subject: Things You Must Include in Every Cover Letter to be Successful [print this page] Things You Must Include in Every Cover Letter to be Successful
When it comes to cover letters quality is certainly better than quantity. Shorter, quality cover letters make a more powerful point and they stand out from the crowd. If you don't believe me, imagine being the poor person responsible for selecting the top three candidates from a group of sixty. Fifty nine of the sixty cover letters are over one page in length and the majority of the content is dry and boring. Then you come across a single one that says:
I would like to apply for the position of Software Tester. I have worked in Company X for three years as a laboratory assistant writing test plans for scientific experiments and believe my skills are transferrable to software testing.
In response to the requested criteria, I believe I can meet all requirements:
-I have written over a dozen pre-installation test plans including safety compliance plans as a requirement of the Department X change control process.
- I have experience liaising with third party developers during the upgrade of our proprietary scientific tracking software.
- Istudied the'Black Box Testing' methodology at University and applied it in a commercial environment during my time at Company B as a graduate assistant.
Thank you for your consideration. I welcome any questions you have regarding this application and look forward to presenting myself at an interview.
Even a tired employer would not miss the key points in this one. It is clear, precise and most importantly relevant to the information offered in the job advertisement. Even without reading the job advertisement, you can see that this employer has asked for demonstrated experience with pre-installation test plans, experience liaising with third party developers and knowledge of black box testing.
Every criteria is met with sufficient detail to give the employer an understanding of the breadth and scope ofyour experience. And that part may not be as difficult as you think. If you did not have one of the criteria, you should ask yourself 'whatleads me to believe that I can meet this criteria even though I do not have direct experience? What is the source of my knowledge in this area?'.Is it education, memberships, hobbies, work experience orinterests?
So if you thought that this was going to be another dull article about including an introduction, body and conclusion in your cover letter I hope that you were pleasantly surprised. And I hope that it will help you to write a stronger application faster! Remember, it is not necessarily what you include, rather what you leave out that is just as important.
