Free Agent Primer - Getting Your Cover Letter Started (4 in a Series of 6)

When writing a cover letter template that can be easily customized for any open position you are pursuing, it's smart to keep the following goals in mind - imagine if you were a guy like Drew Rosenhaus trying to write a cover letter for the troublesome Terrell Owens - you would want to make him look like a likable, humble person that is fun to be around in a professional environment, right?  With this is mind, your Cover Letter template must allow you to customize each letter to do the following:

1. Make a Personal Connection - you'll want to establish good "warmth" in your template..
2. Show Personality - You don't want to be stiff - show you can write like a real person with some topical flair and those making the hiring decision will assume you have personality in real life as well...
3. Get Some Selling Points In - Contrast the needs of the position with your skills and background to show you have contemplated the actual needs of the position...
4. Make it Quick, Easy to Read and Ask For Action in a Classy Way - Tell the reader they should pick up the phone and call you - but do it in a way that doesn't feel bossy...

With those goals in mind, you first goal in creating a Cover Letter Template should be to get the Intro Paragraph complete in a way you can customize.  Here at the Career Capitalist, we are in favor of a customizable template that has a Intro Paragraph that looks something like this:

December 27, 2006

To The Hiring Manager:

I am responding to your recent posting on Monster.com regarding the opening for a Developer position with SourceMedical in Birmingham.  As an established Developer with 3 years of experience in the technology you are seeking, I can make an immediate contribution to your team.  In addition to the experience and skills I will contribute in the Developer role, I am excited by the prospect of learning more about software development in the Healthcare industry.

Let's review this specific example for the customized items.  Each word or phrase that is bolded and underlined represents items that were customized for a hypothetical role for a Developer in the Birmingham office at SourceMedical.  The first three words/phrases that are bolded and underlined are the parts you should customize with each Cover letter - where you saw/heard about the opening, as well as the position title/location/company name.

The second three phrases that are bolded/underlined require a little more thought - the statement "as an established...." is an quasi-opportunity to title yourself in a way a hiring manager would react positively to in response to the position they are seeking to fill.  The phrase "your team" is a way to customize the cover letter and add warmth to the letter within the boundaries you have to work from.  Finally, the segment where the above letter has inserted "the prospect of..." is an opportunity for you to tell the hiring manager what about the role excites you in addition to the day-to-day work.  Be careful with this component, you want to say something to separate yourself from the crowd, but you don't want to come across as trite or corny.  It's a happy medium you are seeking to strike...

So that's it for the customizable Intro Paragraph to the Cover Letter Template.  Next up, we will take a look at the KSA portion (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities), and how to best contrast your skills with the stated needs of the position....

 

Comments

[Ellen]

Cool! That's a clever way of looknig at it!