Do you always struggle when writing a great cover letter? Do not panic! Here at Journey Recruitment, we review hundreds of CV’s and cover letters every single day, so we wanted to share our knowledge on how to write a great cover letter with you.
Luckily, recruiters will do most of the work for you and most of the time you do not need to submit a cover letter directly to us when applying for our roles. However, if you are going for a senior role or really want to impress, attaching a cover letter can really help your chances of success and show how much you want to work for that company.
Apart from making your cover letter look nice and matching it to the theme of your CV, the content is what really matters. This is your chance to demonstrate who you are why you are the perfect fit for them, why the role is perfect for your skillset and why you are interested in the company and the industry. This article will explain our recommended three-part formula for success when writing your cover letter: why you, why the job and finally why the company and the industry.
Why you?
After beginning your cover letter with your name and addressing the hiring manager, a great place to start is by talking about what makes you a great fit for the role. Basically, why should they hire YOU?
Start by introducing yourself and explaining who you are. Include a USP about yourself such as your degree or a notable achievement and perhaps your number of years working within say marketing if it is a marketing role. Mention here your plans for the future and desire to join such a fantastic organisation. You need to explain why you feel you are the perfect fit for the role and sell yourself in this opening paragraph.
Why the role?
After expressing WHY YOU are the right candidate, it’s now time to explain why you really want that particular job. Explain your interest in the job spec and highlight any key parts you are really interested in and any of your skills that match these parts. This is where you can demonstrate your amazing knowledge and experience of tasks they are asking you to do in the job spec. For example, if it asks for experience with SEO Marketing, explaining how many years’ experience of this you have is a great place to start. Then you could go on to describe any amazing achievements or projects you’ve worked on relating to SEO Marketing.
Why the Company/ Industry
Finally, after selling yourself and your ability to perform well in the role, it’s time to explain why you really want to work for that company and within that industry. You need to do lots of company research for this part, so we recommend looking at the company’s social media pages, any industry news and basically familiarising yourself with what they do. This will also save you research time before your interview.
See what the industry trends are and really express your interest in working within the industry. Mentioning the company’s growth and any recent achievements is a great thing to do as you can say that you want to be a part of this success and grow with the firm.
We hope that this article will help you understand how to write a great cover letter by using this quick three-part formula: why you, why the job and why the company/industry. For more great tips, check out our TikTok page here.