Let your cover letter guide the reader
Even if cover letters have lost some of their importance over the last fifteen years, they are still expected and an excellent means of bridging the gap between your CV and the specific positions you are applying for. In most cases, it would be too time-consuming to adapt your CV perfectly to each position advertised or the company behind it. This won’t be a problem if a) your CV is well composed in general, and b) you provide the reader with a little guidance in the form of your cover letter on how to read and understand your CV.
To reach this goal, filling your cover letter with empty phrases that do not refer to the position you are applying for or for which you have no justification in your CV is not good enough. Surprisingly, this often happens to those people who are afraid that their CV may end up sounding too boastful. They more or less completely omit previous achievements in their CVs and limit them to boring lists of previous tasks and activities. But then they don’t fail to provide an accompanying letter with unsubstantiated assertions like in this example:
It still amazes me when people get invited to an interview in spite of such writing. I can only explain it to myself by the fact that many companies are accustomed to this kind of mischief and otherwise rely mainly on the evaluation of the respective CV.
A much better way would be something like the following example:
Main contents
Ideally, your cover letter tells a short story through which the recipient learns the following about you:
- That you are already (somewhat) familiar with the hiring company.
- That you understand the open position, its respective tasks and especially how to be successful in it.
- Why your career to date provides an excellent basis for this (proof of your competence).
- How you will personally benefit from the new job (proof of your motivation).
- How you will make a significant contribution to the success of the company in the near future already.
Depending on the specific circumstances, the first two aspects may not always be quite as important. This is usually relevant in cases of less industry-related work (e.g. that of a receptionist). If, however, they do play a role and you do not yet have sufficient information about them, you should research these two aspects at this point and not wait to be told about them by the hiring manager during the interview.
The last three aspects, on the other hand, are always important and should therefore always be included in a cover letter. It is exactly these three, that have the function to make the reader curious to learn more about you (by reading your CV and possible attachments) and to draw his attention to the relevant highlights.
If you still have enough room, you can end by asking a question that gives the recipient the prospect of an interesting interview with you. However, such a question must be truly intriguing, otherwise you run the risk of expressing a lack of competence. A convincing version could look like this:
Length
All relevant information for reaching the goals mentioned above should be summarized as briefly and concisely as possible in your cover letter and should therefore be limited to one page. Even the best cover letter cannot replace the need for a good CV and the longer it is, the less the individual arguments in it stand out. Your cover letter does not have to answer all possible questions but should just make the recipient curious to have a personal conversation with you.
Conclusion
So, to summarize:
With my cover letter, I am establishing the link between my CV and a particular vacancy. This will help me explain to the hiring manager why I have the best qualifications and how I can contribute to the success of his or her business very soon.
On April 7th, Ms. Annette S. from Besançon wrote to me:
»Your tips for the motivation letter are great. I’m going to implement them in the next few days.«