Career Search Essentials: Cover Letters

Posted on Feb 7th, 11:59 pm, under Career Advice

Why are cover letters so important? For one thing, they tell potential employers what kind of position you're applying for. Simply sending out your resume doesn't say much (and will probably get you skipped over). 

Letters are there to explain what resumes can't, and they give employers a quick overview of your relevant skills, experience, and interests. They are also important indicators of your personality, and can often make a real difference in your chances of landing an interview.

There are three main types of cover letters: invited, uninvited, and referral. Each one has a matching career search tactic. To maximize your chances of success, you should know how to use and write all three types of letters, either singly or in combination with each other.

As we've discussed before, most of the available jobs in the market are "hidden". Only about twenty percent of all open positions are advertised. You can find them on online job boards, in the "wanted" section of newspapers and other publications, and with employment agencies. This is where you use the invited cover letter.

The invited cover letter answers the specific requirements of a job advertisement. You know about what the employer wants because it's detailed in the ad, and therefore you can detail any relevant qualifications and experience in your cover letter.

However, what about the other 80 percent of available positions in the hidden job market? To get access to these, you'll need to take a more pro-active approach with anuninvited cover letter (also called the cold-contact prospecting letter). Send out several resumes with cold-contact cover letters to a list of companies that you've researched and compiled beforehand. This works better if you confine your search to a certain industry or geographic location.

Effective uninvited cover letters can really make an impact. You may be able to create openings for yourself if you can convince employers that they need someone with your skills. Even if they don't have any jobs at the moment, it's more likely that they'll remember you when something does open up.

The secret to writing a good uninvited cover letter lies in addressing it to a named individual. After all, your main goal is to get your foot in the door and secure an interview for a position. Therefore, never send an uninvited cover letter that you haven't personalized. Using generic opening lines such as "Dear Human Resources Manager," "Dear Sir or Madam," or "To Whom It May Concern" will only show that you couldn't be bothered to do enough research about the company. 

The final letter variant, the referral letter, is a lot like the uninvited cover letter. In this type of communication, the name of a contact that the addressee knows is prominently displayed. These letters are a direct product of the most effective form of job hunting, your networking.

The referral letter's main strength lies in the edge it grants you over the competition. By mentioning someone whom the employer knows and respects in the very first line, you get their attention immediately, making it more likely that you'll get called for an interview.

By taking all the qualities of these letters together, we can see that the best type of cover letter is well-written, personally addressed, and includes the recommendation of a respected contact. Remember that every application you send out is like a sales package, with you as the product. A great cover letter gets employers interested in seeing what you have to offer.