Cover Letters
While cover letters may be common in some industries but not others, you should still write one. An online application may indicate that it’s optional, but you’ll want to submit one anyway to stand out from the pack. Maybe a recruiter asks you to email them your resume. In a case like this, you’re not just going to forward your resume along with a blank email.
So, yes, even though you’re a professional with a specific skill set, you’re going to have to write cover letters regularly! Cover letters are a great way for employers to assess your written communication skills and to see if you know the standard practices for submitting a cover letter. Just because you’re going for a job where you’ll utilize your specialized skill set for much of the day doesn’t mean that you won’t be communicating with colleagues and clients daily (usually by email or Slack). Demonstrate that you have sound writing skills and can get your points across in a coherent and friendly manner. Some people skip this step entirely and those people are often looked at as less serious about getting the job. You want to go above and beyond as a jobseeker, so write your cover letters!
The Basics of a Cover Letter
Your cover letter is the place where you connect the dots on your resume—it’s not where you repeat your resume bullets word for word. In fact, think of your resume and cover letter as a tight-knit team, with each playing a unique and important position in your job application and candidacy as a whole.
Truth be told, a resume is quite limited in what it can tell a company about you on its own. In essence, its purpose is to communicate what you’ve done (and potentially, what you can do), but that’s it. This is where your cover letter steps in, with its purpose being to communicate the who and why about you, i.e. who you are as a person (what drives you, your passion, motivation, mission, as it relates to the company) and why you are interested in them/the role, as well as why you are the best candidate for them.
Of course, you’ll need to include some information about your background and skills in your cover letter, but your main goal is to show what you have to offer and why you’re interested in the company.
Note that we said "show" and not "tell." Rather than stating your proficiency level in [your technical skill set], show it off with a story on your latest project. Connect your project’s results to the kind of work you’d like to do for the company you’re applying to. You want to be precise about the kind of value you can bring and how it directly relates to what the company is looking for.
When thinking about how formal your language should be, take a cue from the way the company presents itself on its website. If it’s a large corporation with professional language on its site, write your cover letter accordingly. For smaller companies and startups with casual language on their sites, use a more conversational tone.
On the subject line: Some job postings request sending a resume and/or cover letter to a specific person or email address. Keep your cover letter subject line as to the point and direct as possible, keeping in mind that the subject line is like a ‘coming attraction’ or ‘teaser’ for what the reader can expect out of the letter as a whole. Recruiting and hiring managers are very busy people, so a specific, concise subject line is key; help them understand quickly why you are writing, and why they should be interested in opening your email.
Important: If you were referred to a company for an open position by someone that the hiring/recruiting manager or email addressee knows, then make sure you mention the referring person’s name in the subject line. This is because a familiar name builds instant trust and credibility, and will greatly improve the likelihood of your email being opened.
Here are some sample subject lines for cover letter/application-based emails:
Application for [Job Title]
[Job Title] Cover Letter – [Your Name]
Referred by [Reference Name] for [Job Title] Role
[Your Professional Title] Seeking [Job Title] Role
On formatting: If you’re submitting a traditional cover letter to a more established company, go ahead and use the standard address-on-top letter formatting. For startups, it’s your preference. Your candidacy likely won’t be impacted either way if you keep the address-on-top letter formatting. However, if you’re writing a cover in the body of an email, skip it. Regardless of what kind of company you’re writing to, avoid addressing your reader with, “To Whom It May Concern,” or “Dear Sir or Madam.” Ideally, find the name of the hiring manager or, if that’s not possible, go ahead and use something like, “Dear Hiring Manager,” “Dear Recruiting Manager”, or “Hello Team [Company Name].”
So, what does all that look like in order? In your first paragraph, start with what is essentially your elevator pitch and then go into why you’re in love with the company (we’re not kidding here – you need to emphasize why this company interests you, and do it with energy).
The bulk of your second or third paragraphs will be focused on illustrating how you can create value for the company. This is a good place to highlight specific accomplishments from past work experiences or special accolades that may correlate with the skills necessary to do the job. Another great practice is to mention by name and embed a link to a project you built, if the technologies/skills used align with what the company is looking for in the job description. Additionally, if you’ve worked in the same industry in your previous career (i.e., you did marketing for healthcare companies in the past, and now you want to work in your new vocation at a health-tech startup), this is a great place to tie your understanding of the industry with your desire to contribute in a new way.
Finally, wrap it up with your hope to continue the conversation in an interview and how they can reach you. You can pose that type of question by saying something like “I’d welcome the opportunity to talk with you and your team about the work you’re doing at COMPANY X and how I can add value to your team. I’m available for an introductory call or meeting and would be happy to work around your schedule. Thanks in advance for your time.“ If your phone number and email address are already written under your name it’s not necessary to repeat them again in this line.
As a final note, know that it’s not necessary to indent paragraphs anymore but skip a line between paragraphs. And your cover letter shouldn’t be more than a page.
How to Stand Out
Now that you know the basics, here’s how to kick it up a notch. A great cover letter uses an authentic voice and shows off what you know about the company rather than generic sounding language that can be submitted for any job application.
When you’re explaining your interest in a company, get specific and personalize it, for each and every company. Do your research (which we cover in two different lessons in the interviewing unit) and show that you know what you’re signing up for. If you can swap out the name of the company and replace it with another company and your cover letter still makes sense, then it’s not nearly specific enough. This point cannot be overstated: it’s incredibly important and can set you apart from other candidates to show your passion for the company and interest in the role.
Here are a couple good examples of strong cover letter lines with unique voices that also illustrate their knowledge of the company in subtle ways:
I recently took a BuzzFeed quiz that told me I should be a jetfighter pilot. I don’t know about that, but it did get me thinking: a position that combines my extensive experience in the airline industry with my Flatiron School approved [your program of study] skills would be perfection.
It was my pug, Lori, who inspired me to check out the [Job Title] opening (she’s psyched about the idea of sharing an office with me every day) and as I learned more about what [pet startup] is doing to transform the pet healthcare space, I couldn’t help but give her a deluxe treat for helping me find my dream company.
Conclusion
In your concluding paragraph, you want to re-state your interest and value in the role and let the employer know that you’re available to talk/meet in the near future, and make sure your phone and email are somewhere in the document.
The most important takeaway from this lesson should be that employers care about how you write. Even though you’re starting a new role with specialized skill set, you should expect to communicate constantly with colleagues, so show your competency via your cover letter. You should always strive to go above and beyond whenever you can. Always proofread, and don’t ever copy and paste a cover letter and send it to multiple companies (the same way you’d never send the same thank you note to multiple employees at a company after interviewing with them).
It is never a good use of time to draft a "generic" cover letter. You should always write a custom cover letter to any job you're applying for anyway. See resources below in case you are asked to draft a cover letter.
Resources
Last updated