Cover Letter is often ignored by some and especially in countries like India. Most of us get our resumes written by professionals and update them regularly. That’s really good but do you know, your resume is incomplete without a proper Cover Letter?. This article describes in great detail about Tips for writing a cover letter for job application that will exert a huge impact on your resume selection.
You must include Cover Letter with your job applications. It helps you align yourself with the specific job requirements and the opportunity to mention the stuff which is missing in your resume.
For example, you have a gap in your career or you shifted the job recently, you have this platform where you can explain in a nutshell.
There may be few International exposures or Achievements which you think are crucial to highlight in detail. You can very well mention it here.
For many HR’s, if you have not included the cover letter along with job application, it shows your laziness. So, as we learned that we need to have Cover Letter with every job application, let us also find some tips to write it well.

Tips to write an Impactful Cover Letter for Job Application

Here you will learn some of the best tips we have compiled for you to easily write an impressive cover letter.
It is easy to implement these Tips while writing your cover letter -

a) Read the Job Description in detail b) Include relevant experience or skills as per JD c) Keep it short and restrict to only one page d) Don’t repeat your Resume e) Address with the name of Hiring Manager f) Bold opening g) Do not copy-paste the same cover letter for every job application h) Explain negative points without being apologetic. i) Share Stats and figures related to your Achievements j) Proofread it

We will now discuss each of the cover letter tips mentioned above in detail below. Let’s Start –
a. Read the Job Description in detail Before you start writing your cover letter, ensure you have read the job description in detail. Yes, most of the time we write a generic letter without reading the qualifications, skills, or any specific set of requirements for the particular post.
Cover letter, hence will not serve any purpose here in this condition.
So, read the job description given by the employer and understand the specific job requirements. You must watch out for the following things –

• Job role and skills required
• Challenges,
• Locations or geographical requirements,
• Role related complexities,
• Years of experience required,
• What is not required.

b. Include relevant experience or skills as per JD Once you have done your preliminary research, now its time to figure out your core competencies and create a pitch for yourself. Include everything that matches perfectly and market yourself.
c. Exclude all irrelevant skills, experiences, and achievements from the cover letter as it is only eating up space and making it longer for the hiring manager to read.
Keep it short and restrict to only One Page Always remember, your cover letter is not your resume. While you need to mention the important stuff there, it is also necessary to keep it short.
It should be drafted in such a way that it persuades the hiring manager to have a look at your resume in detail. You must aim at restricting it to one page or even slightly lesser than that.
Like, we see an advertisement in newspapers and televisions. Those are short, crisp, and crafted in such a way that you go and visit their stores or websites. They are always confined to limited lines and seconds. With the help of the same example, you must understand that it is not a 30-minute serial (often boring).
d. Don’t repeat your Resume We have already discussed the skills, qualifications, and experience, etc which you are mentioning should match the Job description and requirements.
But you should never repeat your resume here. We already stated above to create a pitch for yourself which should build the hiring manager’s interest in your job application. He will then himself have a look at the resume.
You should look at the soft skills or even personal values and experiments etc which are not there in your resume.
A simple tip- find what your resume is not speaking about you and things you want the hiring manager to read for sure.
e. Address with the name of Hiring Manager This is no brainer today. In the professional world, you must address the person by his name. This shows that you have researched well about every small thing before applying.
It also shows your level of confidence, seriousness, and preparedness about the job.
So, even if the hiring manager’s name is not mentioned in the job post, you can check the company’s website, refer to LinkedIn or use your contacts to get that info.
Avoid words like “To whom so ever it may concern”, etc. as it looks generic and even funny most of the time. Remember, this is not some sort of certificate.
f. Bold Opening You will find most of the articles suggesting you start with – “Basis the job posting on the xxx website, I am hereby applying for the xxx position”.
While it is important to set the context before you start describing the things, it is also important to open with some mind-blowing punch lines.
You can also mention why the particular position excites you or why you are interested in the role you have applied for.
How about making the hiring manager feel that you fit best for that particular position? But for that, you need a confident and bold opening as every single line will make or break it for you.
You can also include lines like - “I would also like to draw your attention towards the fact ____ which makes me the best fit for this position”.
Remember, being bold means confident without being arrogant.
g. Do not Copy-Paste the same Cover Letter to every Job Application With this point, we would like to emphasize that you need to customize a cover letter for every new job post you are applying to.
If you would have noticed, we started with a research or reading the job description. The only purpose is to convince your hiring manager about your skills, preparation, and seriousness about this entire process. You also want to show how you are not only relevant but best fit that particular role.
But we often see people being lazy here. They don’t bother to customize it and always create a kind of generic cover letter (you can also call it a multipurpose cover letter). This irritates the interviewer. Read the Job description of every job you are going to apply and create a unique cover letter with relevant points.
h. Explain Negative Points without being Apologetic You should never apologize for anything in the cover letter. It may be a gap between two jobs or frequent job change, you should humbly explain it in a positive manner.
Always focus on points like how you and your skills can be fruitful to the organization’s goals. We have seen many candidates starting the letters with sentences like – “Despite 6 months gap, I find my candidature suitable for this role”. This is wrong and kind of a pessimist approach.
In case you have a justification like medical reasons or transfer of family members, etc. do not forget to mention it constructively. ih. Share stats and figures related to your achievements This is one of the most important points you must adhere to. People always like the quantitative approach and not the generalized one. Big no to sentences like – “I improved the sales” which doesn’t have any data to correlate.
If you won some awards, mention the proper reasons with figures. If you increased the sales, mention the statistics like Q1 this year vs Q1 last year or H2 vs H1, so hence and so forth.
It is believed that if you are not mentioning the numbers, you are not good at data analytical skills or just doing helicopter management.
Supporting your statements with the figure is a sign of your control over your business and ultimately depicts the confidence on the subject.
j. Proofread it. We think you are good to go if you follow all the above-mentioned points. Last but not least is to proofread your cover letter. You can also ask for a second opinion from an industry expert (If available).
Also, it will help you absorb everything that you have written. With this, you will be in a better position to deal with any unexpected questions related to whatever you have written.

Conclusion - Tips to write an Impactful Cover Letter for Job Application

This article tells everything about cover letters and we hope you would have understood its importance by now.
Writing an impressive, crisp and to the point cover letter means creating an advertisement for yourself.
If it is appealing, it will force or persuade the hiring manager to have a look at your resume for sure. Not only this, if you want to highlight certain certain points or justify anything, a professionally written cover letter will do this job for you.
Address the hiring manager by his or her name (with platforms like LinkedIn and social media, you don’t have any excuse here).
Please ensure that your cover letter is written only after reading the Job description. Include only points that are relevant to the job and important for the hiring manager to know about you. Quantify every single point and provide relevant data to support it.
Proving yourself worthy of a particular position in a few lines is an art and we hope you will succeed in that.
All the very best!