JobSeekerCoach

Step Four - The Cover Letter

Your CV is ready to send out and you've found some interesting vacancies. Now you need a cover letter which is specific to each job you are pursuing. It should be short and to the point including a really good reason why you should be considered for the job.  Always write to (or talk to) potential employers in terms of what you can do for them - not what they can do for you.

A cover letter should show a potential employer that you have what they are looking for - but try to avoid just regurgitating their job ad. This is your opportunity to show a bit of your personality and CVs are not especially good at that. The CV will show your skills, what the cover letter does is to quickly show you have the essential skills and answer that eternal interview question: "Why should I hire you?"

Whether the cover letter is hard copy or email, keep it brief and to the point giving the employer enough information to want to read your CV.

It can be a bit time-consuming to write individual cover letters for each application but if you keep a copy of each one you will be able to pick out passages from them to patch-work into your next one.