Few applicants understand how to correctly write a cover letter to a resume, since this document is used very rarely in Russia. But many HR managers are very attentive to how the cover letter is drawn up and may refuse the candidate if the presentation of information seemed to them incorrect. For example, if, apart from laudatory comments about the company and a description of his desire to work in it, the applicant did not say anything more about himself. Such letters, along with resumes, are usually immediately sent to the bin.
What information should be contained in the letter
It is very important to clarify the question of which cover letter to write when sending the resume and what information to indicate in it before responding to a vacancy. This short document will represent the applicant and form an opinion about him even before the HR manager receives information about the work experience and skills of this person. He must answer one single question: why exactly this employee is necessary for the company. Therefore, a cover letter is written not once for everyone, but individually, for each specific employer to whom the resume is sent.
Letter structure: greeting
Now let’s figure out what information you need to indicate in this document. Before you write a cover letter to the resume, you need to find out as much as possible about the company and understand what kind of value you represent for it as an employee. The letter should be short and occupy no more than 4 paragraphs, each of which will be no more than 200 words long. The optimal number of paragraphs is 2. At the beginning of the letter, you must definitely greet the potential employer by contacting by name and indicate the position for which you are applying. This is very important, since one HR manager may have several open vacancies, so it will be difficult for him to orient, and he may confuse the place you are applying for. This will be a waste of your time and that of your employer. It is not necessary to indicate all possible vacancies on which you are ready to work. This can create the wrong impression and make it difficult to evaluate you as a candidate for a specific position.
The first paragraph of the letter: competitive advantages
After specifying a position, you should write your competitive advantages. Describe in detail why you are ideally suited to this position. Here you need to talk about who you are and how you learned about the position you are applying for. It is very important that your indicators and achievements are measurable and expressed in numbers. This information should set you apart from other job seekers until the HR manager reads your resume. It is important to consider that your experience will not be unique and you need to indicate what you are better than the rest, and not what you are good in the industry itself. Therefore, before writing a cover letter to the resume, identify your strengths and write them down, and then figure out how to present them in such a way as to stand out from the rest of the job seekers. This paragraph should catch the attention of HR, so write it interestingly so that you would like to read the letter further.
The second paragraph of the letter: why the company needs you
At the second stage, having studied the company, its history and features, you begin to describe specific examples of how you can be useful to this particular company and why the leader should choose you. Tell us about how your experience correlates with some requirements of a potential employer, what scientific achievements and skills you can bring to the existing or future projects. All of these descriptions should be very clear and specific. But do not overdo it - the second paragraph should not be too large.
Future plans
It is worth mentioning about your plans, but so that they overlap with the interests of the company. It is important for the employer to understand that you connect your future with him. If vacancies indicated any aspirations that are desirable for employees, and they coincide with your attitude, do not forget to write about it. If the vacancy does not seem interesting to you, it will be noticeable by the way you write. Therefore, in order not to waste your time on an uninteresting position, conduct a self-examination: are you really ready to work here? The main point in the way to correctly write a cover letter to a resume is sincerity with oneself. Reluctance to work in the company will still be noticeable in the way you write a description of your value.
Letter finale
Having described your value to the company and its advantages over competitors, do not forget to provide your contact information. Since the resume when sending is usually not in the body of the letter, but in the form of an attached file, not every HR manager will view it, therefore, at a time when there are fewer vacancies and more applicants, there is not enough time to view each response . Therefore, the first filter for filtering out candidates is the cover letter. The HR manager is not looking for the best job seeker, but choosing the first one suitable. If there is no contact in the cover letter, even if it was drawn up correctly and interested HR, he may not have enough time to view the resume, and then it will also go to the trash. At the end of the letter, describe the steps that you expect to receive from the recruiter, if he is interested in your candidacy. It can be a call, a letter or a meeting. Thank you for your time and add a signature with your first and last name.
Prohibited tricks for writing a cover letter
Having learned in general terms how to write a cover letter to the employer for the resume, now we will deal with what does not need to be done in its preparation. The very first point has already been voiced: do not use templates that are the same for all companies - this will not work. Ready-made options found on the Internet are also undesirable to use, as other job seekers could find them with the same ease. They can only help to figure out how best to write a cover letter to the resume. But such a document will not distinguish you from other candidates for the vacancy. The only option when you can use the ready-made template is to write a cover letter in a foreign language. But it must be changed for yourself.
Before you write a cover letter to a resume by template, carefully read what is written in it, and not just copy thoughtlessly. The language in which these documents are written is often very formal and boring. You do not need to give out all the information at once - interest the HR manager so that he wants to know more about you. A cover letter can also be written for a position that is not there, if you want to work in a certain company, where there are no vacancies so far. With proper preparation of the document, HR will definitely pay attention to you and put it on the waiting list to call when the vacancy opens.
Basic rules for writing a cover letter
Remember that a cover letter is written for a specific company, a specific person for one position. Before you write a cover letter to your resume, try to learn as much as possible about the company you are going to work in order to better understand their requirements for candidates and draw up a document in the most successful way. Understand what the employer wants and show how you can help him with the implementation of his plan. Be specific and write about those qualities that match the requirements of the company. Understanding how to write a cover letter to a resume correctly will help researching yourself, your personal qualities and skills. Decide whether you really need this job, whether your values coincide with the values of the company. A ready-made template or sample, how to write a cover letter to a resume, is undesirable to use for this. An appeal by name to a specific person, and not to an abstract personnel manager or director of a company, will work most effectively. Write where you found information about the vacancy.