There’s some debate about whether or not you should write a cover letter when you’re applying for a job. While some recruiters believe it’s not necessary, it can help bridge gaps between your experience and that of the role you want to prove you’re a good fit.
If the job is “something you’re really passionate about,” says Simon Taylor, former Disney recruiter and author of the forthcoming leadership book “Build Smart,” and “you really think that’s the big opportunity for you, maybe it’d be worth considering doing a cover letter to really differentiate yourself.”
In that case, here’s how Taylor would recommend going about it.
Whoever ends up looking at your cover letter likely won’t have hours to spend on it. So you’ll want to be concise in your arguments for why you’re the right fit for this role. For most cover letters, an intro sentence, a few bullet points and a closing sentence are all you need.
If Taylor himself was writing a cover letter, for example, he’d start with an intro sentence such as, “I think this director of marketing role would be a great fit for me, given my experience. Here are the top three reasons I believe I can add a lot of value to the company.”
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He’d then write three bullets outlining each reason he’d be a great fit, including the kind of qualifications he’s amassed in his career thus far. He’d then end the cover letter with a sentence like, “looking forward to speaking further about this assignment.”
“Less is more,” he says. Home in “on the value you can provide” as that’s what could win them over.
Keep in mind when you’re writing your cover letters, though: “You’ve got to use your own judgment and context,” says Taylor. Sometimes using bullet points won’t be appropriate.
If you’re applying for a writing or marketing role, or any position that will call for longform prose, for example, “maybe having bullet points is going to be the last thing you’d want to do because it comes across as terse and unsophisticated,” says Taylor. In that instance, you’ll want to use the cover letter as an example of your strengths as a writer.
Generally speaking, though, if you’re not applying to a job that calls for waxing poetic, keep it short and consider using bullets.
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