Following on from last week blog with tips for writing your covering letter, this week we’ll cover what you should actually put in the letter and how you should lay it out. Firstly, remember that the covering letter gives you more of a chance to show writing ability than the brief and factual CV. It should point out to the employer how you meet the person specification for the job in a brief and clear way. You should try to add a bit of your personality into your letter, whilst keeping it formal, as the employer will get nothing of who you are from your CV.
Lay out of Covering Letter
So, what should you include in your covering letter and where should it go? It’s not that difficult and, once you’ve mastered it, you’ll have a template you can alter and use time and again.
First Paragraph
First, and most importantly, you must state what job you are applying for clearly. It’s also a good idea to state where you saw the advertisement – this helps the company as they’ll know which of their advertising methods works. You can also mention when you are available to start in your new position.
Second Paragraph
Now you need to get straight into why you have chosen to apply for this particular position and why you’d like to work, if you don’t already, or why you’d like to continue in that kind of work. You should take some time to research the company and let them know what attracts you to them, for example have they won any awards for being a fair employer? Are they a small family business or a large international corporation? Do they have great progression opportunities?
Third Paragraph
Now you’ve told them why you want the job, let’s move on to why you’ll be perfect for it. So, give a detailed summary of your strengths and make sure you highlight how they will be of use to the organisation. Take careful note of the skills and competencies the organisation is looking for and relate them to the skills you have – you need to show that you have everything they are looking for.
Fourth Paragraph
The last paragraph can be used to detail any dates you cannot attend interview. Thank the employer for their time and finish off by saying you hope to hear from then soon or something similar.
Signing off!
As we stated in the previous blog post – How to Write a Covering Letter for your CV – we told you it is vital that you make the recipient of the letter feel special by making sure you find out their name. Once you’ve done this you’ll be able to address the recipient as Dear Mr Jones or whatever their name is. If you do this you should always end your letter with ‘Yours sincerely’. If you don’t know their name use ‘Yours faithfully’. However, do bear in mind that these days it is quite alright to use a sign off such as ‘Best regards’ or ‘Best wishes’.
So, now you’ve no excuse – you have all the details you need to produce superb CVs and covering letters and do let us know if you have any luck with them – we’d love hear about it.
