Are you looking for a dream job and analyzing your employability skills? Want to try yourself out in a remote role? Then you need a great cover letter. This step by step guide will help you write the perfect cover letter that gets your foot in the door.
A cover letter is an email or one-page document that you submit with your CV, resume, or proposal when you apply for a job. In a cover letter you introduce yourself, highlight your relevant professional skills and experience, and state why you're right for the job. Your letter should be error-free and concise; 250-400 words is just right. Always keep in mind that a cover letter is not a replacement for your resume. And you should not use it to relist everything already stated in the resume either.
How you structure your cover letter is as important as what you write in it. An unattractive and poorly-structured cover letter may be passed over without a second glance.
Now that you know all the information you need, let’s get into the actual writing. If you need some assistance with you cover letter our managers can help.
As with a resume, you should start your cover letter with a contact information section. Make sure to include your full name, phone number, email address. You can also add your active social media profiles, especially ones relevant to your field.
For example, Github for developers and Dribble for designers. If you have a personal website with professional achievements and articles, you can also add it here. Make sure that your email address is professional.
The first thing to write in a cover letter is a greeting to the hiring manager. Go the extra mile to find who this person is and mention their name in your cover letter, don’t reuse an old cover letter, hiring managers can tell when all you do is change the company name and greeting. Show that you did preliminary research on the company and are genuinely interested in working with the team.
The easiest way to find the name of your potential hiring manager is through a direct search on Linkedin or by visiting the team page on the company website. If you can't find the right person after you search, you can then go with one of these greetings below.
• Dear [Department] Team
• Dear [Department] Hiring Manager
Hiring managers get hundreds of applications for every job role. It is crucial to stand out from the very first paragraph. Start strong by listing your top relevant achievements and professional experience. You must be very clear about how your experience relates to the role you are applying for.
Use tangible results, include numbers where possible and focus on the results you brought to your organization, not just the positions you have held. Also, go through the job description multiple times and make sure to highlight the essential responsibilities listed as part of your professional experience. Remember to keep the body of your cover letter to no more than three paragraphs.
Once you are done with the body of your cover letter, write a formal closing. Below are examples of formal closings you can use in your cover letter.
• Sincerely,
• Thank you,
• Best Regards,
And you're done! But first, you must review and polish what you have written. As you review your writing, take your time to choose the right adjectives that describe you and your experience. You want to sound intentional and authentic.
Before you submit it, make sure to proofread, format, and edit your cover letter thoroughly. Typos, grammatical, or punctuation mistakes drastically reduce your chances of getting a job. You can use an editing tool like Grammarly or share your cover letter with a friend who can review it for you.
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