Besides a well-crafted resume or a CV, you still need to write a captivating cover letter to make your job application to stand out. Here is the truth: without a perfectly penned-down cover letter, your soon-to-be employer may not get the attention to scan through your resume. This means that you may not get invited for an interview.
Ideally, a cover letter should not only serve to introduce yourself to the employer but also demonstrate to the employer that you’re interested in the company for that specific vacancy that’s been advertised. This serves to draw the attention of the employer to scan through your resume and motivate that employer to scan through your resume for your skills and job experiences.
In fact, a cover letter should be the first thing that any employer interested in hiring you should read. Think of a cover letter as “meeting-and-greeting” a stranger—who you would like to sell a product or a service—where you introduce yourself. In such a scenario, you’ve to be witty for that “stranger” to give you an audience. The same thing applies to a cover letter.
Cover letters should contain certain elements that are necessary to captivate and arouse the employer’s interest in reading through your resume. If these elements are missing in your cover letters, that prospective hiring manager may never read your resume, any matter how perfectly it’s written.
The bottom line in all this is crafting a perfect cover letter that serves its purpose of arousing the hiring manager’s interest in your resume. In this article, we review some of the elements that must be highlighted in a cover letter for it to serve its purpose.
What a well-crafted Cover Letter should contain to serve its purpose:
Here’s what your cover letter should contain if you want to draw the attention of your hiring manager into reading your resume/CV:
1. Name and the contact Information
It’s important to state all the information that an employer can use to track you on your cover letter, in case you’re invited for an interview. It’s important to indicate your phone number, e-mail address and other relevant contact information that can help the employer to get back to you in case that employer wants to invite you for an interview.
2. Salutation
You should have a salutation. You will be required to do some basic research to get the name of your employer who will read your resume. You should always remember that employers will be paying closer attention to a cover letter that’s delivered directly to them and addressed to them using their names such as “Dear Mr. Gonzales”, as opposed to “To Whom It May Concern.”
3. Basic Introduction
The introduction stage is a crucial stage where you should be witty enough to catch the attention of your employer. Remember, your employer is a perfect “stranger,” so you should have a strategy that can make that employer read your resume or your CV. The rule of thumb when introducing yourself is to mention quickly what you can do for the company as opposed to using obvious basic styles. So, use the introduction part of your cover letter to sell yourself quickly to the hiring manager.
4. Understand the company’s mission, vision and objectives
An employer will be willing to read through your resume/CV if you can demonstrate to him/her that you truly understand the company’s objectives, mission and vision. Before you pen-down your cover letter, it’s important that you do some basic research to find out what makes the company succeed, how the competition is in the industry that company is operating, and what the company can do to enhance their productivity (by hiring you).
This demonstrates to the employer that you’ve read the job description well, and you understand what’s required in the job that’s been advertised. Since employers are looking out for qualified job applicants, you will stand out as the best candidate by understanding the company’s goals, mission and vision.
5. Closing remarks
In your closing remarks, summarize your key qualifications and what you bring to the table in so far the job you’re applying for is concerned. Demonstrate to the employer that you’re ready to be called for further consultations regarding the job that you’ve applied.
6. Make Your Cover Letter Search Engine Optimized
Last but not least, make sure that your cover letter is also Search Engine Optimized (SEO). As you probably well know, companies use software systems that scan through your resume but they also scan through cover letters as well. This means, if you are not getting called in for interviews, it could be because your resume and or cover letter is not passing the companies software systems.
If you need cover letter coaching, cover letter help, cover letter training, or cover letter advice, consultant a Professional Cover Letter writing service. Do My Resume.NET is a great place to start as they have become the leading industry experts in cover letter and resume writing. Their website is www.domyresume.net.