks of text for them to wade through.

Cut any unnecessary waffle. Your cover letter is not the place to tell an employer that you are the president of the narrow-gage model railway society, or captain of you basketball team. Keep everything you include in your letter relevant for the job on offer.

An Example of a Cover Letter

Here we have prepared an example of a cover to give you an idea about how to write your letter. You can use this example to guide your writing, or you could choose to use the free cover letter template that is all ready for you to edit with your own information ( see below ).

Cover letter applying for the post of a Magazine Subscriptions Manager.

Name Title Organization Address City, State, Zip Code

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:

I am applying for the role of Magazine Subscriptions Manager as advertised by your company. My resume is attached for your review. With my previous related experience as a Subscriptions Administrator for XYZ Magazine, and my exemplary work ethic, I would appreciate your consideration for this management role. My skills are an ideal match for this position.

My related experience:

Responsible for managing the subscriptions database, solving customer payment and delivery issues, dealing with customer queries directly via telephone and email, following customer care procedures in accordance with departmental and company policies. Assisting with hiring, training, and management of junior staff and interns. Coordinating and collating statistics and sales reports. Experience in the supervision of staff as an active line manager.

I also possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills and work well as part of a team.

I appreciate your taking the time to review my resume and experience. Thank you for your consideration.

Your Signature

Cover Letter Template

To save you a lot of time with your cover letter preparation, we have created a well-balanced Cover Letter Template for you to use. This template has been created in MS Word and is completely customizable. Simply download and edit our professionally designed Cover Letter Template with your own personal information.

Download template (.docx)

Remember to tailor the text in your template to reflect why you should be selected for this job interview.

Need a matching resume design? Get the free Champagne & Wine resume template here .

Proofreading your Cover Letter

On a final note, take extra care to thoroughly proofread and edit your cover letter. Look for easy to miss typos and grammatical errors that can make your letter look sloppy. Wherever possible, get at least two other friends or family members to look over your cover letter for any minor mistakes that you may have missed.

If you don’t have anyone free that can look over your cover letter for you, then check out Grammarly.

Grammarly can be your second pair of eyes when you need to make sure your cover letter is absolutely perfect. It scans your text for common and complex grammatical mistakes, then offers accurate, context-specific suggestions to further help improve your text where necessary.

This post has been originally published on Oct 26, 2016 and has been extensively revised and updated on April 23, 2018.

Elena runs content operations at Freesumes since 2017. She works closely with copywriters, designers, and invited career experts to ensure that all content meets our highest editorial standards. Up to date, she wrote over 200 career-related pieces around resume writing, career advice... more

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Very exhaustive, informative and precise narration. After reading this article, the thinking of the applicant will be streamlined and focused. It will be more helpful to fresh graduates and nonetheless the experienced! Thanks.

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How to write a killer cover letter – live chat

Join our live chat on Wednesday 20 September from 1–2.30pm BST and ask the experts for tips on how to impress employers with an effective cover letter

Writing a stand-out cover letter can be a bit of a minefield. Where to start? What to include? While CVs tend to follow a standard pattern, cover letters give you more room to manoeuvre, and provide an opportunity to show off your personality and delve deeper into selling yourself. But it can be a daunting process. They need to be fresh and relevant to the role you’re applying for –no rehashing the same cover letter you sent off for another job.

In a competitive jobs industry, a sparkling cover letter can really separate you from everyone else applying for the role. Remember the employer looks at this before they read your CV, so spend time writing an effective letter, as it can make you a memorable applicant.

To help you on your quest of bowling over a potential future employer with your cover letter wizardry, on Wednesday 20 September from 1-2.30pm BST the below panellists will be on hand to answer your questions. During the debate, they’ll cover:

• Tips on what to include in a cover letter
• Long or short – what’s the perfect length?
• How to ensure you get your personality across
• What recruiters are looking for

The Q&A will take place in the comments section below this article. Taking part is easier than ever: create a free Guardian account , or log in using your Twitter or Facebook profiles to comment. Alternatively, you can tweet us @GuardianCareers or email your questions to [email protected] , who can post them for you.

Jon Gregory is a job search, application and interview specialist, also experienced in business re-organisation and recruitment. He’s the author of Winning That Job, editor of win-that-job.com and provides advice and services to students, graduates and professional career-builders.

Victoria McLean is an award-winning career expert and the founder of CityCV.co.uk. With 20 years’ experience in CV writing and interview coaching in the UK and abroad, she was a former head hunter and recruitment manager for two of the world’s largest banks.

Lis McGuire is a professional CV writer and the founder of Giraffe CVs . Lis provides useful tips and advice through a weekly blog, as well as The CV Confidence Coach podcast series.

Andrew Fennell is the director of StandOut CV , a London-based CV writing service. Fennell previously worked as a senior recruitment consultant across multiple industries.

Lisa LaRue is a career and interview coach at CareerWorx with more than 18 years’ experience helping people plan and manage their careers.

Hannah Morton Hedges has 15 years experience as a careers adviser and now runs Momentum Careers Advice . Prior to this she gained experience as an in-house recruiter for a variety of blue-chip companies.

Sarah Archer is a qualified career coach, and founder of CareerTree . She coaches people who want to have fulfilling and meaningful careers, and enables them to find new jobs through using effective job search techniques.

Rachel Gowers is a people and culture manager at customer ratings firm TruRating . She has extensive experience in HR strategy, coaching, mentoring, employee relations, recruitment and retention.

Looking for a job? Browse Guardian Jobs or sign up to Guardian Careers for the latest job vacancies and career advice

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10 Secrets to Writing a Killer Cover Letter

Writing a cover letter in today's competitive world has become an art form. While there are the established rules of keeping content tight and focused, and formatting well, there are some secrets you should know.

