Now if I told you there is something you
can do to increase your chances of
getting that dream job by about 90% you
would pay attention wouldn't you,
wouldn't you? well there is now
your CV is your CV I hope it looks
good and when you get to the interview
I'm sure you'll make a good impression
but let me tell you it's that cover
letter which is crucially important.
Unless you have a good cover letter few
recruiters are even going to open your
CV which means you won't get the
chance at the interview. So in today's
lesson we are going to show you how to
write a great cover letter that will
engage the reader and help you land the
job you want so stay tuned.
hello and welcome to LetThemTalk and today
we're going to look at how to write an
amazing cover letter or covering letter
as it's sometimes called and if English
is not your first language we have some
tips about this too. Now the cover letter
is crucially important on so many levels
a CV or résumé is about facts your
experience your educational background
yes you can make it look good and you
can make it sound impressive but you
can't lie about your experience or your
qualifications. It is to some extent
fixed. On the other hands the covering
letter is the first interaction you will
have with a recruiter and as you know
first impressions count so it's
important, it's vitally important, to get
it right and furthermore the cover
letter,
unlike the CV, is the chance to get your
personality across. The objective of the
cover letter is to make the reader, the
hiring person, curious enough to read
your CV recruiters and Human Resource
staff are busy people and if they are
receiving hundreds of applications a day
they won't have time to read each one in
great detail most of them will first look
at your covering letter and read that
for about thirty seconds and if they're
impressed they will move on to your CV
if not I'm afraid, it ends up in the bin.
Now let me tell you that 90% of
cover letters are either average, bad or
very bad so just making a small change
can increase your chances of getting to
the interview by a significant amount.
First of all I'm going to give you
some general points including things you
should and shouldn't do and
then I'm going to take you step-by-step
about what you need to do with an
example of a cover letter. So first
of all, keep it brief; a couple of
paragraphs maybe a third or half a page
that's about the right length. So
often I've seen cover letters that are
page and a half two pages long firstly
it shows that the person is unable to
get their message across in a concise
way - all the information about your
background your qualifications your
experience it's in your CV so you don't
need to talk about that in great detail.
Don't tell them your long personal
story it's not interesting and it's not
what they want know such as a lack of
respect for the recruiter's time.
sometimes you see cover letters that are
too short, "I would like to apply for the
position of accounts assistant please
find my CV attached" this says nothing
this also will end up in the bin.
so make it personal do not use the same
cover letter for each job you apply.
worse than that I've seen, believe it or not,
I've seen the email sent to multiple
recipients now that shows that you can't
even bother to write a separate cover
letter for each job now do you think you
really want to work with a person like
that. Every letter should be personalized
do some research on the company yes I
know it takes time but it's time well
spent.
Read the website read articles about the
company that you find online or in the
media when you are writing it, imagine
that the person you are writing to is
sitting opposite you and imagine you are
having a conversation with them and as
of any conversation don't just start
talking about the achievements
great you are and what you want it's
going to bore a person if you are
speaking to them and it's going to bore
them in writing too. "I really want to
work for a big organization and I
think your company I could get some
useful experience develop my career and
maybe in a few years I could do a
master's and if you could finance that
it would be great actually to be honest
I don't really like London but my
girlfriend has just moved here and I'm
following her you see..." Now do your best
to get the name of the person who is
recruiting. You can use Google you can
use LinkedIn you can use social media
you can call up the company if you can't
get the name don't write "to whom it may
concern" that sounds cold you could write
"Dear sir or madam", "Dear hiring manager" of
course it's much, much better to write a
name but if you don't get a name don't
panic you can personalize the body of
the letter. So in the letter there should
always be something that's going to give
the impression that you took the time
and effort to write to them. Now believe
me if you do this even if you don't get
to the interview stage you will almost
certainly get a reply. In fact I would go
so far as to say that you should make it
your goal to get a reply rather than an
interview make that your challenge ok.
So how do you personalize it? Well for
example "I recently read online that XYZ
are shortly going to open a subsidiary in
Madrid it seems like your company is
going from strength to strength that's
great news. By the way, in addition to my
other skills, I do speak Spanish and I
would love to play a part in your
expansion whether it be at home or
abroad I'm your man". or, if you're going
to go for a local government job "I've
just downloaded your app and I used it
to find a parking space in the city and
it was great though I do believe that if
I had the opportunity to work on it I
could make it even better". So your mantra
should be it's not about you it's about
them.
