How To Write The Best Cover Letters

The biggest mistake of job hunters is to write just one cover letter and use it for every job application. They might as well save themselves the bother (and postage) and not send it because there is good likelihood that it will be thrown out anyway.

Put it this way; If someone wrote a letter, duplicated it and sent a copy to you, would you really be interested? Of course not. Don't forget that a prospective employer will be judging you by your covering letter and if you don't make an effort to write a personalised letter then it will be assumed that you would also cut too many corners if they offered you the job.

Company hiring managers will not appreciate the same cover letter being sent to them for every job opening. They want to see some effort and creativeness put into the cover letters that they receive. Having said that, there is no reason why you can't use a cover letter template and then tailor each one to the job that you are applying for. This will help your cover letter to stand out and increase the odds of you being short-listed for an interview.

To be able to customise a cover letter template you will need some basic information about each job. A good job hunting practice is to keep a copy of the job ad that you are applying for. This will be a vital piece of information which you will need to refer to often as you prepare your application for the job. It will be used in the opening paragraph of your covering letter i.e.:

"I am writing in response to your advertisement regarding the post of Retail Manager, based in Birmingham which was advertised in the National News of 15th September 2009."

It is important to include the job details and where you saw this ad because the company you are applying to may have a number of different vacancies on the go and this will ensure that your application gets the attention it deserves.

If there is a contact name on the ad, you must ensure the covering letter is addressed to that person by name. If not, phone the company and ask the name of the person who your application should be directed to. Many of the other job hunters will address their applications to an appointment, whereas you have shown initiative and personalised your cover letter which will make you stand out from the crowd.

Dear

Application for the post of Retail Manager (Job Ref: 1234)

I am writing in response to your advertisement regarding the post of Retail Manager, based in Birmingham which was advertised in the Daily Echo of 15th September 2008.

I have six years experience as a shop floor manager, running a team of sales advisers for a leading electrical appliance retailer. During this period I have dramatically reduced the amount of time a customer queues at the checkouts during busy periods.

This waiting time was reduced by as much as 60%. This was achieved by reorganising the sales advisers work schedules. This additional benefit to the store was that checkout staff were able to up sell more of our products which lead to an increase in sales of over 23%.

By training my team in other tasks around the store and sharing the workload accordingly, increased job satisfaction amongst the staff meant that absenteeism and sickness were also reduced. This greatly assisted busy periods when we saved on overtime payments.
I strongly believe that my experience, and achievements to date will prove to be an asset to your organisation, making me a strong candidate for this post. I would appreciate the opportunity of an interview where I can discuss the position further.

I enclose a copy of my Resume.

Yours sincerely,