A cover letter is even more important than a resume, because it’s what gets your employer to look at your resume.
If your cover is long, boring to read and doesn’t outline some critical factors, then you might as well not even bother applying!
- Tell them why you would be a perfect fit for the company. Explain the skills that you employ every day in your current position and how they could easily be adapted to the one you’re applying for.
- Briefly describe how you could drive the company towards success and how you would do it. This indicates that you’re completely involved in this position and you can hit the ground running.
- Whoever said flattery gets you everywhere might just possibly be a master of the perfect resume. A few lines of carefully selected praise doesn’t only make your employer feel good about themselves, it shows that you admire and really know the company.
- Scour through their archives if you don’t already know a sample of their company’s work that you think highly of. Take a sentence or two to discuss it in your resume – why you like it and how you can recreate something just like it, or better. This demonstrates that you know their brand back to front and have been a fan of their work for some time now.
- A few personal details are fine, but just a few! Things like captioning your local soccer or netball team are great, because not only do they tell the reader a little bit about yourself, they also subtly demonstrate essential skills, like leadership and the ability to work in a team.
- That being said, time and space are absolutely crucial. Like a four page resume, no one has the time, attention span or desire to read something that long. Keep your cover letter short and sharp and make every sentence mean something.
- Round of with a sentence affirming just how much you want to work there and reiterate how you could drive the company further towards success.
Follow through with all of these points, and don’t be surprised when you get a call on Monday asking when you’re available!
