For many years, the practice has been widespread in the United States to require applicants for various vacancies not only a resume, but also a cover letter. In recent years, the importance of this aspect has begun to decline - already in 2016, cover letters required only employers. This is easy to explain - HR professionals conducting initial screening usually have too little time to read letters, it takes only a few seconds to analyze the resumes themselves according to statistics.
But, show that the phenomenon of the cover letter is not yet completely a thing of the past, especially in positions related to creativity, where writing skill is important. A programmer can find a job with one resume in the form of a pumped profile on GitHub, but testers, analysts, and marketers should take the time to write a letter - they will no longer be read by βHRsβ, but by managers who select people to join their team.
I found an interesting post on how to approach writing a cover letter when looking for a job in the USA today, and I prepared an adapted translation of it.
You need to use a template
Usually, when actively searching for a job and sending out resumes, it is quite common to come across ads that require you to insert or attach a cover letter when responding. A strange fact: although according to statistics less than a third of employers read them, up to 90% of them require them to be attached. Apparently, this is seen as an indicator of the responsible attitude of the applicant and a way to filter out the laziest.
But even if you are not too lazy to write a cover letter, doing it from scratch dozens of times is too tiring. Therefore, you need to use a template in which only the details associated with a specific position change. Here's what such a template might look like.
Make sure to include the title
Most often, a cover letter can be attached as an attachment, so it will not be superfluous to design it well. To do this, you can follow the rules for compiling business correspondence, which imply the presence of the following information:
- Name;
- Phone number or email;
- Who do you write to (manager's name, if specified in the vacancy / company name);
- Links to your social media profiles / website.
Since this is business correspondence, the style should be appropriate. If you do not have your own domain, at least use mailboxes with neutral names, all kinds of [email protected] won't fit. You should not write from the corporate mailbox of your current employer, even if you are currently working outside the United States - if your resume is studied, then this site will most likely be visited and either they will not understand anything and be embarrassed, or they will understand, and everything will not look very correct in relation to the current employer.
Use the three-paragraph rule
The main purpose of a cover letter is to draw attention to your resume. That is, it is an auxiliary tool that should not draw too much attention to itself, which means that it is not necessary to make it long. Three paragraphs will be more than enough. Here's what they might be about:
- In the first paragraph, it is important to try to grab the reader's attention.
- In the second, describe what you are proposing.
- In conclusion, to consolidate the impression made.
Here are some examples of what exactly you can write about in each section.
Introduction: Pointing to Suitable Experiences
According to various sources, recruiters spend from to . It is clear that they are also not ready to spend a lot of time on a cover letter. So the first paragraph is the most important.
Try to avoid long and overly formal sentences. It is important to saturate the paragraph with details that will make it clear that you are a good choice for this particular job.
Poorly:
I am writing to you in response to the PR Manager job posting. I have 7+ years of experience in PR and would like to apply to this position. / I am responding to your vacancy as a PR manager. I have more than seven years of experience in the field of PR, I would like to offer my candidacy.
At first glance, this example is normal. But if you read carefully and put yourself in the place of the hiring manager, it becomes clear that the text could be made much better. For example, it does not contain any details at all about why this particular candidate is suitable for this particular job. Well, yes, he has more than seven years of experience, and what, take him just because he did something, as he thinks, similar to the tasks described in the vacancy?
Well:
I am an active follower of XYZ company, and so I was excited to see your job posting for the PR Manager position. I'd like to put my knowledge and skills forward to help in reaching your public relations goals, and think I might be a good fit. While working at SuperCorp company I was responsible for nationwide PR activities working on getting the company mentioned in media outlets like Forbes, and overall reach through this channel has increased by 23% in six months.
TranslateI follow your company quite actively, so I was glad to know that you are looking for a PR manager. I would like to help you solve the tasks facing the company in this area, I am convinced that I will do an excellent job with this work. I worked at SuperCorp and was responsible for nationwide PR, brand mentions in Forbes-sized media, and in six months of work, audience coverage on this channel increased by 23%.
The difference is obvious. The volume of the text has increased, but the information load has also increased significantly. Concrete achievements are shown in the form of figures, the desire to apply knowledge and experience to solve new problems is evident. Any employer should appreciate this.