We'll look at 10 important tips that will help you write the perfect cover letter easily while achieving the best results possible.

in this guide we'll teach you:

• Formatting tips for writing a cover letter
• Who you should focus on in your writing
• The difference between a cover letter and a resume

Before we get into it, make sure that the other crucial component of your application is in place - the resume.

Head over to our resume builder for expert advice.

10 Tips for Writing a Killer Cover Letter

1. your cover letter should never, ever be longer than one page.

Recruiters are busy. They have lots of experience in making quick decisions based on the dozens of cover letters that they have to review daily.

If they see anything longer than one page, they are likely to toss it away. The worst thing you can do is hand in two or more pages stapled together.

It's normal to have lots to say regarding why you want the job or why you're qualified to do it, but this is why you have to think strategically and choose great examples of your career to talk about.

Save your big speech for the interview and if you want to land one, keep the cover letter a short page.

2. Use formatting in your favor

Following up on the single page cover letter secret - you can use your space wisely if you format correctly.

Stick to a letter size between 10 - 12 and got for a compact style such as Tahoma, Arial, or Calibri. Make sure not to leave spaces before or after any commas or periods.

Use 1.5 spacing . Double is too much, yet single will make your text hard to read. This way, you'll be able to fit more text on the page and keep it organized and easy to read.

3. Save your cover letter in the right format

One of the best-kept secrets is the power of PDF. You should always save your cover letter in PDF because it's the only way to make sure that it opens on every device and it keeps your formatting in place.

If you save the cover letter in a ".dox" format, you risk having it appear out of order on the recruiter's computer. Moreover, not every computer is able to open a ".dox" format and be sure that the recruiter won't take an extra five minutes to convert your files.

Play it safe and go with a PDF cover letter.

4. Show, don't tell

Your cover letter should be engaging and interesting to read. The resume is the serious part of the application where you establish all of your factual information.

The cover letter, on the other hand, is your chance to show your creativity and let your personality shine through.

Make your writing visual. Check out these two examples:

"I've worked in customer service for 5 years and know how to calm down an angry customer."

While this may be true, the statement above is plain boring. Here's a better way to let the hiring manager know about your customer service superpowers:

"During my time at Company X an angry customer whose account had been hacked came in. I managed to diffuse the situation by dropping everything I was working on and accompanying them in the entire process until we got it resolved. The client ended up being one of our most loyal users for the next 4 years."

The second example helps the hiring manager imagine how exactly you use the skills you keep saying you have. Make your cover letter visual and use the show vs tell method.

5. Make the cover letter all about the business

We know you care about landing a job, but put yourself in the company's shoes. They want to hire dedicated people who are serious about moving the business forward.

Make sure that your cover letter reflects this idea. There's nothing worse than a selfish applicant. Check out this example:

"Dear Hiring Manager,

• I feel like I could really learn and grow in your company. The pay is great too, so I will be happy being rewarded for my work."

While all of the above makes sense for the candidate, it looks bad from the recruiter's point of view.

It's okay to care about yourself, but show that you care about the business, too. Let's have a look at a better way to write a cover letter:

I want to be your next Sales Manager because Company X needs a strong leader who will take your team from good to great. I was impressed by the data that you published last quarter and especially the fact that you were able to increase your market reach and demonstrate an 8% increase of earnings.

I see a great potential in your product and the team, and strongly believe that with the right guidance, your earnings can hit the double digits as soon as the next quarter."

This candidate shows that they follow the company and have a clear plan in mind. This is what the hiring manager wants to see - someone coming in with determination, knowledge, and fresh ideas.

6. Show that you’re keeping up with the company’s work

This secret goes along with the previous tip. Follow the company you most like to work at and know what's happening at all times.

Keep in touch via Twitter, LinkedIn, and reading the company site. This will come in handy both while writing a cover letter and during your interview.

7. Proofread the right way

Proofreading is super important. Spelling or grammar mistakes will make you look careless.

The best way to proofread is to print out your cover letter and read it on a physical sheet of paper.

It helps a lot to have a second pair of eyes , so ask a friend to look it over for you. In order to identify grammar mistakes, use Grammarly .

8. Know the difference between a resume and a cover letter

Repeating information is a complete waste of time, especially for someone as busy as a hiring manager. Many candidates make the mistake of repeating their resume on the cover letter. In fact, the two are completely different and should be treated as such.

The resume presents the facts of your professional career. The cover letter, on the other hand, shows your motivation for wanting to do the job.

The cover letter should tell a story, be easy to read, and feel convincing. Focus on that and keep the facts on your resume.

9. Never open the cover letter by explaining what position you're applying for

Don't repeat information that's already on your application. Remember that the hiring manager will see your basic information and the position you're up for long before they even get to reading your cover letter.

Opening with "My name is__and I'm applying for__" is a big no-no. Instead begin with the standard "Dear Hiring Manager," and then get right into why you want the position.

10. Have a strong conclusion

Wrap up the cover letter as quickly as possible. Make sure that the one story you pick to demonstrate your relevant skills is exactly what the recruiter is looking for.

Once you hit them with the perfect example, you don't need to worry about explaining further or whether you've been persuasive enough throughout the letter.

Writing a cover letter is no science but it does take an extra effort to get it right. Always keep your letter down to a single page with persuasive content that tells a story, as opposed to repeating your resume.

Proofread and format well in order to keep things clear and organized. Make your cover letter all about the business and be careful of talking about your personal interests too much.

Finally, make sure to keep in touch with the company on social media and know what's happening at all times.

Knowing these 10 secrets for writing a cover letter, you can go ahead and apply confidently. Have one last look at your resume and make sure it looks perfect.

If you need some expert help with your resume, head over to our resume builder .

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