As with your CV, you need to create a fresh covering letter for each job application to help land that dream job. At least thats how it used to be. Now it will more likely be an email message. Either way, you’ve got to make your application stand out above the other candidates – you need to make the recruiter notice you and your CV will not do this alone. Your covering letter should PROVE to the employer that you are right for the job, compared with a CV, which is essentially a list of skills and experience, by the showing practical application of these skills and experience. And you’ve also got to PROVE you have the knowledge in order fit in and get on in the company and industry. So, you should do a little research into the company – look at their website, read in newspapers about key issues within that particular industry – Twitter and Linkedin are great for gaining ‘inside information’{link} within your desired industry. That done, here’s how to make a great covering letter:

1.Skills match

Go back to your objective builder form you needed for your CV -what skills does the job description require? You need to match these skills – if you don’t have the skills, then your covering letter is the perfect opportunity to explain why and how your existing skills make you a perfect candidate for the role, regardless of the lack of skills. As I alluded to earlier, essentially a covering letter is an expansion to your CV, so apply your skills and experience to the role, for example if I had retail experience and was applying for a customer service role, I would give an example, referring to my CV, as to how my the skills and my experience from my retail position applies to the. A great technique for this is in point 2.

2. The STAR system

Remember the STAR system from the new2london CV guide? Now, to make your CV completely fantastic, and to get you one step ahead of the rest, you need to take the objective sentences from the ‘Career’ section of your CV and expand them into paragraph stories. Here’s how to do it:

From the job description you should have identified the key skills and about four soft skills which are needed for the role. And of course, the skills actually listed by the recruiter. For more information click here to read about job descriptions. For your covering letter you need to link these skills with your own showing evidence from your experience. The best way to do this is using the STAR System:

Situation – the background.

Task – the task and goal which you where required to fulfil.

Action – the action taken by you to achieve the goal.

Result – exactly what it says on the tin.

Give a brief background of the situation, explain the task which you had to undertake, the action you took so as to complete it and finally, give details of the result.

For example, a typical statement from a CV could be: ‘Started as a research internship – promoted twice.’ So, to make this a paragraph for your covering letter you need to give it more detail – link it with the most necessary skills and soft skills needed. Here are the skills listed in the job description for the project management role we previously looked at (link decode)

• Digital and social media background

• Proven Business Development experience of Digital products and services

• Ability to build a sales pipeline and convert opportunities

• Ability to communicate with all levels within business

• proven track record of sales and winning new business

• self starter

• hungry to succeed

• multitask to an extremely high level

For example, if I wanted to write a covering letter for this position I may write:

My previous position at {name} began as a research internship. However, showing proven aptitude in social media marketing and sales, when a colleague was off sick, I oversaw their business development and sales responsibilities. The company devoid of a Twitter account, so I created one and commenced business to business (B2B) marketing and communication using the platform, achieving {XX} amount of extra sales revenue. Furthermore, in this capacity, I secured six new clients in three days, resulting in {XX} amount of sales and my promotion to the position of {XXXXX}.

This is a rough guide to show you how to do it – I’m sure you can do much better. Remember, only use active verbs{link below}.

3. Short and succinct

The ideal covering letter is short and to the point. Keep your cover letter quick and simple – recruiters will only have seconds to decide whether you fit the job description. Use your covering letter as an extension of your CV expanding on your skills – but do not just repeat CV and make sure it fits the specific role for which you are applying.

4. Structure for a covering letter:

First Paragraph

Name the job you intend to apply for. Next, state where you saw it advertised/where you found out about it. Then, tell them when youre available to start work.

Second Paragraph

Why youre interested in that type of work – use your research. Why the company attracts you – again, use your research.

Third/ Fourth Paragraphs

Use a the STAR system to match your own skills and experience to those required of the job.

Final Paragraph

Let them know your availability for an interview by listing any date which you are unavialbe. Finally, thank the employer, tell them to contact you if they need any more information and tell them you are looking forward to hearing from them.

Remember, if you started with the recruiters name you should end with ‘yours sincerely’. If, however, you started with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ you need to end your covering letter with ‘yours faithfully’.

Remember – keep the formalities to a minimum – you need to catch the recruiter’s attention and you won’t be able to do that with too much waffle.

5. Do:

• Use simple effective language –use short, sharp sentences.

• Try to answer the employer’s question ‘why should I employ this person?’

• Ask the employer for an interview. Tell them you will call/email in say, a week. Then make sure you follow it up.

• Use action verbs – avoid passive verbs such as ‘to be’ and ‘to do’. For example:

Active/action: I helped the managed.

Passive: The manager was helped by me.

6. Do not:

• Repeat your CV in a narrative form – you have not linked your skills and experience to the specific role. This will be hard to read and end up in the bin.

• Create a generic CV and send to all employers – your CV and covering letter will end up in the bin.

• Leave it up to the employer to offer you an interview – ask for one.

• Don’t tell the employers you have attached/enclosed a CV – they’ll be able to see it and you’ll have wasted time.

7. Show your knowledge

This is where your research comes in; show them that you know what you are talking about. One great technique here is to talk about specific issues within the industry and link the prospective role to them i.e. talk about how you in your role could overcome or work with these issues. Another approach is bringing up any specific data which you have found out about the company i.e. sales figures. This can be linked into your STAR statement. For example:

According to my research your sales figures were {XX}. During a project, remember the STAR system – apply it here: Situation, Task, Action, Result. I feel, from the results in my previous position, I would be able to increase your sales figures.

Show that you understand them by linking the issues to skills or knowledge you possess for example ‘I realise that {your company} is the market leader for [product] which is…’

Your covering letter is a great forum to demonstrate you have thought about the role and the company. You need to show the recruiter why you are interested – you can do this by demonstrating your knowledge about the company, the industry and the competitors.