Don't write about yourself and what you
want tell them what you can do for them
don't say "I've got 3 years experience in
business studies and I'm looking for a
company where I can progress my career"
do say "I've got a degree in Business
Studies which provided me a great
academic background and with these
skills, along with my passion I'm sure I
would be a great asset to your team". So
even if you don't have any significant
work experience the cover letter gives you
the chance to get them excited. ok now a
few more points I would recommend. Put
the cover letter in the body of the
email. If you put it as a separate
attachment it just adds extra
unnecessary steps. What I see
sometimes is a cover letter
in a cover letter. "I'm writing to apply
for this job blah blah blah please find
my cover letter and my CV attached" Do
you really need a cover letter for a
cover letter? No as soon as the recruiter
opens the email it should be
bang there it is.  Don't give them
unnecessary obstacles in front of
reading your application. Check the
spelling and grammar now i've already
made two videos about how to approach an
interview links in the description up
there somewhere. Now in those videos I
said that if English is not your first
language that's okay. The interviewer is
not a grammar teacher they won't notice
any small grammar mistakes okay and
while this is true for an interview I'm
afraid for a cover letter it's not the
cover letter should be checked for
spelling and grammar if you're a native
speaker or a non-native speaker I do
recommend that you get the letter proof
read by another person. Even if your
cover letter is wonderful if you can't
be bothered to check the spelling and
the grammar if it has spelling mistakes
that looks bad. That looks really bad and
it'll end up in the bin. now a word about
grammar and style write the cover letter
in a formal but friendly style if it's
too formal you will sound distant and
cold if it's too friendly well that's
not good either. In order to get the
balance right try, first of all, to use
active sentences rather than passive
sentences. So for example, instead of
saying "I was employed as a technical
assistant for two years" say "I worked as
a technical assistant for two years."
instead of saying "Your company has been
recommended to me by Don Redburn" say "Don
Redburn recommended your company to me"
Do not use the word
VERT ok just strike it out of
your cover letter and use another
word so for example do not say "I'd be
very happy to meet you"
do say "I'd love to meet you"
and don't be too friendly never, never
use emoji. Yes I have seen that. Do not
use Comic Sans or wingdings or a cursive
font. You can use the first name if you
know the hiring manager through a
contact so for example. "Hi Lucy, Robin
Cooper recommended I get in touch with
you". Now if you don't have a personal
connection to them then use Mr or
MS + surname. MS is good to use if you don't know
the marital status of a woman and it's
very polite so use that MS.
so now we've looked a lot at what you
shouldn't do but let's look at what you
should include and get an example so
here we are. Number 1 state the job you
are applying for. Number 2 tell them
who you are and a few words and
sentences about your work experience
and/or your educational background.
Number 3 give a few adjectives to
describe yourself.
number 4 make a personalized
statement.
Number 5 tell them what you can do
for them. Number 6 a call for
action. ok and it doesn't necessarily
have to be in that order but those are
the things that you should mention. So
here's an example I've chosen a job in
marketing. To be honest I don't know very
much about marketing but it's just an
example and you can adapt it to the
field of the job that you are looking
for. "Dear Ms Talbot, I'm writing to apply
for the position of marketing strategy
manager at Biggles limited posted in
marketing today" always say the job you
are applying for and where you heard
about it and if it's an unsolicited
letter you could just say that you're
applying for a vacancy in the marketing
department
"I'm a graduate with two years' experience
in the field of marketing. My university
degree in Business Studies gave me an
excellent combination of skills in sales
budgeting, branding, pricing, product
life-cycle and much more. Since I
graduated I've gained considerable
practical know-how at a leading software
house where I have been working with
large and small companies helping them
to plan out and implement media
campaigns and gain footholds in new
markets. Throughout my career I've been
reaching goals and exceeding
expectations. Do have a glance at my CV
to find out more." So here I introduce
myself and I gave them a taste of my
skills and experience and hopefully they
will be curious enough to read my CV.
"You'll find me an enthusiastic, friendly
and reliable person. I'm hard-working and
I have a certain creative flair which I
hope I can put to good use
at Biggles" there you are, a few adjectives to
describe myself. "Of all the companies in
the field Biggles is certainly the one
that interests me most, simply because it
matches my own style and outlook. Your
recent campaign for community pharmacies
was so original and humorous. I know not
everyone got the joke but for me it was
outstanding and, by all reports, extremely
effective it was this as well as the
strength of some of your other campaigns
that roused me to write to you today". So
here's something about the company that
shows that you've taken an interest. "I
would love to bring my skills knowledge
and passion
to your organization I can make a
positive contribution to the future of
Biggles give me the chance and I will
help develop new marketing strategies
for your clients and increase your
business." So that's what I can bring to
the company "In short I'm a great
candidate for this position so please
get in touch with me by telephone or by
email and I'd be happy to attend an
interview at your convenience" that's
a a call to action
"I know recruiting can be a long and
stressful procedure so I'd like to thank
you for taking the time to consider my
application". Finally a polite sign-off
and if you take the time to show that
you appreciate the recruiters efforts
that sounds nice. "Yours sincerely" and
your name if you've addressed them by
name and that's what we've done here
"Dear Ms Talbot" then you should use "yours
sincerely" if you've written "Dear sir or
madam" and you don't use a name then sign
off with "Yours faithfully". That's the
traditional way anyway. OK I hope you
found that useful now go out write a
good cover letter.  Good luck with
your job search and let us know in the
comments how you got on. So I went to
Bonzai College where I've got a
first-class honours degree in animal and
fish husbandry I did a specialization in
halibut migration patterns and for the
last two years I've been working in the
marketing department of a tinned banana
processing plant in Southampton and I
want to get some more...
