When you find a job you’d like to apply for, how do you approach writing your cover letter? If you’re like most people, it’s with a groan of apprehension rather than a skip and a hop up of elation. You don’t have to be a wordsmith to write a great cover letter. You just need to understand is what motives the employer is seeking to accomplish in hiring this position.
Related: How To Write A Hot Cover Letter
What in no means ever motivates an employer, is your increased learning and success. Employers are not interested in what the position will do for you or what working for their organization will do for your career. They don’t care about how you will learn and grow under their tutelage. Even if you are seeking an internship which by definition is a learning opportunity, internship supervisors have a definite agenda for what will be accomplished for them and their organization.
Instead of following a boring form template where employers are encouraged to skip to the second paragraph, show your passion up front. They likely know what position you are applying for. Instead of stating it up front, talk about your connection to the company or position. You want to get them interested in you from ‘hello’ so that they feel compelled to continue reading.
Try to create an emotional connection through storytelling. If you are looking to be a financial advisor, dig into your personal experiences to demonstrate passion and commitment.
Example:
“When I was 8 I started my first business. I knew I wanted to go to college and set out to create a financial plan to get me there. I figured if I could mow 10 neighbors’ lawns for $30/week for each summer until I graduated high school and invested each summer’s earnings in a college investment fund, I’d be able to afford 4 years of tuition at a state university. Now I want to help others reach their financial goals.”
You can also appeal to the mission of the company. Find a way to relate your values or a personal experience to what the company does or its mission.
If you were applying to a job at Chipotle your cover letter might look like this:
“When I was growing up my family planted a garden every year. We ate from our garden all summer long and canned veggies each fall for the winter months. I’ll never forget when we ran out of tomatoes and had to get them from the store. It was so disappointing! Ever since, I’ve been a supporter of locally sourced non-GMO produce which is why I feel such a connection to Chipotle’s mission.”
Here are some other points to remember:
Do not repeat facts from your resume. This should be a unique document. If you repeat facts, you’ll lose interest of your readers. You want both your documents to be read top to bottom.
Quantify whenever possible. Do you have 8 years of experience in the field? Have you saved an employer a significant amount of money with a process improvement or change of vendor? Weave your quantifiables into your stories, don’t just leave them hanging.
Next time you are faced with a cover letter to write, get excited about the potential stories you can tell. Make it personal and let your motivation and values take center stage through compelling stories and numbers. It’s time to let people know about the genius of you!
If this is the job you want, you owe it to yourself to do everything in your power to be noticed. Your job is to impress, so get to work!
Jennifer Manhoff is a career coach over at CareerHMO.com. Her mission is to guide people on the personal journey of uncovering a career path that is true to their authentic self and to be empowered to go for it! Life is a journey, so is your career and she’d like the opportunity to support you in your next step. Check out her coaching page here.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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