Cover letters really stress a lot of people out. In today’s highly competitive market, a lot more employers are requiring them, and a lot more of use are creating them just to differentiate ourselves even if they are not required.
A few basics about cover letters:
A cover letter will never replace a resume; there is nothing in a cover letter that will change your qualifications – and everything relevant to the job SHOULD be contained in your resume.
Cover letters are an introduction to the reader highlighting your specifically relevant skills, education, and experience to the job.
They should be SHORT and TARGETED.
NEVER use a boilerplate cover letter for every job. Write a fresh one.
You could use AI like ChatGPT, but the results are often far too long, and the time it takes to edit it down is usually longer than it takes to write one “from scratch”.
All the information you need to write a cover letter is found in two areas of a job description: the qualifications/requirements, and the role/responsibilities section. For it to be meaningful and not a waste of your reader’s time, you want the cover letter to pull out specific items from your resume that dovetail with the job.
First step: pull out the bullet points in the responsibility and requirements (including preferred qualifications) sections. For the qualifications, you can skip education unless it requires or has a preference for an advanced degree (Master’s, PhD)
Next, go through your resume and copy/paste the requirements you meet/exceed (including certifications, software programs/industry tools and methodology) and paste them under the relevant requirements. For “years of experience” include a number -ie if the job calls for “6+ years of experience” doing XYZ, you will put “8.5 years “. If it is a list of “either/or” pick the one/s you have and are strongest in.
Next pick out 1-3 bullet points from the responsibility section that you have the most similar experience with, and pull those projects from your resume and put it under the relevant bullet point.
Once you have those overlapping lists, delete the job description content. You should be left with a list of YOUR specific information that shows how you fit the criteria.
Finally, fill in around the content, and keep it short.
First paragraph – what job you are interested in and how you heard about it.
The second paragraph will be the bullet points you pulled out. Write a sentence introducing them. “I’d like to highlight some of the specific areas where I am an excellent fit for this role.”
Final paragraph is your closing. Include your name, contact info (email/phone), the best way to get hold of you and times that are best to communicate (include the time zone if different from where the role is located or if it is remote).
If you are open to relocation, the final paragraph is where you can indicate this. If you don’t need relocation assistance, mention it here.
That’s it. Save it as a separate document, upload or copy/paste it then finish the application.
コメント