Ground Rules for a Great Cover Letter
How to Get Hired!
Your cover letter is the first thing potential employers will see. Make it count.
A cover letter can do one of two things: 1) Show a future employer that you are a worthwhile candidate who deserves an interview, or 2) Ruin your chances before they’ve even begun.
After reviewing hundreds of cover letters for eager, hopeful candidates, and submitting an abundance of my own to future employers, I’ve learned some important lessons. Writing an effective cover letter is a craft, one that certainly takes time to master. Here are some of my tips and tricks:
1) It’s Not About You!
To put a twist on the ol’ famed quote by the late John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your employer can do for you—ask what you can do for your employer.”
I’ve made this mistake before, and I’ve seen countless potential candidates do the same. When writing a cover letter, most of us start with statements like, “I am very interested in the [blah-blah] position at [Company],” and then we go into discussing our attributes:
“I am detail-oriented.”
“I work well under pressure.”
“I possess superb customer service skills.”
“I am punctual and dependent.”
“I think outside the box.”
The problem is that, while those are great qualities to have, none of those statements show how your future employer will actually benefit FROM you. They are merely buzzwords and phrases with no substance. Here are some examples of how you can twist those statements to show that it’s not about YOU, but rather about what you can DO for your employer:
“In considering me as a candidate for this position, [Company] will benefit from a detail-oriented, punctual, dependent professional who possesses superb customer service skills. In the last four years, I have surpassed my sales goals while training new staff and serving as an acting manager.”
“With my demonstrated commitment to providing outstanding customer service and my ability to work effectively in high-pressure situations, I would be a valuable addition to your team. While working with a reduced staff and budget restrictions for the last two years, I managed to create and implement a new program that resulted in increased customer retention rates at my current company.”
See what I mean? You still used the same attributes, but you turned the statements around to show what kind of person the company will gain if you are hired.
It might seem like a minor change, but it has made all the difference in my application submissions.
2) Don’t Be Redundant
There might be some differences of opinion on this (so take my advice with a grain of salt), but back when I assisted my bosses in a hiring capacity, most cover letters that came across my desk showed the candidate’s name in the letterhead at the top, and then again in the signature line at the bottom.
If that’s the case, then what’s the point of starting the first sentence of the cover letter with, “My name is [so-and-so], and I am very interested in the [blah-blah] position at [Company]”?
It’s redundant, and it wastes valuable space.
In my opinion, skip the named introduction and launch right into how the company will benefit from hiring you. They already know your name, and they know you’re interested. Tell them why YOU are the person for the job!
3) Don’t Lie, But Do Embellish!
NEVER—I repeat, NEVER—lie in a cover letter or résumé. That’s a surefire way to have karma come back and bite you in the ass later.
On the plus side, by using the right language and sentence structure, you can turn a bland statement of qualifications into an impressive summary of your greatest qualities.
Take this sentence, for example:
“During my time at [Previous Company], I conducted interviews, I researched case law, I helped attorneys with filing documents, and I frequently contacted opposing counsel and court clerks via phone and email.”
First of all, it sounds BORING.
Second, it is not emphasizing any sort of benefit to the employer (see Number 1 above).
And third, the same things will probably be listed as bullet points in your résumé! A cover letter should NOT be a regurgitated copy of your résumé in paragraph form.
Here is how you can embellish the above sentence in your cover letter and turn it into something better:
“My preparation to handle the demands of this new position is evidenced by my prior experience interviewing clients, conducting legal and factual research, drafting and filing numerous motions and correspondence, and maintaining regular contact with opposing counsel and court personnel.”
In fact, you can do one better. Have you won any awards? Received any customer compliments or supervisor commendations for your work? Don’t be afraid to capitalize on your accomplishments. For instance, take the above sentence and add this at the end:
“My preparation to handle the demands of this new position is evidenced by my prior experience interviewing clients, conducting legal and factual research, drafting and filing numerous motions and correspondence, and maintaining regular contact with opposing counsel and court personnel. I have been recognized as an “exemplary team member” by my current supervisor for my valuable contributions in these areas.”
4) Watch Your Formatting!
I’ve seen it all—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly:
Cover letters in the body of the email, with font sizes and sentences all over the place.
Cover letters with sentence spacing and verb tenses that change from one paragraph to the next.
Cover letters with no signature, or with two lines of text that extend onto a second page.
Formatting is more important than many might believe. Here are some ground rules:
Keep your cover letter to one page. Seriously.
Include your contact information. In modern times, your name, phone, and email should suffice. Some people still put a full mailing address, but I don’t find it to be necessary.
Start with “Dear Hiring Manager/Committee,” or if you know the name of the person receiving applications, start with “Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name].” It shows an attention to detail.
Include a signature at the bottom. “Sincerely,” or “Best regards,” and then your name. That’s all you have to do.
Make sure all your fonts and paragraphs are uniform. And for the love of all that is holy, have white space! Separate your paragraphs. No one wants to read a giant wall of run-on text.
If you are submitting online, save your cover letter and résumé as a PDF document and submit it that way. This will help prevent any formatting errors when someone opens it on a different computer.
Choose an easy-to-read, formal font. I always go with Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial.
5) Spelling and Grammar Can Kill
When I used to participate in hiring decisions, I tossed countless cover letters simply due to grammatical and spelling errors. Some examples of what I would see:
People who spelled the name of the company wrong.
People who put the wrong company name altogether (happens a lot with mass emails).
Using the wrong form of a word (e.g., “there” vs. “their” vs. “they’re” or “its” vs. “it’s”).
Run-on sentences with no commas or appropriate breaks.
A potential employer will likely think of it this way: If you can’t be bothered to take the time to properly proofread the FIRST page of your submission (that thing on the FRONT that everyone will see), then you are probably not as “detail-oriented” as you think, and there is a chance you won’t take the job seriously.
Is this a fair view to have just based on looking at one piece of paper? Some might say no, but for me it’s an unequivocal, resounding “YES.” Poor grammar/spelling shows a lack of professionalism and seriousness about the position. It might sound harsh, but a lot of hiring managers out there feel similarly.
Just take a little extra time to re-read your cover letter. Scan it for errors. And in my opinion, it never hurts to have a second pair of eyes look it over! Ask someone to review the final product, so you can double up and catch any mistakes you might have missed the first time. It really helps!
These are just five basic tips for cover letters that I’ve picked up over time. I could chat about cover letters all day, but consider this a primer, if you will. Hopefully some of these recommendations are helpful, and for anyone out there in the throes of job-hunting, I wish you the best of luck!
Do you have questions? Disagree about any of these tips? Or maybe you have some tips of your own to add? Feel free to comment down below and share your thoughts!
Coming soon: Introversion at the Office - How To Deal