Looking to take your career in HR to greater heights before 2021 comes to an end? Apart from crafting a well-written resume, an impressive cover letter can help open doors as well.
If you’re wondering whether cover letters are necessary today, the answer is a resounding yes. A 2020 study revealed cover letters are still considered a critical component of the hiring process for employers, with 83% of HR professionals surveyed arriving at this conclusion.
The study also found that 77% of recruiters gave preference to candidates who sent a cover letter even when submitting one was optional, and even 74% of recruitment decision-makers preferred to receive job applications that included cover letters.
These numbers make it apparent: by strengthening your cover letter you give yourself the best chance of landing an interview (and eventually earning a job offer). Here’s how to strengthen your cover letter in 2021 and beyond:
1. Demonstrate flexibility to work both in-office and remotely
Even pre-pandemic, many companies started to adopt a combination of in-office and remote work arrangements.
A cover letter is a great place to demonstrate your ability to handle work both in and out of the office, and reinforce the fact that you’re a self-driven employee regardless of where you’re working from.
So if you’ve successfully transitioned from working in the office to working from home recently, highlight this transition in your cover letter. Provide examples of how you overcame the new challenges of remote working, and not only handled it well but thrived.
For instance, if you experienced communication issues with coworkers while working from home, describe how you navigated those issues using technology like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.
If you’re familiar with kanban applications for internal task management, you can bring that familiarity up in your cover letter as well. Such a reference demonstrates your ability to visualize workflow and increase productivity via technology.
2. Focus on the quality of your writing
With more people working remotely and on a contractual basis than ever before, it’s likely you’ll have to work with people you’ve never met in real life (if you aren’t working with such people already).
Make sure your writing reflects your professionalism and approachability — two key character traits of HR pros. If you can prove you’re a great communicator with your cover letter, you’re a lot closer to landing that next gig.
After you’ve written your first draft, let it sit for a few hours. Then carefully read through the entire cover letter from beginning to end. Address spelling and grammatical errors, erase redundancies, tighten your sentences, and check that your writing has good flow by reading it out loud.
Also ask yourself the following questions:
- Does my writing address the specific job I’m applying for?
- Do I sound friendly and professional?
- Do I mention what makes me the right candidate for the job?
- Is it clear where I found out about the job opening, and why this position appeals to me?
If you can answer these questions easily, your cover letter is on the right track.
To wrap things up, enlist the help of a few trusted friends or family members. Additional eyes can help spot errors, typos, and flow issues you might have missed, and even provide new perspectives that could ultimately help strengthen your writing.
3. Personalize your cover letter to the specific job you want
Being able to navigate LinkedIn and Google to track down pertinent information are useful skills for HR managers in 2021. Make sure your research skills stand out by addressing your cover letter to the person most likely to be reviewing your application.
As a rule of thumb, refrain from using the highly generic and impersonal “To Whom It May Concern”. Your cover letter is the first opportunity you get to make an impression on the hiring manager, so try to make it a good one
You can also directly address the challenges the company is facing, and propose how you can help them overcome these challenges. Such personalization makes it clear to anyone reading your application that you’re invested in applying to their company, rather than simply sending out bulk applications.
4. Format your cover letter like a professional
Although your HR cover letter can include a bit of your personality, don’t forget that they’re formal documents that require professional formatting. Ensure that your contact details are at the top of the page, followed by the contact details of the hiring manager your cover letter is addressed to.
For readability, the best font size for your cover letter is somewhere between 10.5 and 12 points. Keep your margins between 0.5” and 1” for optimal readability. Single spacing works best for cover letters, but remember to use two spaces between each section and paragraph.
As for the file itself, convert it from Word to PDF before you send it out so it’s easier to access for the recipient and will retain its correct formatting. HR professionals must maintain that professionalism, and turning your application documents into PDFs ensures they’ll stay neat and organized.
Here’s a cover letter formatting checklist to keep handy when you begin to format your own cover letter. Hit all these small details, and give yourself the best chance of earning interviews at the company of your choice:
This article was submitted by ResumeGenius.