

Chapter 1: How to write a great cover letter in 7 stepsīefore you begin writing, find out more about the company and the position you’re applying for. You want to ensure the number of these inconsistencies is kept to a minimum. For instance, if your resume shows attention to detail but your cover letter is addressed to the wrong person, wrong company, and is replete with typos? It’s an inconsistency.

Second, recruiters often look for inconsistencies.

“…the main point of sending a cover letter is to help recruiters decide if you’re the right fit for a position.” On the other hand, what recruiters love to see is a short persuasive argument of why you fit the role and the company. Most cover letters fall into this category, and they don’t help recruiters decide in any way. For this reason, avoid generic write-ups at all costs. And this cover letter guide will help you with just that.įirstly, remember that the main point of sending a cover letter is to help recruiters decide if you’re the right fit for a position. It gives you the freedom to express yourself more fully or hark back to the sections in your resume that need further explanation.īy opening yourself up, you will effectively shorten the distance between you and the recruiter and secure a better position before the actual job interview. It’s much less structured and lets you develop stories. Just think of it as the appendix to your resume. If you come up with a good cover letter, it’s sure to make a difference. Another study found that just 18 percent of hiring managers think cover letters are an important part of an application.īut one of the main reasons why companies are moving away from cover letters is that candidates can’t write them well and hate writing them. If this is not enough to discourage you from writing one, then know that one recent study found that 63 percent of recruiters consider cover letters low importance. What’s more, if your cover letter is weird, just plain bad, or has bad grammar, it can seriously damage your chances of getting a job. For this reason, you want to make sure your resume is well-written first - here’s a great resume guide. If your resume doesn’t fit a desired profile, your cover letter won’t get read at all. Why should you care about a cover letter? Still, as you’ll be reading the lines below, remember that a living person is at the other end of your cover letter. This cover letter guide includes every piece of tangible advice anyone can give you in 2023. It allows you to show off your writing skills, provide details that didn’t fit in on your resume, and demonstrate your passion. In the end, when some recruiters say, “Don’t write a cover letter,“ what they mean to say is, “Don’t write a bad one.“įor all of its shortcomings, a cover letter gives you an upper hand in ways your resume doesn’t.

After all, it’s an opportunity to distinguish yourself like no other.Īll the negativity surrounding the cover letter probably comes down to the fact that good cover letters require a bit of alchemy. Yet, there’s something everybody admits: jobseekers hate writing them.Īnd yet, not attaching one to your application would be a terrible mistake. Or if anyone even reads cover letters anymore. Nobody seems to agree on what’s it good for.
