Understanding the Universal Power of a Cover Letter
Craft a cover letter that’s a strategic tool, not a formality. (And yes, people read them)
A great cover letter is your key to standing out in a competitive job market.
A cover letter serves as your first impression to a potential employer, offering a personalized introduction that complements your resume. Its purpose is to showcase your qualifications, experiences, and skills in a concise and compelling manner, providing insight into why you’re the ideal candidate for the job.
Key Objectives:
- Introduction: Your cover letter should begin with a strong opening that grabs the reader’s attention and sets the tone for the rest of the document.
- Highlighting Relevant Experience: Use the body of the cover letter to highlight specific experiences and achievements that demonstrate your suitability for the role.
- Demonstrating Cultural Fit: Convey your understanding of the company’s culture and values. Tailor your language and examples to resonate with the organization’s mission and goals.
- Expressing Enthusiasm and Confidence: Conclude your cover letter with a strong closing paragraph that reiterates your interest in the position and expresses confidence in your ability to contribute to the company’s success.
The Most Important Rule for a Cover Letter
That it’s tailored to the job. That’s it. You should stop eating this article, because there is no perfect cover letter for any job.
In fact, cover letters must be customized and targeted not only to specific jobs but also to the specific person reading it. If your cover letter isn’t tailored, you might as well not bother.
A cover letter that’s effective for one job and one candidate won’t necessarily work for another job or a different candidate. Even cover letters for the same job but going to different people, such as an HR Manager versus a Hiring Manager, need to be different.
With that said…
In this article, we’re going to do something unorthodox. We’ll break down the closest approximation to a perfect cover letter for any job.
But remember, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, we aim to provide you with principles behind writing effective cover letters, empowering you to tailor them for maximum impact.
Anatomy of the Ideal Cover Letter
We’ve explained the how to write a cover letter extensively in our complete guide to writing effective cover letters.
Every cover letter must contain the following essentials:
- Salutation: Address the employer or recruiter by name to personalize the communication.
- Opening: Grab attention and initiate the conversation. This is your chance to make a strong first impression.
- Justification: Demonstrate how you can address the company’s specific needs and contribute to their goals.
- Call to Action: Invite the reader to contact you and provide clear instructions on how to do so.
- Formalities: Thank the reader for their time and consideration. Include your contact information and any other necessary formalities.
We’ll ensure these essential elements are included, and write it in such a way that the letter reads like it was written specifically for the reader.
To accomplish this, we’ll create a template where only the salutation and justification need to be slightly modified based on the specific job and reader. Taking this approach gives us a generic cover letter masquerading as a tailored one. It’s not as effective as a fully customized letter, but for applications where time is of the essence, or for applications you don’t want to invest a lot in, it’s sufficient.
Remember, if you don’t customize these crucial parts, it will result in your cover letter being dismissed as a generic copy-and-paste, demolishing your chances at the job.
What A Great Cover Letter Must Accomplish
The purpose of your resume is to get you an interview. The purpose of your cover letter is to get your resume read.
More precisely, the goal is to ensure that the reader:
- Pays Extra Attention: Your cover letter should grab the reader’s attention and prevent them from going into autopilot mode. It needs to stand out among the sea of other applicants’ documents.
- Feels You’re “Different”: Make the reader perceive you as different from the rest. This is less done by showcasing your unique skills or experiences (you’re replaceable), but more in expressions of your personality and use of language.
- Interprets Your Professional History Charitably: Your cover letter should frame your professional history in a favorable light (best, strongest position – see principle of charity). This minimizes any potential red flags and maximizes the reader’s perception of your qualifications and suitability for the role.
We extensively cover how to achieve these objectives in our program, Launch Your Career, which you should go through if you haven’t already done so.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll extract three specific techniques from that program and apply them to writing the perfect cover letter for any job.
Captivate from the Start
You want to hook the reader from the start with a bold statement or question. Show you’re here to make an impact, not waste time.
Here’s what our engaging introduction looks like:
Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name],
I hope you’re having a great day! As I came across the opening for [position] at [Company Name], I couldn’t help but feel compelled to reach out.
