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How To Write A Cover Letter

The document provides guidance on how to write an effective cover letter. It discusses why cover letters are important, as employers use them to screen candidates based on interest and skills. The document outlines best practices such as customizing each cover letter for a specific role and company. It warns against generic templates and lying, and emphasizes demonstrating motivation and how one's qualifications match the job requirements. Mistakes to avoid include grammatical errors and inconsistent formatting. The document aims to help job seekers learn how to write cover letters that will impress hiring managers and lead to interviews.

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83 views35 pages

How To Write A Cover Letter

The document provides guidance on how to write an effective cover letter. It discusses why cover letters are important, as employers use them to screen candidates based on interest and skills. The document outlines best practices such as customizing each cover letter for a specific role and company. It warns against generic templates and lying, and emphasizes demonstrating motivation and how one's qualifications match the job requirements. Mistakes to avoid include grammatical errors and inconsistent formatting. The document aims to help job seekers learn how to write cover letters that will impress hiring managers and lead to interviews.

Uploaded by

মোঃগোলামসারোয়ার
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 35

How to Write a

Cover Letter?
Good Practices & Common Mistakes

Svetlin
Technical
Nakov

www.nakov.com
Trainer

Telerik Academy

academy.telerik.com

Secrets of
Successful Cover
Letter
Be
unique

Write what the


employer wants!
Explain you have
the skills!
Demonstrate
motivation!
Use your own
words!
Point what you
want next
Good design /
layout

Table of Contents
Why We Need a Cover Letter?
Template-Based Cover Letters
How to Write a Good Cover Letter?
Lying in the Cover Letter?
Dont Make Mistakes!
Good and Bad Cover
Letters Live Examples
3

Why Do We Need
a Cover Letter?

What is the Cover Letter?

The cover letter (CL) is a way of:

Introducing yourself to a potential employer


Explaining why you are suitable for the
position
Employers look for individualized and
thoughtfully written cover letters
You put time writing CL you are serious

This is a method of screening out applicants


who
Are not sufficiently interested in their position
Who lack necessary basic skills

What is the Cover Letter?


(2)

Cover letters can be:

The application letter or invited cover


letter
Responds to a known job opening

The prospecting letter or uninvited cover


letter
Inquires about possible positions

Why We Need a Cover


Letter?
The cover letter is the best way to
show how motivated you are
Also known as letter of motivation
Why you want to start a career in this
particular company?
Why at exactly this position?
Why in this sphere?
Why you have the skills?
Etc.
7

Companies Requesting
Cover Letters

Some people think that


nobody reads the cover letters

Consider them a meaningless requirement


Such people believe that strong CV and
rich experience is enough
In some companies this could be true, but in
the best employers this is great mistake

If a cover letter is requested


Be sure it will be read
At least at a glance
8

What We Gain from Cover


Letter?
In the most prestigious and wellstructured companies the cover letter is
very important
The human resources (HR) team at the
company definitely reads it
If the cover letter is impressive
You will be immediately contacted
and invited to an interview
Even if your experience is not great

Impressive cover letter opens doors!


9

Cover Letters: Remember


It is always worth to send a wellprepared and impressive cover letter
Unique, especially written for exactly this
company and exactly this job position

Never "reuse" your cover letters!


A great cover letter for certain company
and job position is bad for another
company / position

10

Cover Letters: Beware

If you apply for a second time in given


company
Be sure to rewrite your cover letter
Most good companies will disregard your
application when you reuse the cover letter
The same cover letter means that
Your motivation has not changed
Your qualification is not changed
They should reject you again
11

Recruiters Will Research


You!
Be sure that the HR professionals will
try to find all the information about
you they can
They will search in Google about you
They will try to find your Facebook
profile
They will try to find information about
you from current employees

12

The HR Will Research You


(2)
The HR professionals never forget if
you had ever sent a bad job
application
They will find you, be sure!
Thats why you should always carefully
prepare your job application before
sending it
Think a bit how to proceed the next
time when you apply for a job
13

Template-Based
Cover Letters

Template-Based Cover
Letters
The best way to guarantee a failure
when applying for a job is
To use a template-based cover latter

Once we received a really "nice"


Dear ,letter:
I would like to apply for Your
cover

Company because I am skillful and highly


enthusiastic candidate. I want to grow in
Your Company, to improve my knowledge and
skills. Your company is the best and I want
to be part of it. I am hard worker and I am
sure I will help your business to grow.
15

Template-Based Cover
Letters (2)

When using a template for cover letters


You say nothing about why you want exactly
this position in exactly this company
How your experience in the past
will help you do exactly this job
Why you really match the requirements from
the job offer

Phrases like Your Company are always


evil!
Once we received a cover letter starting
with Dear (with dots left from the
template)
16

How to Write a
Good Cover Letter?

