How to get your cover letter right every time!

The biggest chore for all candidates applying for a job is writing a cover letter.
Would you like to know how to make your cover letter a success and grab the recruiter`s attention at first glance?
This article offers you the almost miracle recipe.

Key elements for a successful cover letter

The cover letter supports the curriculum vitae.
It reflects your motivation, personality and enthusiasm.
It’s the added value a recruiter needs to keep a candidate in the running for a job.

To write a successful cover letter, it’s important to include certain key elements, such as greetings, the addressee, and so on.

Set a personalized mail header

The first step to a successful cover letter is to get the header right.

You need :

Write coordinates correctly

As with all administrative documents, it is important that the candidate enters his contact details correctly.
These are :

Full name ;
Address;
City of residence ;
Email ;
Phone number.

For telephone contact details, be sure to include the suffix if the position to be filled is abroad.

The subject of the letter

The second and final element of the header is the subject line.
It’s not complicated to do, but it’s of the utmost importance.
You need to be as precise as possible, respecting the job title as indicated in the ad, and adding the job reference in brackets.

Greeting formulas

Once you’ve defined your purpose and written down your contact details, it’s ideal to address your contact by mentioning his or her title.

The catchphrase

This is an important part of the cover letter.
It enables the candidate to grab the recruiter’s attention in fractions of a second.
Instead of the usual “I have the honor of very respectfully coming…”, the candidate can opt for :

“It was with great interest that I discovered your job offer”.
“With many years’ experience in (job title), I believe I can be a great help in achieving your objectives. I am therefore pleased to submit my application”.

These different sentences, of course without any mistakes, will help the candidate to arouse the reader`s interest and therefore give him or her the best chance of getting a job interview.

Choose structure in 3 steps

The classic cover letter structure favored by recruiters consists of three paragraphs: you, me and we.

You: this is the first paragraph of the cover letter.
It’s the first paragraph of the cover letter.
It’s about introducing yourself and the reason for your cover letter.
The candidate must explain his or her motivation for the position to be filled;
Lego: As a general rule, candidates tend to bring up everything that’s in the CV.
The ego section should complement the CV, not duplicate it.
It’s an opportunity to talk about qualities such as initiative, team spirit, creativity and adaptability.
The candidate can also highlight certain key technical skills for this position ( your strengths, your professional experience perhaps) ;
The “we” part: here, the candidate highlights what he or she could bring to the company.
This part is like seduction.
The candidate has to show that there’s a perfect match between him and the company.
This is to be ayer with concrete arguments and no spelling mistakes.

The conclusion

The conclusion is made with polite phrases.
The candidate should leave an opening to show the recruiter that he or she is hoping for positive feedback.
Here, you’ll simply need to use phrases that underline the desire for an interview.

10 key tips for writing a cover letter

Also known as a cover letter, the cover letter is a guide for future employers to assess a candidate’s skills.
It must therefore be properly written.
There are a number of points to bear in mind.

1. Find out as much as possible about the company

This is an important part of writing a good cover letter.
Writing a cover letter means doing as much research as possible to stand out from the crowd.
This step will enable the candidate to prove his or her worth as the ideal candidate for the job.
It’s important to talk about your professional accomplishments without becoming arrogant.

2. Insert all information requested by the company

Some companies may ask you to provide certain information, such as the number of hours you’d like to work or any flexibility you’d like.
The candidate is obliged to provide all this information.
To do this, it’s important to read the job offer carefully.

3. First impressions have to be right

Most employers read the cover letter first, before the CV.
So it’s important to grab the employer’s attention and get them to read the CV.

4. Personalizing the cover letter

The cover letter must be addressed to a specific person in the company.
Usually, the job advertisement specifies to whom the cover letter should be addressed.
The candidate must therefore take care to write down both the name and the job title of the person in question.

5. The cover letter should be adapted to the position to be filled.

The candidate must make sure that the technical skills highlighted in the cover letter are really relevant to the position to be filled.
The same applies to soft skills.

6. The font must be legible

A cover letter should be easy for the recruiter to read.
You need a font that’s easy to read.
Times New Roman or Arial font 12 is usually suggested.

7. Air out your cover letter

A cover letter is easier to read when it’s light and airy.
This means breaking it up into short paragraphs of no more than 4 or 5 lines.

8. Professionalism is key

It’s not uncommon to come across cover letters with more or less vulgar language.
This is a serious mistake.
The candidate must use professional language.
It’s not a question of using a sustained vocabulary, but of expressing oneself clearly and simply, without turning to vulgarity.

