Covering Letter Advice: Tips To Get Your Letters Just Right

You must have read lots of covering letter advice already, but what you may not have been told is this: A covering letter has just one purpose, and that is to get you an invitation to an interview. It can only do that if you get all of the elements right so that it all comes together and you get the opportunity to meet and impress the hiring manager or personnel manager and win the job offer. I've given you two good covering letter examples on this page to give you some ideas to get you started on writing your own job application covering letters.

My best covering letter advice to help you to get your cover letters all right is quite simple but many people overlook the essentials. Keep it simple, keep it short and keep it relevant. Nothing else matters. Follow the links for some more cover letter examples in the right column.

Here is the best covering letter advice from an expert career coach who has helped thousands of people like you to win the job they wanted. Follow this proven letter writing advice and your applications will result in more job interviews. And that will mean more job offers.

Address Your Letter To A Named Person

Always try to address your letter to a named person; if this means you have to phone the company to ask for the name of the person who deals with recruitment, that is what you must do to ensure that your covering letter reaches the right person. It also has the benefit of getting you a contact name to follow-up later.

Think about your approach from the employer’s perspective rather than just your own. Tell them what you can contribute to the organisation and what you can bring rather than how being employed by them will benefit your career. Never send a standard letter where you have only changed the main details; it is usually quite obvious to the reader so you must think about the specifics of each application.

A Beginning, A Middle And An End...

All the covering letter advice you will read will certainly tell you that your letter should be no more than one page long and with a beginning, a middle and an end.

The beginning should be confident and enthusiastic because that will gain attention faster than the usual boring opening. say something like: "this exciting opening..." or "I am really interested in this vacancy..." and you should try to say: "I am confident that...". Don't you agree that these sound better than "I wish to apply for..."

The middle should demonstrate with some bullet points exactly what you have that matches their requirements, making sure that you pay attention to the ones they describe as 'essential'.

At the end, don't just say "I look forward to hearing from you..." close confidently to keep the same strong message going. Say something more positive like: " I am looking forward to meeting you at the interview to discuss this exciting position..." And my covering letter advice also includes this: don't wait too long for an answer, call them after 10 days and say you are keen to know about interview dates. Its another contact with them that makes you stand out.

Give Them A Reason To Read On

All cover letters should give the reader a reason to see you so if there has not been an advert explain why you are sending a letter and CV. Don't leave the reader to guess what you are applying for and use the Job Title, Reference Number and Publication in a main heading to your letter.

If you are writing on a 'speculative' basis, say how you learned about the possible position from a web site or a contact who already works at the organization.

Because your covering letter will normally be seen first before they look at your CV or resume, it must be very well written and targeted to that particular employer.

Don't hold back - draw attention to your background especially education, leadership, relevant experience, using examples. and try to reflect your attitude, personality, motivation, enthusiasm, and communication skills.

Make sure you provide all of the information specifically requested in a job advertisement otherwise you may be rejected and go no further.

An Example Job Application Letter:

Writing a job application letter can be made quite straightforward if you just follow the covering letter advice above and don't try to over-complicate the matter. When writing job cover letters, simplicity is always the best rule to follow but make sure that you cover the points above for the sake of giving them the right information, then be sure that you check your spelling and English grammar because some people will reject your CV and letter for the smallest mistakes.

Direct Approach Cover Letter

Click anywhere on the above letter for more cover letter samples.

Covering letter advice on how to follow-up;

Most applicants will say something like "I look forward to hearing from you" at the end of their letter, but if you haven't been told "no phone calls," it's better to take the initiative to follow-up, so at the end of your covering letter say something like, "I will telephone you in two weeks time to discuss my application further."

Pay attention to your covering letter layout and try to apply my best covering letter advice on your page margins, font style and size. I also think that the same rules apply whether you are physically posting hard copy or you are emailing a document. By the way, if you are emailing a cover letter and your resume or CV, I think its best to convert a Word document into PDF (portable document format) so that it retains all of the formatting and looks the same to the reader as it did to you.

Use a font style that is simple and clear such as Times New Roman, Arial or Cambria. Font size from 10-12 points are generally the easiest to read and if you leave reasonable margins and a line of space between paragraphs, your letter is more likely to be read.

Should your CV and covering letter font style and size match? It doesn't really matter although it can look really nice for the recipient to get a mail package with all of the stationery matching. But substance is definitely more important than fine touches of style like that. If it is easy to read, has relevant data and answers the important questions, then you will have satisfied the basic requirements of a good covering letter and job application.

P.S. If you prefer to write your own cover letters and CV yourself, then I recommend you get a copy of my 'CV How To - Write Your Own CV - A CV Writing Tutorial' with all the CV writing tips and covering letter advice and information you need plus some great examples for just £9.99. You will also receive my 'Exceptional Cover Letters' pack with full cover letter writing instructions and 30 sample cover letters as a free bonus when you order. This way you can be sure of the best CV and cover letter results.

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