The main purpose of a cover letter is to fill in the gaps in your resume and give hiring managers a deeper insight into your professional background. Your cover letter acts as a marketing tool, and the product being marketed is you.
According to a recent Resume Genius survey, 68% of hiring managers view cover letters as important, fairly important, or very important in deciding which candidates to invite for an interview. How you write your cover letter can determine whether or not you land the job.
Here’s how to make sure your cover letter fulfills its purpose:
Elaborate on your qualifications
Your resume already tells employers about your professional background. A cover letter provides the opportunity to elaborate on what makes you uniquely qualified for the position and why you’re applying for the role.
To do this, identify the specific skills and experience the company is looking for and use examples of past professional accomplishments that demonstrate you have those skills.
If you find it difficult to fit all your accomplishments on one page, which is the standard length of a cover letter, use bullet points in your body paragraphs to make better use of the space on the page.
Demonstrate interest in the role
Your cover letter gives you the unique opportunity to explain why you really want the role, a detail you can’t fully spell out on your resume.
If you’re hoping to land a sous-chef role in a French restaurant, for example, you might tell the employer that you spent a year in Bordeaux and fell in love with French cuisine.
If you’re applying for a role because you’re looking for a new challenge, say that. Sharing a goal with the employer shows that you’re driven and eager to take on the new role.
Determine what really interests you about the role and make sure this comes through in your cover letter. Are you interested in the company culture? The company’s mission? The technical aspects of the role? Gaining experience in a new industry?
Whatever it is that interests you most, expressing your enthusiasm helps make a positive impression on the hiring manager.
Use relevant keywords
If you’ve done a good job elaborating on your qualifications and expressing your interest, employers will see you as a quality candidate. However, if you want to strike them as the ideal candidate, you need to target the specific role with your cover letter.
One simple way to do this is to use keywords from the job description. For example, if the role requires a strong command of Python, mention a program you wrote using Python and what made it successful.
Showing that you’re knowledgeable about the company and its needs, and that you already have a vision of how you can benefit the company is an effective way to demonstrate you’re the perfect candidate.
Explain any red flags
Your cover letter is the place to explain any red flags that might appear on your resume.
Addressing potential concerns (such as lengthy employment gaps, relocation, or a career change) can spare you an awkward explanation in your interview. Your cover letter is also your opportunity to emphasize transferable skills if your resume doesn’t explicitly match the job description
Writing a cover letter can be challenging, but using an AI cover letter generator makes it easier to write compelling paragraphs that give employers an insight into what makes you the ideal candidate.
How can you make your cover letter more effective?
Here are four tips for making the best cover letter for your target role:
1. Customize your cover letter
Employers often struggle to spot generic resumes because resumes act as overviews of your past achievements and skills. If you’re applying for three different software engineering jobs, you probably don’t need to change your resume much for each application.
However, it’s much easier for employers to spot generic cover letters. That’s because a cover letter should contain information about their company.
A lot of candidates miss this simple step, just because it takes extra time and effort. However, with 73% of hiring managers reporting that it’s important to tailor a cover letter to the specific role, it’s worth your time.
Include specific information about the company and role that shows hiring managers you’re serious about the job. For instance, ymention that you’re drawn to the work culture at the company, or talk about a recent project you’re aware of. Here’s an example:
I was impressed by the ingenuity demonstrated by your company in addressing the enhancement of AI-driven recommendation algorithms, and I’m confident my expertise in this area can help you tackle future challenges.
When you’re being compared to a candidate with similar academic and professional qualifications, a customized cover letter can be the deciding factor that lands you the job.
Understanding the main parts of cover letter and their purposes makes it easier to tailor each part of your cover letter to the job you’re applying for.
2. Research the company and show what you’ve learned
Researching your target company shows you’ve put effort into your application.
For example, if you’re applying for a customer service supervisor role at a brand that’s opening a new branch, mention that you’ve worked in a newly opened store before. Explain how this experience means you’ll be able to adapt — and help your coworkers adapt — to the new workplace.
Finding ways to express how your experience and goals align with the company’s needs can make a big difference to employers vetting hundreds of candidates.
3. Keep your cover letter short
Short cover letters are actually more effective than longer ones because the hiring manager can quickly find your relevant achievements. You can even write a strong cover letter in under 150 words, as long as you make every word count by including only relevant details.
4. Find out the hiring manager’s name
Addressing your cover letter directly to the hiring manager by using their name is the most effective way to start your cover letter, because it shows you’ve researched the company.
Here’s an example of a professional cover letter salutation:
Dear Ms. Ford,
Making sure your cover letter is as personalized as possible helps you make a positive and professional first impression.
Wondering if making a cover letter is worth it? Check out this TikTok for reasons you should use a cover letter:
@resumegenius To write or not to write a cover letter! Here’s why I think you should write one ? #coverletter #coverlettertips #careeradvice #jobsearchtips #jobsearching ♬ time travel – chief. & nobuddy
Additional cover letter resources
Here are some additional cover letter resources to help you prepare your application:
Dread writing cover letters? Read our guide to learn how to write a great cover letter that convinces hiring managers you’re the ideal person for the job.
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