How To Customize A Cover Letter For A Specific Job Opening

How To Customize A Cover Letter For A Specific Job Opening

It’s finally happened. After months of searching the job boards, you’ve found the job you have been waiting for. All that’s left is to send in a resume and get that face-to-face interview, and the job could be yours.

The question now is how do you make sure that your resume gets you chosen? How do you make sure that your resume is even seen? The answer: by creating the best cover letter possible.

Make The Cover Letter Specific To The Position

Recruiters, in more cases than not, spend a little time looking at a cover letter before deciding if they want to go ahead and read the resume. Your cover letter is like a sales page, and you need it to really speak to the person in charge of hiring. You need a cover letter that lets them know that you are the ideal candidate for the position and that you are more than qualified and capable when it comes to handling the job.

So, how do you do it? You tailor the cover letter to the job itself. If the company has mentioned four things they are looking for in the ideal candidate, you make it clear near the beginning that you possess all four qualities or abilities and explain how or why this is true.

Try to match the language the company uses in case they utilize filtering software to select potential candidates. Explain what makes you a great fit for that specific company, and make sure that you have done your research into their brand and into the way they present themselves so that the tone of your cover letter is in line with the general tone of the company itself. If a company is innovative and fun, you want to use different wording than you would for a company branded around professionalism and tradition.

Tailoring your cover letter doesn’t have to be a difficult process, but it should involve some research. Really get to know the brand behind the company you want to work for, and strive to create a resume and cover letter that match that brand. It not only helps you stand out, but it shows the company that you are a good fit for their ideals and their style. Your cover letter is your ticket to the next step in the hiring process—make it count!