Pitch Perfect: How to write a cover letter that'll get you hired

Cover letters, along with interviews and presentations, are the most dreaded part of the job search.

Why? For several reasons:

  • It’s difficult to summarise a career on one A4 page. Using words sparingly is hard intellectual work.

  • It’s hard to know what to put in a cover letter. As with so many of life's practical issues, from owning a pet to parenting, there’s no rule book. We aren't taught ‘good cover letter technique’. It’s a case of trial and error, which can be stressful.

  • The cover letter is the first impression a potential employer will have of us. Our egos are on the line. There’s a lot riding on getting it right.

However, the cover letter is an integral part of the recruitment process. A well-crafted one will showcase your skills and personality and let the hiring manager know you’ve done your due diligence on the position and the company. So, it pays to put some thought into it.

Here are a few tips to help you nail it.

1. Customise your cover letter for each job

It may be faster and easier to take the cover letter you wrote for your last application, change the company name, and fire it off. But this won’t do you any favours.

Your cover letter needs to explain why you’re excited about that specific role at that specific charity. Your application will get binned if you don’t.

Also, avoid the urge to send out generic cover letters. “Dear Hiring Manager, I am excited to apply to the open position at your company” is a clear signal to recruiters that you’re on a resume-bombing mission.

Bonus tip: Don’t use generic salutations like “To Whom it May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam. They’re archaic and impersonal. And did we mention that cover letters need to be customised?

Make the effort to find out the name of the hiring manager. If it’s not on the job ad, call the charity and find out. Your efforts will be appreciated.

2. Don’t regurgitate what’s on your CV

A common pitfall job seekers fall into is using their cover letter to regurgitate what’s on their CV. The point of a cover letter is to expand on your CV to paint a fuller picture of your accomplishments.

If you’re struggling to expand on the points in your CV, ask yourself these questions:

  • What approach did you take to tackle the task?

  • What details would you include if you were telling someone a (very short!) story about how you accomplished it?

3. Think not about what the charity can do for you ...

Another common cover letter mistake? Talking about how great the position would be for you and your career.

Hiring managers know this. What they want to know is what you can offer them.

Try to identify the charity’s pain points — the problems they need their new hire to solve. Then emphasise the skills and experience you have that make you the right person to solve them.

4. Don’t focus too heavily on your education

If you’re a student looking for your first job, or you’re lacking in experience, it may be tempting to focus heavily on your educational background in your cover letter. But bear in mind, what hiring managers care about is your work experience (and yes, that can be volunteering or internship experience as well as paid work), so be sure to highlight anything you’ve done that relates to the role you’re applying for - paid, or unpaid.

5. Don’t apologise for gaps in your experience

We’ll let you in on a secret. Very few people meet every single job requirement on a job spec. It’s tempting to say things like, “despite my limited experience as a manager…” or “while I may not have direct experience in fundraising…”

Don’t apologise. Instead of drawing attention to your weaknesses, emphasise your strengths and transferable skills. i.e. “I’m excited to translate my experience in [what you’ve done in the past] to a position that’s more [what you’re hoping to do next].”

Need some help crafting the perfect cover letter? Give us a call on 0203 750 3111.

 
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