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Cover Letters

What is a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is your introduction to an employer. It will outline key information about you that will not be covered in your CV/application form. You should always include a cover letter when you are applying for a job, especially if you are using a CV. It can be written as an email if you are applying online or printed if you are applying using a paper form. 

What is a Cover Letter?

Contact details

During your visits and reviews, your skills tutor will discuss your progress and your career goals and aspirations. These may change as you progress throughout your programme or you may continue to strive for the same goals you set at the beginning, either way, your skills tutor will provide you with clear information on progression and wider opportunities available.

The hiring manager's address and date

Underneath your details, add the hiring manager’s contact information and the date:

  • The letter’s date
  • The hiring manager’s name
  • The company’s name
  • The company’s street address
  • The company’s city and postcode

Underneath this information, add the name of the role you are applying for and reference number (if there is one) 

Greeting

Your cover letter should be addressed directly to the hiring manager. You can usually find their name in the job advert on the company website. If this information is not available, customise your greeting to the department you are applying to ‘Dear Finance Manager’ or ‘Dear Hiring Manager’. Alternatively use ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. 

Body of the cover letter

After your greeting, introduce yourself, and explain which job you are applying for.   

Highlight any skills and experience that you already have that match the job description. Show your enthusiasm for the role, their business, say why you want to work for them. 

If this is your first role and you don’t have any previous work history, think about any transferrable skills you may be able to talk about. Were you on a sports team to talk about teamwork? Did you participate in a debate team or club to be able to talk about communication? So many skills that you have are transferrable, even if you haven’t had a paid job previously. 

Although you want to showcase your enthusiasm and skills for the role and business in your cover letter, don’t make it too long. The hiring manager will be reading hundreds of letters, keep yours short and to the point. A good cover letter will want the reader to know more about you, and to do that they will need to invite you to an interview. 

Ending your cover letter

When it comes to ending your cover letter, thank them for reviewing your application and tell them you’re looking forward to hearing back from them.

Confirm how it is best to contact you and ensure your contact details are correct (both on your cover letter and CV). 

If you know the name of the person you’re writing to, you should end the letter with ‘Yours sincerely’.

If you’ve addressed the letter ‘Dear Sir or Madam’, you should end the letter with ‘Yours faithfully’.

Top tips for writing a cover letter

When writing your cover letter, remember to:

  • Each job you apply for needs a new cover letter, it needs to be tailored to the role and company you are contacting 
  • For consistency, use the same font and size on both your cover letter and CV
  • Check the company and hiring manager details are correct 
  • Keep it professional, use keywords from the employer’s job advert to show that you have read and taken it in
  • Highlight your most relevant skills and experience, this will help you stand out from other applicants
  • Check spelling and grammar before you send it – bad spelling and grammar can stop you getting to interview stage 
  • Keep a copy – you’ll be writing a new letter for each role you apply for, by keeping a copy you will be able to review it ahead of an interview to refresh your memory about the role and what you felt was important to highlight in the letter

Cover Letters

CV Writing Tips

Online Interview Tips

Application Forms

In-Person Interview Tips

Career Contacts

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