Creating a Covering Letter
A great covering letter can help differentiate your CV from the countless others that pass across an employer's desk. A cover letter is an excellent chance to summarise your skills and experience and get across any key points that do not fit within the format of your CV.
Below are some basic guidelines when creating a cover letter.
- Where possible address the relevant contact listed in the advertisement.
- Include the job title, reference number and where and when you saw the advertisement
- Keep to the point and explain why your skills and experience are relevant to the advertised role.
- Clearly state why you are interested in the role / company.
- Describe what you could bring to the role that sets you apart from other applicant.
- Avoid lengthy repetition of information covered in your CV or in the job description.
- Ensure you tailor your cover letter for each role.
- Negative information of any sort should be avoided.
- Keep your cover letter between 3-4 paragraphs in length.
- Ensure that you spell check and then proof read your cover letter thoroughly before submission. Just one small typing error could potentially ruin your application.
