How to Write a Cover Letter

Today I applied for a job that required a cover letter to be submitted with my CV for the application. At college we never got round to doing the cover letter session so I had to do some research into how to write one myself.

With everything in regards to jobs there are lots of different methods of writing CVs and doing cover letters so it is really difficult to know which is correct or if there is even a correct way to do them. After doing some digging I found an example for a layout for a cover letter which I used to structure my writing for the application in question.

Suggested structure for your covering letter:

First Paragraph State the job you’re applying for. Where you found out about it (advert in The Guardian newspaper etc. - organisations like to know which of their advertising sources are being successful) When you're available to start work (and end if it's a placement)

Second Paragraph Why you're interested in that type of work Why the company attracts you (if it's a small company say you prefer to work for a small friendly organisation!)

Third Paragraph Summarise your strengths and how they might be an advantage to the organisation. Relate your skills to the competencies required in the job.

Last Paragraph Mention any dates that you won't be available for interview Thank the employer and say you look forward to hearing from them soon.

If you start with a name (e.g. "Dear Mr Bloggs") you should end with "Yours sincerely". If you start with "Dear Sir or Madam" you should end with "Yours faithfully".

Now, a cover letter better demonstrates your writing skills as your CV is very brief and only really displays all the necessary information about yourself as an individual and your experiences and educational background. The cover letter however allows you to delve deeper and really get your views across about why you are the person the company is looking for and also allows you to share your values that perhaps are in common with the company you are applying to work for. 

It is debatable how much you should really write in a cover letter but I am strong believer that the shorter the sweeter as it doesn't beat around the bush and gets straight to the point. This isn't to say it will only be a sentence of course, but I don;t think it should really drag on either. I feel like a huge block of writing will be off putting as there are many applications to read through and I imagine it can be very tiresome which is why I think the short and sweet approach is best.

The "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully" was also for me, a really good thing to double check as I am not really accustomed to writing letters so I don't really know the proper ways to address someone. So this was really good to know as I do get them confused a lot. 

I'm not going to post my cover letter for obvious reasons but I am very confident that I wrote a good letter and I even got it checked by some friends which was very kind of them. The letter has been approved by others as well as myself and I can only hope to hear from them in the near future.