Make sure to do some research first
While it’s a good thing to tailor and customize your resume to the job offer, it’s absolutely essential each cover letter be customized for each individual job offer.
This is because the resume can be generalist, while the cover letter is specific to one job offer.
So make sure to do some proper research about the company
Avoid traditional pitfalls of cover letters
Other than not re-using cover letters, it’s also important to avoid a few other things in cover letters:
- Don’t be overly personal
- Avoid using templates and cliché sentences
- Always proof-read your cover letter for spelling mistakes and improvement
- Never lie on your cover letter
- Don’t undersell or oversell yourself
- Avoid including pictures in the cover letter
- Remember that the cover letter is about what the company wants not about what you want.
- Don’t talk about your weaknesses
- Try to include things that show you went beyond the job offer to research the company and that really show your dedication
- Avoid talking about salary expectations or trashing your previous boss
- Be assertive in your letter, avoid things like “I think”
- Try to have a formal writing style
Clear structure of the cover letter
- The header should include your name, contact informations, the name and address of the company, eventually your own address, as well as the complete title of the job you’re applying to
- The introduction should greet the hiring manager, introduce yourself (describe why you’re applying, your achievements, your skills), explain why you’re here, how you discovered the company
- This should also be used to summarize your resume and bring attention to the different skills that are the most relevant to the job offer and company
- The reasons why you should be hired giving more concrete examples for your skills and how they owuld benefit the company
- The reasons you picked that company, reiterating your enthusiasm in the job offer and the company, show based on your research why you picked this company and why you think you are an amazing candidate for the job offer
- The footer where you finish with an positive and open sentence such as “Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss my application further. Sincerely, your name”
More details
To learn more about how to write a good cover letter, I invite you to look at the examples and resources available on HELMo Learn as well as the following links:
- Reed.co.uk - Free cover letter template
- Reed.co.uk - Five things you need to stop doing on your cover letter
- Novoresume.com - How to write a cover letter
I also invite you to look at other examples and tips online as well as, after doing some spell checking, giving your cover letter and resume to other people and asking for advices, critiques, etc to continuously improve it.