If you’re not submitting a unique cover letter to each job application, you’re omitting a big part of your personality from your application. Just ask anyone in charge of hiring and they’ll tell you they want to hire a human and not a resume.
Job agencies Melbourne-wide are hastily searching to fill roles as the Great Resignation continues worldwide. Post-Covid, many people have begun chasing their true dreams and leaving behind jobs that simply aren’t for them. This is where your opportunity will arise.
The resume is simply the blurb that gives a brief overview of what a hiring party might be getting from you. But a cover letter is the book. If your cover letter is good enough, the audience – the company you apply for – may be so enthralled that they’ll be interested in meeting the author and organising a job interview.
A cover letter gives an in-depth look into your career and the skills that make you qualified for a position. The way a person writes can say a lot more about who they are than you think. You might write analytically or anecdotally and whichever way you choose may suit or clash with the job in question.
In any case, this blog will outline the importance of a cover letter and what you can do to stand out from the many others competing for the same jobs.
The concept of putting your best foot forward is true in all aspects of recruitment, including how you come across as a person. You may have all the same skills and qualifications as the next applicant, but what will set you apart from the crowd is your unique personality.
You may have wit or rigour to your cover letter that no one else has, and it may just happen that the people hiring you will love that! A 2018 Gallup survey showed that companies with employee engagement ratings in the top quartile enjoyed 21% higher profitability than those in the bottom quartile. Therefore, companies should be looking for personalities to suit their company culture just as much as they’re looking for qualified staff. Not to mention that there’s nothing worse than interviewing an applicant who is clearly nothing like they were in their cover letter.
Be yourself! You want to work with these people for months or years on end and any fake professionalism or intelligence you make up in writing will quickly wash away in the real-life context of the workplace.
Skills can be taught, but who you are as a person is far harder to mould.
With all of that said, it’s still important to highlight the best parts of yourself. Without coming off as flawless or fake, make sure those evaluating your application know you headed a big project or achieved all your KPIs last year. Some solid proof that you are good at what you do is equally as valuable as how well you fit into a team.
Make sure you read the job description thoroughly and address as many points as possible with an example of how you’ve completed it in previous roles.
Measurable results will go down a treat with your future employer because they can trust that you’ll be capable of results from week one.
The simple fact that you have a cover letter is bound to set you apart from many other applicants in this day and age. You’d be surprised how many people do apply through our job agency without one!
The little extra effort you go to in compiling a relevant letter which ticks off each point in the description will be appreciated by the hiring party. Just ask past employers how much it matters and see if they don’t tell you the same thing!
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