Analysis: Most people who are trying to write engaging introductions end up creating arrogant or obnoxious text, such as: “ignite your team with unparalleled expertise” or “look no further”. By being straightforward, positive, and enthusiastic this text actually accomplishes what tryhards are failing to.
Demonstrate Your Value
We want to back up your claims with concrete examples and measurable results. Prove you’re a top performer with a proven track record of success.
In our example, we need to present at least two relevant accomplishments within the cover letter, applicable to a broad range of job opportunities.
This is a challenge, as it leaves technical expertise, or job specific expertise out.
Instead, we need to use other credibility markers that can be applied to a variety of jobs. These include, but are not limited to, awards, recognition, helping increase profits, helping reduce costs, excellent examples of teamwork, examples of competent leadership including thought leadership.
Here’s what our cover letter body looks like:
In my last role, I was honored with [specific award or recognition] for my contributions to [project or initiative], which not only increased profits by [X%], but also streamlined operations and enabled us to grow our team. As I look ahead to potential opportunities at [Company Name], I am eager to bring this track record of success and dedication to your team.
Analysis: Awards, increase of profits, and growth of team are success markers that’s relevant to essentially every corporation. By keeping this section short, and easy to read, we are making sure that the message gets across. By focusing on concrete, measurable, objective, tangible and specific criteria, we are eliciting a charitable interpretation of your resume. (i.e. You’re not trying to stretch the truth on your cover letter, so your resume gets higher quality attention)
Leave a Lasting Impression
We’ll end with a call to action that demonstrates your enthusiasm and commitment to excellence. Avoid generic platitudes like “I’m ready to contribute to your organization’s success,” as these have become clichĂ© and lack substance – leading to the reader’s eyes glazing over as they hit the delete key.
To leave a lasting impression, we must stand out. We need to either convey a message that others aren’t saying or present our message in a way that captivates the reader in a professional and competent manner.
Remember: novelty stands out. We just need to make sure that it’s a professional and competent novelty.
Here’s what our conclusion looks like:
Thank you for considering my application. I am genuinely excited about the opportunity. Let’s schedule a conversation to explore how we can work together to achieve excellence.
Looking forward to the possibility of joining your team and making a meaningful impact.
Analysis: By using short, easy to read, easy to understand sentences we are increasing the probability that their brain will retain what they read. By being tactful, professional, positive and non-presumptuous, we are differentiating ourselves from the sea of try hard applicants.
Last Step: Brutal Read-Through
Before we conclude, we have one final step left – a ruthless review.
We need to scrutinize the cover letter with a critical eye, cutting out anything that doesn’t serve a purpose in landing the job.
Read through your entire cover letter out loud. After each sentence, ask yourself, “So what?”
If you don’t like the answer, delete that sentence and rewrite it.
Once you can read your entire cover letter without being stumped by the “So what?” question, you’re done.
Congratulations! You now have a stellar cover letter ready to be sent with any job application. (With just a couple of tweaks about the specific position)
Here’s what our final “Perfect Cover Letter For Any Job” looks like:
Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name],
I hope you’re having a great day! As I came across the opening for [position] at [Company Name], I couldn’t help but feel compelled to reach out.
In my last role, I was honored with [specific award or recognition] for my contributions to [project or initiative], which not only increased profits by [X%], but also streamlined operations and enabled us to grow our team. As I look ahead to potential opportunities at [Company Name], I am eager to bring this track record of success and dedication to your team.
Thank you for considering my application. I am genuinely excited about the opportunity. Let’s schedule a conversation to explore how we can work together to achieve excellence.
Looking forward to the possibility of joining your team and making a meaningful impact.
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]
Of course, this is just the beginning…
A great cover letter will catch their attention, and get them to read your resume in the right frame of mind. But becoming a top professional takes more than just writing great cover letters.
You’ll need a great resume (tailored to the job), an interview plan, a negotiation plan to get the job.
But even that’s not all…
After getting your great job, you’ll need a development plan and a promotion plan to move up the ladder. You need a strategy to Break into Management or become an Executive. You need mentors, resources, networking opportunities and events where you can collaborate with like minded professionals.
Our point is: In our cut throat world of relentless competition, especially due to the advent of AI, it takes more than just the perfect cover letter to be successful.
It is our sincerest hope that this article isn’t the end, but the beginning of your professional development.
You deserve more.