5 Tips for your next cover letter.

​​If your cover letter is what helps you add more detail to your application, then ensure you take the time to make yours stand out. Here's how...

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Get personal

This works for both you and the employer. We’re past the times when we addressed letters to Sir/Madam and ‘To whom it may concern,’ it’s simply an off put from the word go.

With the ease of searching on Google or LinkedIn, it’s never been easier to locate a name that you can address your cover letter to. Why? It makes it feel tailored and not templated – we tend to appreciate people reaching out to us rather than robots.

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Get noticed

When it comes to you, being personal is all about being noticed. Remember that this cover letter isn’t a chance for you to repeat your work history, it’s about adding to it. Therefore, pull out some extra information or expand slightly on the experience that is most relatable to the job.

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Use your cover letter to make you shine from the rest. Avoid copying templated letters you find online. Make it your own and use your own language, professional but not necessarily loquacious (that’s a new word for me too).

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Get proactive

Yes, your cover letter is about you, and yes you want to shine as much as you can but sometimes it isn’t always about you.

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Don’t forget to mention why you’re interested in the company, perhaps what attracted them to you. Maybe you’ve really enjoyed some of their campaigns recently. Whatever it is, you’ll get brownie points for going out of your way to research the company, pulling out specific campaigns or perhaps their company ethos.

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Get to the point

There’s nothing worse than having too much to read, especially when you have close to a hundred if not more applications to read.

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Be descriptive but be concise. You’ve got to get the balance right with your cover letter. As a rule of thumb, write no more than a page or no less than half a page. Perhaps an opening paragraph on the job you’d like to apply for, one paragraph for why this job/company, and another on something that helps you stand out with a nice close to show your enthusiasm for the role.

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Get a balance with buzzwords

Once you’ve written your cover letter and read it a few times ask yourself if you’ve really validated why you should get the job.

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70% of jobs are filled via an applicant tracking system and therefore, it might not be a human reading your cover letter, the first round at least. These systems are becoming more popular to save hiring managers time because they look for keywords to assess whether you’ll get to the next stage.

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You can beat this system simply by repeating some of the buzzwords from the job ad or job description. It reminds the reader/ system that you have the skills that they’re looking for. However, be careful not to use too many, getting the balance right will help it feel natural.

The good news is that these cover letter tips will make sure your cover letter is on point.