At its best, a cover letter helps job-seekers stand out. At its worst, it can make promising candidates seem like uncreative copy-and-pasters. Unfortunately, the majority of cover letters read the same with rambling sentences and repetitive words. Most hiring managers do not want to read these to the end.
While the Internet is full of tips and tricks for writing a cover letter, many of them offer obvious information. Here are the golden rules for writing a cover letter that people will actually want to read.
Don’t Repeat Your Resume
Many people write cover letters as if they are meant to be paragraph-form resumes. The fact is, your cover letter will be in the same email as your actual resume, so you can safely assume that it will at least be glanced at and likely with a keener eye than your cover letter even. Instead, use your cover letter to show your personality and an interest in the field you are applying for.
Use Google to look up the history of your field or the company you are applying for and sprinkle your cover letter with some of those facts or even use it as a lead. For example, if you are applying for a job in tech, you could talk about how thrilling it is to see Moore’s law transform technology and how thrilled you are to be a part of that transformation. Every field has a hidden history that you can use to showcase your expertise and interest.
Keep It Short
Less is more. Your cover letter should be no more than three paragraphs or half a page, tops. You can skip lengthy explanations and jump right into something juicy instead.
Address No One
You may find that you don’t know exactly who you should be addressing in your letter. If that is the case, nix the generic and dull “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Hiring Manager” salutations. If you don’t know who you should be addressing, don’t address anybody at all. Simply jump right into the body of your letter instead.
Send it as a PDF
Not every office computer can read .pages or .docx files, but practically everyone can open a PDF file without having to convert it. Forcing the recipient of your cover letter to perform a file conversion is bad for two reasons. Firstly, they are likely not even to bother and move to the next applicant. Secondly, conversions can cause formatting errors. PDFs also can’t be easily tampered with like other file formats, giving you more control over how it appears on somebody’s screen.
The Phrase You Should Always Avoid
“My name is (), and I am applying for the position of ().” They already know this information, so there is no need to say it and including it makes you seem inexperienced.
Close Strong
Finish off by briefly explaining how your experience or skills will help you with this position. The key to nailing your cover letter is having a short but memorable and relevant closing. Aim to do that in just one to two seconds because if it goes on any longer than that, and you are rambling.
If you need assistance crafting a cover letter that will get you hired at a temp or contract job, Trades Labour Corporation can help. Please call or visit one of our convenient locations for more information.
We also help our client companies from Vancouver to Toronto, as well as south of the border, parse through dozens of potential hires to find the best people for the jobs they need filled.
At TLC, we deliver labour™!