Is a cover letter still relevant today? How can you attract attention with YOUR motives for applying for a job at the first stage of selection? What should the form and content be? Six rules for a good cover letter.
Although it may seem that the cover letter is fading away, it helps recruiters in the initial analysis of application documents. To be adapted to today’s standards, it should be short and have the form of an email in which you attach your CV. The main goal is to show convincingly that you have considered your qualifications and competences in terms of THIS JOB OFFER.
It is also an interesting intellectual exercise for the candidate: thinking through the real, not façade, motives for applying can significantly affect the quality of career choices: of which, for now, there are still plenty.
Rule 1
The structure of a cover letter is divided into a maximum of 3-4 paragraphs, which should not contain more than half a page. Below is an example of a structure divided into parts, which contain three or four sentences answering the questions:
1. Why am I the right person for this position and for this company? Maybe this is an area in which I am particularly committed to implementing new projects? Have I achieved success in similar contexts?
2. What confirms the thesis included earlier – experience, education, development to date? Will the specific qualifications I have gained allow for full adjustment to the tasks in this position?
3. What is a particular ‘motivator or driving force’ for me to apply for this position? Maybe a specific challenge, international environment, management style and culture?
4. What competencies prove that I will meet the expectations placed on me? What information proves this? Achieving difficult goals? Building competent teams? Maintaining a high level of employee motivation despite unfavorable conditions?
Rule 2. Matching
Match your cover letter to a specific proposal. Show the compatibility of your motives with the position offered. Motivation is energy, inspiration to fulfill the described role and even passion in performing certain activities. Think about your real motives, do not try to create façade motivations when the dominant one is financial, but if you think about it more deeply, it is certainly not the only one. In many cases, it is not dominant among other motives either.
If the job description you found on the Internet shows you that you can use previously acquired competences and qualifications – write about it directly.
Cover letter – matching examples:
Example 1: “The current limitation of the scale of projects in my company makes your offer attractive to me because of the projects implemented for the automotive industry. I was responsible for the installation of the ITC system at Toyota and Fiat, among others.”
Example 2. “Participating in international projects to automate logistics processes has prepared me to fulfill the function of a warehouse manager in accordance with your description posted on the Internet.”
Rule 3. Precision.
Include specific information – mainly that which is related to the requirements included in the advertisement or in other materials you were provided with. Do not write much – these days, condensed information is important (at least at this stage of recruitment and selection). Do not duplicate information that is included in the CV.
Applications used on the Internet to acquire candidates also have a place to enter short information in the form of a comment. Too much information may be a factor that causes the recruiter or final decision-maker to not be able to focus on key aspects when reading or not remember the basic distinguishing features. Do not include banal, imprecise and false motivators such as ‘Willingness to develop’: if you do not yet know how and in what you can develop in this position, you will lose credibility. These aspects are verified during the first conversations or interviews.
Example:
I graduated from AGH at the Faculty of Production Engineering, major: Management and Production Engineering. The subject of my master’s thesis was “Analysis of ASO on the example of Toyota KLO Warsaw”. This subject is consistent with the job position you offer. I am currently doing an internship at OKService, where I am responsible for coordinating and managing the documentation of tenders for the purchase of service services. Technical specifications and their assessment are everyday life for me.
Rule 4. Don’t embellish.
It is worth basing it on available information, both that which has been published in official announcements, as well as that which is available on websites or obtained from employees of the company you are applying to. For example, it is not worth writing about the huge development opportunities offered by the new position (by the way, they were not specified in the advertisement), if our motivation is to devote more time to the family. The new job position is located 20 km from our place of residence, not 200 km, and this may be a key motive: employers understand this.
Rule 5. Emphasize qualifications and competences.
A professional cover letter should indicate the key qualifications and competences that will support your success in the new job position. Here, include skills that are related to the position you are applying for, e.g.; software languages, database systems, management of IT infrastructure in distributed structures, etc. This part should be as specific as possible and also clearly state your ambitions in further developing your competences.
Rule 6. Eliminate copy&paste.
If you send the same cover letter without matching it to the job offer to different companies and employers, there is a high probability that it will be rejected. Choose precisely the information from your previous professional career and education that is relevant to the advertisement. Match it not only to the required competences, but also to the organizational culture, structure and other information you can obtain on the Internet about the company you are applying to.
After completing this part of the task, read your cover letter again, being aware that the interviewers will verify what you included in the first message.
