4 Examples of Fresh and Effective Cover Letters
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It is time to give your cover letter a thorough update. Get rid of that boring old one with the blah terms and go with something that shines above all of the others. Revamp yours with these effective cover letter examples.
Nearly everyone starts their cover letter with something like, I am writing in response to your job opening, blah, blah, blah. How would you feel about that line if you had to read 30 cover letters starting like that?
Bored?
Frustrated?
Fed up?
That’s how hiring managers and recruiters feel when they see a cover letter that start out with this tired sentence. Get rid of it. Right now. I’ll wait.
Did you delete it? Good. Let’s move on.
The opening line to your cover letter is essential. Let’s kick it up a notch with these examples.
1. Job Title and Accomplishments
Wow them with your job title and your best accomplishments. This is a common way to go for cover letter opening lines because it grabs the hiring manager’s attention. Here’s a great cover letter example with the job title and accomplishments:
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As a social media consultant for XY Company, I manage several media outlets. I’ve tripled our audience on Facebook and doubled our followers on Twitter by implementing new marketing strategies.
See how it jumps out at you? You’re mentioning your job title and what you have done for that company. Always use your best accomplishments that are relevant to the job you are applying for.
2. Show Some Excitement
Cover letters can often be drab and stagnant. That can leave the hiring manager wondering if you’re really interested in the job opportunity or not. Don’t leave them with any doubts with an exciting cover letter opening line. Excitement and enthusiasm shows you are a dedicated and motivated person. Here’s an example:
I was excited to find a job opportunity in human resources with ABC Company because your work with (include a specific example) is important to me. I am the best candidate for this job opening because of my experience in human resources and (something specific).
Hiring managers and recruiters love to see someone excited about a job opening. When you show you’re excited they will be checking your qualifications instead of deleting your cover letter.
3. Keywords and Key Phrases
Hiring managers are often scanning cover letters looking for keywords and phrases related to the job opening for which they are hiring. Not including them could get your application deleted. There are also recruiters and hiring managers that use keyword tracking software to scan applications for them. If yours doesn’t include the right keywords, or enough of them, they may never see it.
I’ve been in public relations for years. My strongest areas of expertise are verbal and written communications. I have honed my public relations skills, which include leading a team, media relations, social media management, and community engagement.
I have experience writing press releases, press kits, interviewing, marketing campaigns, building relationships with reporters, managing a PR calendar, and analyzing the results of these efforts to improve them.
This cover letter is packed full of keywords that will pass the application tracking software and make it to the hiring manager’s desk. They’ll love reading the keywords that match their job description, too.
4. Referrals from Networking
If you have been referred to the job opening by someone from your professional network you need to include this in the beginning of your cover letter. It’s name dropping, and it’s good. The hiring manager will want to check out why your referrer thinks you’re a good fit for the job. Here’s a good cover letter example for a referral:
My name is Sarah Smith and I recently spoke with your hardware computer engineer, Steven Smith, who told me about your job opening in the communications department. He recommended that I contact you about this opportunity because of my experience in the industry.
This will get the hiring manager interested in your background because a mutual colleague has referred you.
Cover Letter Basics
A cover letter needs to be a short introduction to the hiring manager or recruiter who has a job opening. This goes in with your application and resume. The first thing they will see is your cover letter.
The goal is to get the hiring manager to be interested and impressed enough to move on to reading your resume and application. It has to be concise, engaging, interesting, impressive, eye-catching, and professional. Don’t forget to customize each cover letter to each company’s job opening.
Use these effective cover letter examples to get your creative juices flowing and write some nice cover letters you can send out to the job openings you are interested in. A stellar cover letter can help you land your dream job.