A cover letter gives your resume a boost and expresses your interest to the employer. It’s your personal pitch explaining why the company would benefit from your employment and why you want to work for them. Every cover letter must contain two important elements that will set your application above the rest.
First, a top-notch cover letter includes a discussion of your professional brand. Your professional brand is comprised of the most important elements of your expertise and can be comprised of both personal and professional characteristics. Before drafting your cover letter – or resume – take time to consider how you would define yourself as a professional.
For example, the professional brand of a sales representative might include elements such as relationship-building, account management, new business development, customized sales strategy development, and new market penetration. These are key skills critical to the target position and represent strengths that sales representatives would want to highlight as areas of expertise.
When creating your cover letter, bear in mind that it’s not enough to simply list these skills. You must include content proving that you are actually well-versed in these areas. You may want to include select points from your resume, with the verbiage tweaked slightly, that evidence your competence in those areas. In your cover letter, as in your resume, it’s not enough to simply lay claim to the key skills that the target position requires. Consider what you can showcase in these documents to convince the reader that you are, in fact, highly skilled in elevating profits through new account acquisition.
The second important component of a great cover letter is an expression of your genuine interest in the company. Your cover letter should explicitly state the position you are applying for and the company it’s within – but that’s just the beginning.
To avoid giving the employer the impression that this job application was just one in a long, long line of applications – even if that is the case – take the necessary time to research the company and understand what makes it tick. Take note of the company’s vision or mission statement and tailor your cover letter toward those beliefs or objectives.
Invest in each company the time you hope they’ll invest in you. Writing your cover letter in light of what is most important to the company, whether in regard to values, successes, or future goals, will communicate to the reader that you have genuine interest in the company and that your skills and passions align with those of the organization.