CVs and covering letters
The middle paragraphs
You have started well - now convince the reader that you know what the job involves, what they want from applicants and that you are the right person. The middle section is where you get into more detail and sell your most relevant skills.
Sell your skills and achievements
Do your homework - research the company and the job to find out which are the main skills the employer needs. Think like an employer - which combination of personal qualities, experience, qualifications, and skills would impress? Provide the evidence that you’ve got them.
The covering letter is your opportunity to provide more detail about these key points, more so than in your CV. You might like to include real examples of when you’ve used these skills. Highlight any major achievements, such as completing training courses, promotions, company awards, or any other praise or recognition.
Give your skills a health check
Describe what you can do for them
Present your skills in a way that shows how giving you the job will benefit their company. You can do this by cutting down on the number of times you use the word ‘I’ and increasing the number of times you use ‘you’ and ‘your company’.
Speak their language
Use their kind of language. It may seem like a small point, but some organisations prefer formal business language, and others prefer plainer speaking. Have a look at the employer's website, job advertisements and any other communication to try to find out what their preferred language style is.
Understand their language
The words and language used in job advertisements can be confusing and often need translation into simple English. Click here for the hidden meaning of some of the words found in personnel advertisements.
Job ads: understand what they mean
Put yourself in the employer's shoes
It can help if you try to look at your covering letter from the reader's point of view. Imagine you're the employer and ask yourself, ‘what do I want from applicants?’, ‘what would make a candidate stand out?’, ‘what would be my ideal candidate?’, ‘why would I hire the person who sent this covering letter?’
Identify your unique selling points
Think about whom you'll be competing with and what sets you apart from them. For example, you might have a very specific combination of experience across different work areas. Or you might have been responsible for winning or completing a big order. Details like this can impress employers and help them build up a picture of who you are.
Be positive about who you are and what you have to offer. For example, if you're older you could push your experience, and your ability to learn quickly and hit the ground running. If you're recently out of college you could say that your strengths are having new ideas, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
Promote your transferable skills
Transferable skills are general skills you can use in many different types of jobs. Selling these skills might be useful to you if you’re looking to change career. Think about a job you’ve done before and the job you want to get into, and try to identify the skills you need for both. Examples of these skills are working to deadlines, managing budgets and working well with a wide range of people.
Read more about transferable skills
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