Cover letters: Help from HR people

[dragon8]

I had mine's done by a professional. Not saying its the best or anything but If you want to see it PM me and i'll send you a copy.

 

[CrocsRock]

Like Holy said, a cover letter won't necessarily get you in the door. It will, however, help give you a leg up against other candidates.

Format it correctly. There are numerous guides both online and off.

Target it at the correct person. This prevents you from having to do the 'to whom it may concern' thing which, incidentally, will earn your resume a trip to the garbage can. Not even worth recycling that ****. Targeting it at the correct person indicates you have some grasp of the organization and some grasp of the personnel there. It also indicates that you've done some amount of research.

A lot of people think a cover letter is some sort of personal introduction. That's half true. It's also proof that you're able to string together a sentence in writing, that you can express yourself clearly and concisely, and that you have some grasp of spelling and grammar. Proofread proofread proofread.

 

[bertie]

Holymadness has excellent advice. First, you actually need to meet the job requirements. Your CV needs key words about qualifications to make the initial cut (education, professional designation, experience, etc) which may even be done by a computer screening program.

If you make the first screen, the letter can help as recruiters do read them. They are looking for someone who has taken the time to write a letter that specifically addresses how the candidate meets the particular job description. If the recruiter likes you, and that is where a letter can help, they will put you forward. Also - have someone read it over for grammar and typos: these can get you screened out automatically.

Finally, the hiring manager often looks for something that will differentiate the short list of candidates prior to interviewing. Again, the latter gives you a chance to tell your story in your words, not limited to the format of the CV which should be factual. Whatever you do, don't send form cover letters as they look like you don't even know what you're applying for.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by CrocsRock

Like Holy said, a cover letter won't necessarily get you in the door. It will, however, help give you a leg up against other candidates.

Format it correctly. There are numerous guides both online and off.

Target it at the correct person. This prevents you from having to do the 'to whom it may concern' thing which, incidentally, will earn your resume a trip to the garbage can. Not even worth recycling that ****. Targeting it at the correct person indicates you have some grasp of the organization and some grasp of the personnel there. It also indicates that you've done some amount of research.

A lot of people think a cover letter is some sort of personal introduction. That's half true. It's also proof that you're able to string together a sentence in writing, that you can express yourself clearly and concisely, and that you have some grasp of spelling and grammar. Proofread proofread proofread.

I completely understand the need to address someone in particular, but sometimes it's impossible to find out the particular person to whom the cover letter should be addressed. I was suggested to address a general letter under "Dear Sir/Madam:" instead of "To whom it may concern".

Whilst I try to find who I should address the cover letter to, sometimes I can find a name and sometimes I can't, it's an invariability of the process.

 

[Douglas]

Two words: Pink Paper.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Douglas

Two words: Pink Paper.

??

 

[Douglas]

Aww come on I'm just having a little fun.

Honestly, speaking as someone who hires, there's nothing special I'm looking for in a cover letter, and I don't think any one catches my eye more than another. My advice to you is the following:

- RULE #1: Do not **** up anything. No grammar mistakes, no spelling errors, no bad punctuation. This is the biggest thing. If you screw up something in your cover letter, it says such awful things about your conscientiousness and attention to detail that it will be tough to recover from. A cover letter's chief importance is that it is a writing sample, so get it right.

- Despite what others say, keep it short and to the point. Be polite, but direct, and edit it down as much as possible without making it curt. Three paragraphs is all you need. P1: Who I am, what I'm looking for. P2: What I've done, accomplishment highlights. P3: Thanks for your consideration.

- Use action words that highlight real accomplishments. Everyone else is saying they are self-starters, they work hard, etc etc etc blah blah blah. We gloss over this crap. We're reading a dozen of these in between meetings while eating a sandwich. Too much boilerplate crap and we're on to the next paragraph. But if you say something like "I saved my company $120,000 by doing x, y, and z" and it's credible and you can back it up in an interview, that's meaningful.

A cover letter is not going to win you the job. I typically don't think it wins you an interview even. It's more about not letting it hurt your chances than it is about building your chances. Baseball analogy: it's like bunting. It's a fundamental, you gotta get it right, everyone notices when someone pops up a bunt and fails to get the runner over, but nobody's getting a fat contract to lay rollers down the 3rd base line.

This is my experience, anyways. Unfortunately, everyone and every company is different, so they may have different advice.

 

[Johnny_5]

Is anyone willing to take a quick look at my cover letter?