A Good Cover Letter

A good cover letter:

Shows that you apply exactly


for this company, not some other
You are interested in this particular
company and this particular position
Not just looking for some job

Shows you have a clear idea of the position


What your future responsibilities will be, etc.

Your skills match the requirements


You have great motivation for this job
18

What is a Good Cover Letter?

Good cover letter writers first carefully


read
About the company
About the offered position
The detailed job description
The requirements stated in the job offer

Hint: write 1-2 sentences for each


requirement
Not directly following the job description
Not exactly in the order as in the job offer
Not exactly with the same words and phrases
19

Example Job Offer


Requirement

examine and analyze the technical documentation of


competitors

You could write for example:

In my previous job I had to read a lot of technical


documentation and thus I believe that I will be able to
find, read and analyze various types of articles,
documents, manuals, etc.

Dont use exactly this sentence in


your CL
Say it with your words, matching
your experience

If you dont have similar


experience, say for example:

I like to read blogs and articles and I know that technical


documentation is different but it should also be
interesting and challenging.
20

Example Job Offer


Requirement (2)

It is a bad idea to write:

I am very good in examining and analyzing the technical


documentation of competitors.

How you prove this?


What are your arguments?
If you are not good in something
Just skip writing about it

You cant say you are good at something


without any arguments
How you know you are good in this
Just describe it
21

Matching the Requirements

Given the following requirement:


excellent communication skills

You could write something like:


I believe I have a sense of communication because
I had organized a small technical seminar at
school and at the university where I needed to
contact the speakers, arrange the seminar venue,
invite the attendees, attract sponsors, etc.

The above could never be used as a


template

It depends on your past experience, interests,


skills, personal character qualities, etc.
22

Bad Ideas

Example of a bad way to directly match


the requirements:
I have excellent communication
skills.

Similar nonsense claim is:


I am 18 years old and I have very rich experience
in professional project management in large teams.

Saying something without arguments is


always a bad idea
Either argument well your statement or
just dont talk about it
23

Who to Address in the


Cover
Letter?
This is a common question

It is best if you can research who


will be reading your cover letter

That way you can address him directly


It is risky
You can misspell the name, e.g.
Svetlin Nikolov and Training staff,
IfDear
you don't know the exact person

Write 'Mr./Mrs.', 'HR Manager', etc.


Something more common

Lying in the
Cover Letter?
Do You Really
Need to Do It?

Lying in Cover Letter


Never lie!
Example:

I have 10 years of experience with Silverlight.

If you lie in your CV or cover letter


You will be caught at the interview
and you will get fired
Write in the cover letter something
Matching the requested requirements
Supported by true, valid arguments
26

Validate
Your
Arguments
You could prove that you match
certain requirements either
By showing similar experience
By saying you have read about this in the past
By sharing that you have a friend who always
talks to you about this and have show it to you
You explain you want to learn this, you had read
an article and watched a video tutorial

Always use valid arguments and never lie


If you say you are , find supporting arguments

27

Validate Your Arguments (2)

Another example:
I am a hard-worker

How you prove this?


You could say that

at the university I always had high grades


because I always have come very well prepared for
or better
the
exams explain that
when an important work is waiting, I cannot sleep
until I get it done

Use valid arguments based on past


experience

Not only work experience, but general

28

Dont Make Mistakes!


Spelling, Punctuation and Formatting
Mistakes

Avoid Mistakes
When writing your CV and cover letter,
use a spell checker
Dont make spelling mistakes,
punctuation mistakes, etc.
MS Word / Google Docs / OpenOffice have
very good spell checkers
Just use them!

30

Formatting Mistakes

Format your CV and cover letter well


At this point you can use templates
Just type "sample cover letter"
in Google and you will find examples
Be sure to use only the styles, layout and
formatting from the best examples you find
Never use the text inside

Some employers use an automated


software
to check for template-based cover letters
Be sure to write it entirely in your words
31

Good and Bad


Cover Letters
Live Demo

Homework
1.

2.
3.

4.

Find in Internet a job opening related to you


skills and interests
Research the employer and offered position
Following our guidelines write a cover letter
for applying for this job position
Carefully prepare and send a job application

Just for training, to gain experience


You could always cancel an eventual interview
invitation

33

How to Write a Cover


Letter?

Questions?

Thank You!

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