Cover Letter: Do’s and Don’ts!
VOCATIONAL IMPACT | TAILORED CAREER DEVELOPMENT
It is so important that your cover letter makes an impact on the employer. This is the first piece of information they receive about you and you want to persuade them that you are a suitable candidate.
We have a 90% track record for helping people gain valuable career enhancement experience and moving into their dream job. We support students and professionals access skills exchange programmes and work placements.
Here is our guide to making your cover letter stand out
- When researching an employer, you want to show your interest in their company, focus, mission and work. This means;
- Understanding what the company or organisation does.
- Who they work with (this could be there clients if they are a company or it could be the people they aim to look after such as children)?
- It is also so important that you look at some of their recent news, have they had a new structure put in place or are they expanding, what key projects are they working on.
- What makes this company different from their competitors.
- And most importantly; Why are you applying to them specifically?
It is important that your cover letter should be addressed to a named person, it shows that you are making the effort to find out who they are.
Your cover letter should not be more than one page (A4) and your paragraphs should be clear and short.
Do your RESEARCH, it is essential that you target it towards your potential employer. It shows you are keen to go the extra mile to fit the position in the company.
Use your cover letter to highlight relevant experience and information that is in your CV
If you’re applying for a volunteer role, you should relate back to any past expertise that you may have in this field.
Your cover letter can also be used to explain any irregularities that have arisen in your CV, such as gaps in employment. But more importantly, it can be used to highlight all the COOL and AMAZING things you have done that might show your courage, or communication skills or creativity.
Don’t feel afraid to SHOUT about yourself. It’s great to see achievements and good things that you have done on a cover letter. This makes you memorable, for example; ‘I was promoted to team leader whilst volunteering for a project’.
It is important to be as truthful and honest as possible in both your CV and cover letter, you don’t want to be in the interview with the employer and them to call you out on something you wrote in your cover letter but it wasn’t the whole truth!!
When concluding the cover letter, make sure to thank the employer for taking the time to read your cover letter and for considering your application for the job role.
We hope that you can use some of these insights to help you improve your cover letter. Whether you are applying to one of our volunteer projects or you have already been and are now applying for jobs we wish you the best of luck.
Ask us about our career development opportunities and graduate jobs. Talk to other graduates on our forums and attend one of our talks close to you.
Up next
Find out more about Vocational Impact here
We can talk and advise you on how to manage your time and stay positive, right up until you land a job.
We will cover
CV and cover letter writing advice from a professional who reads hundreds of CVs a week.
Self-employed/freelance and the gig economy: Don’t be afraid to go it alone
Internships, volunteering and work experience; how this can lead you into your next paid position
It’s not all about you. It’s about the community you want to be a part of
Why Talk To Us?
- We have over 20 years experience working and advising people on career paths, sabbaticals, work experience and volunteering.
- We have sat on boards and forums at the UK’s top universities and given talks to over 200 students through the UK.
- We have recruited, and hired people for over a decade and have sat on both sides of the recruitment fence.
- We have been full time employees, self employed freelancers, volunteers, and everything in between.
- We have been unemployed and found work again.
- We have lost jobs and found work.
- We are passionate about helping the next generation find work that they love and that makes them feel inspired.
- We are here to support you if you are stuck in a rut at your current job, and will listen and guide you through a life-changing move.
- We have international experience, having worked in Asia, Africa and most places in between.
- What is stopping you?
Questions? Would you like to participate? That’s great – feel free to email us or call/whatsapp us on: +44 (0) 7704 129 816
