The cover letter is very often used in business communications to establish contacts, request information or introduce a new product or service. In general, you will write a cover letter to those you don't know personally, most of the time weighing it down in terms of tone and style. But you can take some steps to make your letters concise, understandable, and effective, to reflect your goals.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Writing the Initial Part
Step 1. Address the letter to a specific person if possible
The cover letter should be addressed to the person who will read it whenever possible. However, if you present it to an interim agency of which you do not have precise references, you could also direct it to "All interested parties" or to the personnel department.
Begin the letter by stating your position, title or role, and specifying the reason for your letter. It is usually not necessary to enter the name, as this will be included in the signature
Step 2. Openly state your purposes
First you need to specify the reasons that led you to write the letter. What do you want? Why are you writing? If these are the same questions an employer is asking, your letter may end up in the trash instead of helping you get an interview.
Go to the point: "I am writing to inquire about opening a position as an auditor" or "I am writing to present the characteristics of a new product, recently launched by my company". These are perfect statements to indicate the purpose of a letter and therefore must be inserted in the first sentences of the letter
Step 3. Establish an appropriate tone and style
When writing a cover letter, it is good to adopt a coherent style that is not too informal, but at the same time is not overly rigid or technical. The tone should be professional, but not cold. It is important to let some traces of human warmth leak out, while the content remains professional overall.
- A common mistake that inexperienced writers make is to completely avoid the more colloquial forms, to the point that the letter appears to be translated rather than written. Let the letter sound confidential, as well as professional and reflect your personality.
- Don't try to sound elegant by inserting polished language instead of commonly used words. This is a cover letter, not a dissertation. Use the appropriate terms and be concise.
Step 4. Personalize the letter
Explain how you became aware of the position, opportunity, or company in question. By reading a cover letter, the employer or hiring manager should get a clear idea of who you are, why you want the job, and if you are up to the position you aspire to. If the communication is strong enough, you will be able to win an interview and have a chance to land the job.
If you know someone who works for the company, or who has received a scholarship from your school for working with them, it is good to mention them in the introduction. It could be a way to refresh someone's memory
Part 2 of 3: Writing the Body of the Letter
Step 1. Relate your skills to the position you aspire to
If you are trying to illustrate your skills and competences, and your ability to carry out jobs or projects, it is important to clarify those relationships in a few sentences and explain how your past experiences meet the requirements of this position, whether it is be it a new position, a relocation, or a completely new job.
- Emphasize your experiences in the field or industry the letter is referring to. It is helpful to include specific skills and any experience to make the letter effective.
- Aiming for a job does not mean that you are qualified for it. If in the introduction you emphasize that you are interested in the job interview because you consider yourself suitable, you do not have to repeat yourself fifty times in the course of the letter. Writing that "you really need this job" doesn't make you a special candidate.
Step 2. Be as specific as possible
Make an appointment, or openly state what you want to happen following your letter. If you want to talk about your skills during the interview, specify it. If you absolutely want the job, say so. Find out about the various stages of the recruitment or application, in order to ask what the next step is.
Focus attention on a specific work level. You don't have to mention it explicitly, but you do need to keep it in mind to make the letter relevant
Step 3. Do not enter the same information as in the resume
Listing educational qualifications, honors, and a range of names in a cover letter is a bad idea. Repeating the same information is just a waste of time. You don't have to write news that can be picked up faster and easier somewhere else. Write to sell yourself and put a foot in the door.
Step 4. Write for an interview
It is unlikely that you will get a job or achieve any other goal with a simple letter. This allows you to put a foot in the door, offers you the opportunity to show your skills as a future employee, which the reader of the letter needs. For this reason it is preferable to go to the point, highlight the skills that correspond to the required job profile and try to move on to the second step which could be an interview or something else.
In the conclusion, reiterate the most important information. Just before the closing of the letter, dedicated to greetings, it is a good idea to briefly repeat what you want, directly
Part 3 of 3: Revise and Refine the Letter
Step 1. Review and correct the letter
After writing a draft, it is absolutely important to reread it. All talented writers know that a text is not ready until it is correct. After writing the letter, you have finished the hard work, but you still have to take some time to perfect it.
- The review phase goes beyond correcting grammar and spelling errors. Make sure you match the verbs to the subjects, that the content is clear, and that it achieves its goal.
- Once you've perfected the letter, you can start taking care of the last few things, correcting mistakes and proceeding with formatting.
Step 2. The letter must be simple and concise
Cover letters should be no longer than one page and should be between 300 and 400 words. Regardless of the purpose of the letter, chances are you are writing to someone who has the job of doing a lot of paperwork during the day and definitely doesn't want to even read an excessively long letter. It would be a shame if all your work ended up in the trash. So be concise and limit yourself to communicating the most important information.
Step 3. Format the letter properly
The letter must be set correctly, with an introduction, body, and conclusion. If you turn it into one paragraph, with no personal information and no final greetings, you definitely won't get the job.
- Attach a suitable CV to your cover letter. This should be the first thing in an application.
- Enter your personal data, generally in the upper right corner of the header. Enter the e-mail address, telephone number and other basic data.
Step 4. Insert a postscript
Some business correspondence teachers and communication experts recommend adding the most important information in a postscript (P. S.). Its effectiveness derives from the fact that it is among the first elements on which the recipient's eye falls. While it may seem informal to some, the postscript could be used to highlight important information and to distinguish your letter from others.
