8 minute read
3. Cover letter and job search
Subject title Cover letter and job search
Purpose of the activity The aim of the activity is to educate youngsters why a cover letter is needed in a job finding process and how to effectively and successfully write it. This seminar is designed for all people who want to know why and how to write a cover letter (motivation letter, letter of intent) when applying for a job.
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Duration 2 hours.
Location and tools Sheets of paper, printed CV templates, writing tools, projector.
Number of participants 10–20 participants.
Acquaintance/ team building methods
Practical tasks At the beginning of the session and before preparing for the theoretical and especially for the practical part, participants are asked to divide into groups of 4–5 people, in which they share the jobs and positions they would like to apply to and in which they would like to gain work experience. Another variant of the task: several printed job advertisements are distributed to the groups of participants and participants are invited to share their views in groups, about what personal qualities are important in the job positions in question.
In the end of the theoretical part of the workshop, participants are asked to write a cover letter themselves. On the white board, the presenter may write in brief the paragraphs description and on the project may project a random job description for which to write a cover letter. The best is to choose a very starting position for everyone, such as a job advertisement for a waitress or local guide. Moreover, it has proven to be also useful to print out sample cover letters and hand out to everyone after the theoretical part to read out and get to see how the letter looks in general. When writing a new cover letter, it will also be helpful to have such an example nearby. Then presenter gives out white paper sheets, sample cover letters and pens and participants are asked to write a cover letter, based on their experience, according to that real job advertisement. It takes around 30 minutes to complete the task and the presenter walks around from time to time and checks participants’ writings.
The best is to accompany this task with a CV writing before, because when participants already would have their CV, it is way easier to write a cover letter.
End of session reflection methods At the very end of the seminar, the presenter may ask the following questions: • Was it hard to write a cover letter based on a random job advertisement? • Was it easy or hard to connect your experience with company’s culture and show why they should choose exactly you? • How do you feel, would you be recruited? • Was there something missing in this seminar, what you feel like should be discussed about the cover letter?
THEORETICAL INFORMATION
First of all, why people need to write a cover letter, when applying for job interviews? In most cases, it is hard to display all information on the CV, thus cover letter allows explaining previous job experience in more detail and what is most importantly – explain why exactly that person is the most suitable candidate for this job and this company. Of course, not all industries need a cover letter and not all companiesrequire it. For example, most IT specialists do not write cover letters, because theirexperience is more technical and skills and experience can be written down in CV, whereas for communication and hospitality industries cover letters is a must, because one must explain in detail all responsibilities, which relate to soft skills. Moreover, it is extremely essential to write cover letters for youngsters with little experience. Here one must explain various little experiences and talk about strong skills, characteristics of the person. It is because when a potential employer seeks someone for a startingposition, which is suitable for a youngster, all CV with little experience look alike, thus cover letter can change all the game. For more senior positions, employers seek few specific points and recommendations, thus CV can just be enough for senior positions. In any case, if an employer asks for a cover letter also in later years,anyone must know how to design and lay an effective cover letter, which will speak up to the potential employer.
Cover letter must be maximum one page long, however it cannot be too long or too short. A perfect length is around ¾ of the page. The same as with CV, the font must be clear, the space between the lines must be also sufficient, namely, the layout of the letter must be not too scrambled into the page. It should be easy for another person to read the cover letter.
Layouts and designs for cover letters vary internationally. There is no one proper design on what to include, but there are things which must be included. For very formal letters, one may start the letter with address to whom and address from whom, as it is common to put in letters. It is not so common, as usually nowadays cover letters are sent via e-mail, thus the sender and receiver are already known. The letter can just start with a headline “cover letter”.
Then, the questions comes about how to address the receiver of the letter. If the person’s name (e.g., HR specialist’s name) is known, one may write “Dear Mr. Ryan or Dear Mrs. Philipps”, if the name is not known, one may write “To Whom it May Concern” or “To HR department” or “To the Recruitment personnel”, so it would be known to which part of the company to send the letter.
Following that, cover letter consists of around 5 paragraphs. Such a layout may change, but it depends on how the text is arranged. The following are the topics of the paragraphs. 1. The very first paragraph usually consists of up to 2 sentences, where oneexpresses the goal of the letter and where one has found information about the job. For example, the first paragraph could be as follows:
“With this letter I would like to apply for a Project Coordinator position at AML Bank, about which I found out on the local job portal www.cv.lv www. cv.lv. Based on my previous experience, personality traits and suitability to work in your company, I think I would be a suitable candidate for this position.” The most important is to state a clear motivation, goal, position to which one applies and where one has found the information about it. It can be also per recommendation, thus it can also be stated.
2. The next paragraph is about candidate’s previous experience, skills andpersonal traits. Here, it is important not to list again all the responsibilities listed in the CV, but to supplement the information provided there and indicate the skills acquired. For
example: “In my previous position I was responsible for coordinating 10 freelancers and managing their time and projects and overseeing their progress, thus I believe I learned how to work with people, how to plan time and effectively manage projects, thus I believe I am very well organized and social.” It is also important here to discuss only those relevant experiences and skills that are relevant to the job being applied for. It is crucial to look at the job description, in order to know exactly what kind of person are they looking for. If they are looking for a person, who works well under pressure, it could be very effective to describe in this paragraph a situation when a candidate experienced working under pressure in the previous job and how they dealt with it. So keep in mind to look at the job advert and refer to all points they are looking in the candidate and answer to all those points in the cover letter. Yes, it takes time to tailor a letter to a specific position, but dedication is what employers want from employees today. This section may also consist of two paragraphs, depending on how much information the candidate wishes to provide.
3. The next paragraph is the most important and at the same time the most tricky. The candidate must explain why exactly he/she must be chosen for this job and how the company will benefit from employing the candidate. Here a clear link between the candidate’s experience and the company must be made. Basically, this paragraph needs to show the uniqueness of the candidate and how the company’s performance will improve when a particular candidate is hired. This is tricky because in general no one knows what will actually happen, but one may write like this: “With my experience and skills, I will improve the reputation and brand image in the country” or “I will be able to effectively attract new customers for your store” or “With my experience I will be able toexport your products to new markets”. Moreover, one can also look up the company’s site and explore what are the main strategic goals of the company and address them. For instance, “I have noticed that your company aims to reduce its carbon emission footprint by 40% by 2030. I believe this is such a great goal, as I try to also implement various environment saving techniques in my daily life as well, such as taking my reusable cup to coffee shops and not using one-time plates for barbecue parties in summers”. This clearly shows that the candidate took the time to take an interest in the company and its activities and that candidate really wants to work in this particular company and that this cover letter has not been sent out to another 100 similar companies. Every company, specifically the HR specialist, wants to feel special and unique, especially when so many candidates are sending in the cover letters.
4. The last and final paragraph is as short as the first one. Here candidate thanks the reader for taking time to read the letter and makes an action statement for future. For example, one can say
“Thank you very much for reading through my cover letter and I will be very happy to be invited to a follow-up interview to further expand on my compatibility to the position and your company”. In the end, as always in letters, one must write ending words, such as “Best regards” and then a signature with name and surname.