9. The cover letter should be brief

The cover letter should never be two pages long.
It’s not a speech.
The candidate must be succinct.
Here, you need to say what you need to in a few words.

10. The letter must be proofread

This is the most important stage.
It allows the candidate to correct his or her presentation.
It’s important to proofread as many times as possible.
The candidate can also ask an ordinary person to help with the proofreading, to make sure that all the typos have been removed and that everything is in order.

14 mistakes to avoid when writing a cover letter

Many mistakes are made when writing a cover letter.
These mistakes are usually fatal.
They must be avoided at all costs.
Here’s a list of a few mistakes to avoid when writing a cover letter for a job interview.

1. Avoid talking about yourself

In most cases, avoiding talking about oneself is the most common mistake.
Most candidates find it hard to put themselves forward.
On the contrary, they agree on what the position could bring them.
For example, “this position would enable me to further develop my acquired skills” or “joining your company would be an invaluable asset for my professional career”.

Unfortunately, this is not what the recruiter wants to read.
They want to know more about the candidate.
Through the cover letter, the recruiter wants to know who he’s dealing with and what this person could bring to the table.

2. Include your CV in the letter

Some candidates, if not most, tend to copy the skills listed on their CV into their cover letter.
Normally, it should be the other way around.
Candidates should describe their experience in their CV and explain the added value they can bring to the company.

3. Editing a standard letter

It’s the mistake that can eliminate you for good.
Nothing exasperates a recruiter more than the feeling of having read a cover letter several times.
It reveals the candidate’s carelessness or laziness.

As a candidate, you must avoid at all costs :

Administrative style: “I have the honour of offering myself for the position of…” ;
General formulas: “I am dynamic, enthusiastic and motivated”;
Failure to personalize the letter by highlighting the skills required for the position

4. Overuse of adjectives and adverbs

Many candidates think that using adjectives galore strengthens their argument.
The opposite is true.
Keep sentences simple but clear.

5. Writing a cover letter without softskills

The cover letter is a way of getting to know the candidate a little more personally.
Just as a CV should highlight technical and intellectual skills, so a cover letter should highlight the candidate’s social, behavioral and even ethical qualities.

This is the time for the candidate to highlight his or her qualities.
Whether in leadership, communication or organization, the candidate needs to sell himself or herself in line with the requirements of the position.

6. Give long explanations

This is a common mistake.
Many candidates fail to get straight to the point and get lost in unnecessary detail.

7. Explain your previous job

Some candidates tend to give details about their current or previous position.
The cover letter is not the place for this.
Details about the current or previous position will be given during the interview.
Avoid boring the recruiter

8. Use a style not suited to the company

The cover letter must be tailored to the applicant and the company he or she is applying to.
Depending on the field, there are adapted fonts.
You need to adapt to your environment.

9. Highlight information relevant to the position to be filled

It’s to a candidate’s credit that he or she has a wide range of professional experience.
However, it is important to avoid highlighting professional experience that has nothing to do with the position to be filled.

10. Personal details

Even though it is punishable by law, age discrimination does exist.
So it’s important to avoid giving employers the runaround by including details about age.

The same applies to details of marital status.
Candidates should avoid emphasizing their marital status in their cover letters.
This information has no place in the cover letter, or even in the CV.

11. Job search time

Some applicants tend to notify the employer in their cover letter how long they have been looking for work.
It is not important to notify the employer of this.

12. Mention salary

It is forbidden to talk about salary before the interview.
Under no circumstances should the candidate allude to it in his or her letter.

13. Relations with former employers

Even if you have a conflict with your former employer, don’t mention it in your cover letter or during the interview.
Future employers take a dim view of candidates who spend their time disparaging their former employer.

14. Do not sign

Some applicants forget to sign their cover letter after it has been written.
Whether handwritten or typed, the cover letter must be signed.
This shows that the candidate is the guarantor of what he or she has written, and takes full responsibility for it.
It also authenticates the letter.

The cover letter, far from being a review of the CV, is the document that enables the recruiter to form an idea of the applicant.
It is therefore important to write it with the utmost care and attention to detail.
When writing a cover letter, the candidate should not hesitate to emphasize competencies related to the position to be filled, as well as soft skills.
However, care must be taken not to fall into the vice of arrogance and superfluous detail.
Candidates should be as succinct as possible, without omitting important information.