A cover letter is an extension of who you are. It shows future employers a preview into your resume, and it sets them up for the wonder that is to come. If you do not hook those employers from the start, you run the risk of losing out on a job opportunity. Thus it is your job to carefully craft what you want to say so that you draw the reader into the rest of your job application. Rather than doing this for every single job you apply for, you may want to come up with a generic cover letter that you can modify for each position. Here are some tips to help you do just that.
My Cover Letter
Before I get into the specifics about making a good cover letter, I thought I would give you a taste of what mine says. Yours will obviously be different because of your line of work, but this should give you a rough idea of some of the components to your cover letter. Here is an example of what I normally send out with my job applications:
To whom it may concern:
I'm an experienced, communicative, and quick responding content developer, and I feel that I'm well qualified to handle your position. I have written on a variety of subject matters in the past 3 years, and I am flexible enough to work under any assignment stipulations. I have received nothing but perfect reviews from all of my clients because of my high standards, quality control, and constant communication with my buyers. You can check out my work profile at: (link to my work profile)
Most of my work does not have my name on it, but I currently run 70+ blogs and mini-sites for several clients online. Some of those blogs include: (list of blogs and sites I run – including this one)
I manage 200+ articles a week, and I've dedicated myself as a full-time content producer. I'm experienced in article writing, rewriting, spinning, blogging, forum posting, technical writing, editing, and content writing. My resume is attached to this email for your review. You can see a full set of links to my work in my attached resume. I have thousands of other samples for the taking. It just depends on what content you need. Let me know what work I could provide to further assist your decision.
Thank you for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
(Name)
The Components of a Generic Cover Letter
The example above just shows you some of the different elements you may want to include in your cover letter. Here is a quick breakdown of them:
If you maintain most of those components in your cover letter, you should be able to hold the employer's attention long enough to see your resume.
Tweaking the Cover Letter to Suit the Job
In some cases, your generic cover letter may not be enough to fulfill an application's needs. If you have to explain specific knowledge that you have in relation to a position, you need to try to put that information up at the front. When I send in applications online, I usually put a blurb at the very top of my cover letter, just so that they see it and get encouraged to read more. If I was applying for a writing job on a criminal justice site, I might say…
***My standard cover letter is written below, but I just wanted to mention that I have written for several criminal justice sites in the past, including MyCriminalJusticeSchools.com You can read more about my writing experiences below.***
I try to keep this part of my writing fun and light, just to show employers my personality. You can try to find a way to do the same with your cover letters. If you tweak your cover letter correctly, you should have no trouble getting a job in the future.
My Cover Letter
Before I get into the specifics about making a good cover letter, I thought I would give you a taste of what mine says. Yours will obviously be different because of your line of work, but this should give you a rough idea of some of the components to your cover letter. Here is an example of what I normally send out with my job applications:
To whom it may concern:
I'm an experienced, communicative, and quick responding content developer, and I feel that I'm well qualified to handle your position. I have written on a variety of subject matters in the past 3 years, and I am flexible enough to work under any assignment stipulations. I have received nothing but perfect reviews from all of my clients because of my high standards, quality control, and constant communication with my buyers. You can check out my work profile at: (link to my work profile)
Most of my work does not have my name on it, but I currently run 70+ blogs and mini-sites for several clients online. Some of those blogs include: (list of blogs and sites I run – including this one)
I manage 200+ articles a week, and I've dedicated myself as a full-time content producer. I'm experienced in article writing, rewriting, spinning, blogging, forum posting, technical writing, editing, and content writing. My resume is attached to this email for your review. You can see a full set of links to my work in my attached resume. I have thousands of other samples for the taking. It just depends on what content you need. Let me know what work I could provide to further assist your decision.
Thank you for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
(Name)
The Components of a Generic Cover Letter
The example above just shows you some of the different elements you may want to include in your cover letter. Here is a quick breakdown of them:
- Generic Greeting: Anything along the lines of "To whom it may concern:" or "Dear Hiring Manager," should work just fine.
- Intro with Interest: A brief explanation as to why you may want to apply for any given position.
- Overview of Accomplishments: A short sample of the reasons why you are the best fit candidate for the job.
- Reference to the Resume: A quick statement saying that you have attached your resume for further review, just to entice the reader to look for more.
- Generic Conclusion: Something along the lines of "Respectfully submitted," or "Sincerely," along with your contact information so the person can get in touch with you.
If you maintain most of those components in your cover letter, you should be able to hold the employer's attention long enough to see your resume.
Tweaking the Cover Letter to Suit the Job
In some cases, your generic cover letter may not be enough to fulfill an application's needs. If you have to explain specific knowledge that you have in relation to a position, you need to try to put that information up at the front. When I send in applications online, I usually put a blurb at the very top of my cover letter, just so that they see it and get encouraged to read more. If I was applying for a writing job on a criminal justice site, I might say…
***My standard cover letter is written below, but I just wanted to mention that I have written for several criminal justice sites in the past, including MyCriminalJusticeSchools.com You can read more about my writing experiences below.***
I try to keep this part of my writing fun and light, just to show employers my personality. You can try to find a way to do the same with your cover letters. If you tweak your cover letter correctly, you should have no trouble getting a job in the future.
This information is exactly what I have been searching for. Cover letters that first glance on your letter is your only chance to make it to the second round.
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