Three tips for writing a cover letter that will get noticed
In today’s world, you have many communications options. You can text, instant message, direct message, email, snail mail, or even employ the ancient practice of picking up the phone and calling someone. It seems that we are more interconnected than ever, yet at the same time, our interactions are becoming more sterile and less human. I guess that’s why people ask me all the time if they still need to write cover letters. My answer is always yes. You do, especially if you want to stand out among the rest of the job seekers who opt out of it.
You want to write a cover letter that will be read by the person to whom you send it. This sounds simple enough, but many of my clients have no idea where to begin. So here are my top 3 tips on writing a cover letter that will get you noticed:
Say something different. Imagine how many cover letters say the same thing….Dear Hiring Manager, I am writing to express my interest in the role of XYZ. Do you want to read that? No, and neither does the hiring manager. You need to think of the communications you have with a potential employer as part of a content marketing strategy. The number one problem in content marketing is that creators produce content that is boring and not relevant. Don’t fall into this trap. Tell the hiring manager something that he or she wouldn’t know about you simply by reading your resume.
Make it about them. It’s not about you. I will continue to repeat this to job seekers for the rest of my career. It. Is. Not. About. You. The job search is about problems that hiring companies and hiring managers have and their quest to find people who can solve them. You need to communicate the “what’s in it for me,” and you need to do that quickly. Talking about your awesome background and experiences is very nice, but it doesn’t tell the hiring manager what’s in it for him. You need to demonstrate that you understand the business problems they have, the issues their customers face, the problems their industry is confronting, and that you can create and execute solutions for them. In other words – SHOW don’t TELL.
Tell them what makes you tick. Even though this process is not about you, people hire people, not skill sets or collections of competencies. You need to show some personality and let your humanity be visible. An excellent way to do this is to share an experience that helped you shape a worldview, formulate a foundational belief, or compel you to pursue a particular career, and then connect that to the role for which you are applying.
Cover letters are not going away anytime soon. And with so many candidates regarding them as optional, submitting one will set you apart; if you’re going to make an effort, you should maximize its effectiveness. Remember to research the role for which you’re applying and customize your cover letter and resume for each role. As recruiting becomes increasingly automated, people will remember candidates who went out of their way to humanize the process.