20 Tips for Writing a Killer Cover Letter
Source: ExecSearches.com
When I applied for a position that would ultimately culminate in one of my current busiest freelance relationships, I was sick of all my standard cover letter intro sentences. They were all sounding extremely dry and formulaic. I instead opted for something that, while a bit risky, was guaranteed to get the hiring manager’s attention.
I repurposed a quote from Obi-Wan Kenobi from the original Star Wars film and opened my introductory paragraph with the words, “I am the droid you’re looking for.”
This was a calculated risk. The prospective employer in question was a Silicon Valley tech company, a sector known for its nerdiness where I could be reasonably sure the reference would be understood. It’s also an industry known for its informality in everything from dress to modes of communication. Suffice it to say, I would never dream of opening a cover letter for a Government of Alberta job like this.
In this case, my calculation worked, and I got an interview. And while the full-time job that was originally advertised didn’t pan out, I now work for these people on the regular. Turns out I was the droid they were looking for.
In my nearly two decades as a writer and professional communicator, I’ve written a metric ton of cover letters, both for prospective full-time employers and potential freelance clients. Despite my considerable experience doing this, I still take quite a bit of time over them. Unlike most of the writing I do, there’s no editing a cover letter after the fact. Once it’s sent, it’s sent, and that’s the impression you’re going to leave with a potential employer. You can always ask a hiring manager to replace a previous application with an edited one, but this in itself looks less than professional.
I’ve also noticed a real correlation between the effort I’ve put into a cover letter and invitations for interviews. As much as getting the resume right is important, and I’ll invariably talk about that later on this blog, there’s no substitute for a killer cover letter.
How, then, does one write a killer cover letter? Here are 20 tips that I’ve learned over the course of my career as a writer, communicator, and career mentor.
Get to know your audience.
The brand voice and tone of the prospective employer should inform the tone of your cover letter. As in the example I gave, if you’re applying to work for a tech company or ad agency, you might want to go with a less formal tone, while a staider letter would befit a government job. It’s always a good idea to spend some time on the employer’s website to get to know who they are.
If possible, find out the name of the hiring manager.
This isn’t always possible, but sometimes a bit of LinkedIn sleuthing will get you the answer to this question. When all else fails, you can open a cover letter with “Dear Hiring Manager,” but if you can replace “hiring manager” with a person’s name, this is ideal. Just don’t open with “To whom it may concern.” Even if you don’t know the person’s name, you can always be more specific than this.
Start with a snappy statement of purpose.
Your opening sentence doesn’t necessarily need to be clever; it just needs to be concise and to the point. A more formal cover letter might start with something like “Please accept this cover letter and accompanying resume as my application for the role of X at Employer Y.” If the prospective employer has a less formal brand vibe, you might want to go with something sassier like the example I gave.
Stick to a short opening paragraph, two body paragraphs, and a short conclusion.
Your opening paragraph can even be a single sentence, while your concluding paragraph should thank the prospective employer for their consideration et cetera. I’ve generally found two body paragraphs of around eight lines each to be optimal. You can cover a lot of ground in two eight-line paragraphs if you’re concise, but it’s still short and sweet and won’t risk running over a single page.
Ensure your two body paragraphs are roughly the same length.
As with most forms of writing, you want your body paragraphs to be of a consistent length. Having one paragraph that’s ten lines long followed by a second body paragraph that’s only four lines looks unprofessional, and like you probably have an uneven career history.
Never go over a single page.
If you’re running over a page in your cover letter, you either have too much information in it or you’re not being concise enough. This is a sign to take out your pruning shears and start trimming.
Avoid bullet points.
Bullet points are great for most types of writing as they’re easy to follow and make for a refreshing break from a relentless parade of paragraphs. In a cover letter, however, space is at a premium and breaking into bullet points takes up precious room. In any case, lists are more appropriate for your resume, not the cover letter, which should maintain a narrative flavour.
Don’t use an exotic font.
My current favourite font for resumes and cover letters is Avenir, which is crisp, classy looking, and conservative enough for any employer. Calibri and Arial are safe options. Times New Roman is a bit passé. Basically, you want to play it safe with fonts. A clean sans serif font is also good from an accessibility standpoint, as it’s more legible for people with dyslexia — and just more legible generally.
Make sure your cover letter and resume are in the same font and type size.
You definitely want your entire application to have a consistent look and feel. Also, oftentimes employers will ask you to submit a cover letter and resume as a single document, which is going to look weird if it switches fonts from one section to another.
Always use active voice.
Don’t be afraid to repeatedly start sentences with the word ‘I’. A cover letter is essentially a brag letter, and nobody brags in passive voice.
In the first body paragraph, focus on recent accomplishments.
I’ve found the best structural approach to a cover letter is generally to work backwards, focusing first on your freshest work and giving them a close look at who you are right now. That is unless you’re applying for a job to which a less recent position of yours is more relevant, in which case you’d be well advised to start with that.
Don’t try to sum up your entire resume.
A cover letter should focus on highlights as well as those bits of your resume that are most relevant to the job you’re applying for. Your cover letter doesn’t need to encompass everything. That’s your resume’s job.
If you can, include verifiable metrics.
Have you achieved measurable results in either your current or previous roles? Can these results be independently verified? If so, and if they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for, be sure to include them in your cover letter as well as your resume. This is also a good reason to regularly update your resume, even when you’re not actively job hunting, as getting this information after the fact can be difficult.
When writing about your skills and qualification, try to use the exact verbatim of the job posting.
This is especially important when applying for jobs with large employers that invariably get a ton of applications. Your application will be scanned for the wording the employer is looking for, and doing a copy and paste of phrasing from the job application can up your chances of getting noticed.
Explain why you want to work for this particular employer, with a focus on how you might benefit them.
As much as a cover letter is a brag letter, it’s also a sales pitch in which you’re trying to pitch a specific solution to a particular need of the employer. As such, it’s important to understand the company or organization you’re applying to, have a reason why you want to work for that particular employer, and explain why you’re the solution they need.
Embed hyperlinks to relevant web pages.
Chances are that your hiring manager is reading your cover letter on a screen rather than on a printed page. As such, you can point them in the direction of relevant work you’ve done through some well-worded hyperlinks. Just don’t ever write ‘click here‘; be sure to use a more descriptive hyperlink than this.
Don’t waste space with anything unnecessary or obvious.
For example, if you’re applying through an online job application portal, you don’t need to write “See the attached resume” or something like this. The hiring manager is going to see that there’s a resume accompanying the cover letter; you don’t need to say there is.
For the love of god, proofread!
Like I said before, you’ve only got one shot at this thing, and nothing is going to get your application rejected quicker than spelling mistakes or syntax errors.
If you see a typo in the job application, point it out in your cover letter.
I’ve done this before, and it’s worked marvels. Not only does it get you noticed along the lines of my Star Wars quip, but it also demonstrates that you have a keen eye for details, which, in writing and communications jobs, is generally among the skills they’re looking for.
Lastly, be sure to call yourself the name you wish to be called on the job.
My full name is Benjamin, but nobody calls me that except my wife and my parents, and only when I’ve done something I shouldn’t have done. In the past I’ve made the mistake of using my full name in my resume and cover letter rather than the name I’m generally known by, and I’ve ended up being stuck being ‘Benjamin’ in my work email and signature and have had a hard time persuading people to call me Ben. Making it clear what you want to be called right from the start is a good strategy,
Does anyone else have any good cover letter tips? If so, I’d love to hear them. Contact me and let me know what you think!