What then: describe the benefits of cooperation
After initially gaining attention, you need to build on the success and give even more details - this needs a second paragraph. In it, you describe why cooperation with you will bring maximum benefit to the company.
In the example above, we considered a cover letter for a PR manager job at XYZ Company. An organization may need a person who:
Has extensive experience working with various media, bloggers and blogs, handled incoming requests for product reviews, etc.
Understands technology, follows trends in this area - after all, XYZ is a startup in the field of artificial intelligence.
Here's how to respond to these tasks in a cover letter:
...
At my current company SuperCorp, I am working on organizing and handling the PR support of new releases from planning to media outreach, and media relations to reporting. For example, this year my crucial challenge was to increase media coverage in top-tier technology-related publications (TechCrunch, VentureBeat, etc.) by 20%. By the end of the first quarter, the number of mentions in the media from the list had increased more than by 30%. Referral traffic now brings about 15% of overall website traffic (compared to 5% the year before).TranslateAt my current job at SuperCorp, I do PR support for new product releases, campaign planning, and reporting. For example, one of the most important tasks this year is to increase the number of mentions in the top technology media (TechCrunch, VentureBeat, etc.) by 20%. By the end of the first quarter, the number of mentions in publications from the list increased by 30%, and the share of referral traffic now amounts to about 15% of traffic to the site (a year ago, the figure did not exceed 5%).
At the beginning of the paragraph, the candidate described his tasks at the current position, indicated that this work is similar to the tasks that the new employer now faces, illustrated the achievements with numbers. An important point: the whole text is built around the benefits for the company: higher audience coverage of top media, more traffic, etc. When the hiring manager reads this, he will immediately understand what exactly the company will get if he hires this particular specialist.
Explain why you want this job
It is clear that you donβt need to spread yourself too thin on the topic βwhat attracts you to our companyβ, but at least a basic description of what attracts you in the tasks of a particular vacancy will still not be superfluous. You can do this with three steps.
Mention some event related to the company, its product or service.
Explain why you are interested, show a certain degree of immersion.
Re-emphasize how exactly your experience will help improve the results of this project/product.
For example:
...
I've read a lot about your new AI-based shopping recommendation app. I am interested in this project both from a personal (I am a passionate shopper) and professional perspective (It is always an exciting challenge to get a new project off the ground). I believe that my professional experience in media relations and a network of connections in online technology-related media will help in generating traction for the project.TranslateI read a lot on your app with recommendations for future AI based purchases. I like the project both as a user - I often go shopping, and as a professional - I love working on promoting newly launched products. I think that my experience with top media and a wide network of journalistic contacts in technology media will come in handy in attracting new users.
Important: everything needs to be rechecked
Once again, the cover letter should not be long. You need to apply the 300 word rule to it - everything that exceeds this limit should be shortened.
In addition, you need to get rid of typos and grammatical errors. To do this, run the text through a specialized program.
Bonus Tip: P.S. Can Be Helpful
The PS section of any letter attracts attention - this is a psychological moment. Even if the reader is just scrolling through the text, the eye will be hooked on the postscript, because on a subconscious level we think that there will be something important in this part of the message. Marketers know this very well and actively use this fact, for example, in .
With regard to writing a cover letter, this method can be used to provoke feedback, offer help, etc.
PS If you are interested, I would be happy to share my ideas on getting into TechCrunch and Business Insider as well as attracting more leads around your new product based on my previous experience with SuperCorp.
TranslatePS If you're interested, I'll be happy to send you my ideas on how you could organize your product's release on TechCrunch or Business Insider, attract more users - all based on the experience with SuperCorp.
Conclusion: Mistakes and Tips
In conclusion, we will once again list the mistakes in writing cover letters for responding to vacancies in American companies and ways to avoid them.
- Focus not on yourself, but on the employer and the benefits that the company will receive if you are hired.
- Use the three paragraph rule. You can add a maximum of one more line PS The entire text should not exceed 300 words.
- Use a template where you add keywords from the vacancy you are applying for, link the description of achievements to the tasks specified in the ad.
- Double-check everything - have someone proofread the text and run it through the software to look for typos and grammatical errors.
Source: habr.com