How to Write a Cover Letter That Stands Out 3 Steps - Career Sidekick

How to Write a Cover Letter That Stands Out 3 Steps - Career Sidekick How to Write a Cover Letter That Stands Out: 3 Steps Cover Letters / https://www.edenscott.com/blog People have a love-hate relationship with cover letters. Most hate writing them. When it comes to hiring managers, some love them and some loathe them. But if you want to make a good impression, you NEED a cover letter that stands out.In my experience, cover letters get read about half the time when they are not required and 100% of the time when they are.So its definitely important to spend time writing a cover letter that stands out and gets you noticed.So in this article, Im going article will walk you the 3 parts you need to write a cover letter that stands out.How to Write a Cover Letter That Stands Out and Gets You InterviewsA stand-out cover letter contains 3 essential sections, designed to show the reader youre ideally suited for the role.Lets start with the first section for how to write a cover letter that stands out, then well move on to the remaining two sections.Step 1: Verbalize the PainUse the cover letter to show the reader that you und erstand the company’s challenges, struggles, etc., and how you are the perfect candidate to solve these issues. In other words, show them that you understand the pain and can make it better.Pain takes many shapes and forms, from seamless project execution in order to not disrupt business, to building or growing a team to capture market share, launching a new product or service to elevate the brand, to saving money by introducing process efficiencies and automation.In order to do this, youll need to research the company and put yourself in their shoes. Read the job description and think about what they seem to need help with.That leads us perfectly into the second step of how to write a stand-out cover letterStep 2: Examples that Show Pain SolvingOnce you’ve effectively shown the reader you understand the challenge or the pain, the next step is to convince them that you are the person who can mitigate it.If it says they need someone who can work in a fast-paced environment and ha ndle a high workload, then they probably have too much work coming in and are stressed/overwhelmed. Show them that you can ease this burden.If they say they need someone who can make a great impression on clients to help them grow their business, the best way to write a stand out cover letter is talk about how you can do this or better yet how youve done this in the past for other employers.This should NOT be accomplished by describing yourself with adjectives, but by sharing career highlights that quickly show how you’ve solved similar problems in past roles.You need to give them real accomplishments, and the more detail, the better. Give facts, statistics, numbers, and results. This is really important when you get to the interview too, so dont forget this.(If this is your first job search and you have no past accomplishments you can talk about, read this article on writing a cover letter with no experience).Step 3: Moving Past the PainPart 3 of a stand-out cover letter should recap your skills and how they can contribute to not just solving pain, but to moving forward to achieve a company’s higher mission, vision or goal.You need to pull the two previous pieces of your argument together and make your conclusion.Tell them how their company will improve by having you. What will happen when these problems are solved? Get them excited about a future with you as a part of the company and show them youre excited to do the work as well!The Secret Weapon to End Your Stand-Out Cover LetterAfter youve followed the 3 steps above, you have the main body of your cover letter, and youve written it in a way that will stand out to employers and get you interviewed.But theres one more thing you should do to stand out furtherYou want to finish your cover letter by directly asking for the interview! This seems obvious, but more than 50% of job seekers dont do this!So give them your contact details and TELL them to contact you to set up a time to talk. Tell them youre lo oking forward to sharing more detail and answering any questions they have about your background, and youd like to schedule an interview with them to talk further.This is the final essential piece for how to write a cover letter that will stand out.Formatting Your Cover Letter Before SendingGenerally speaking, e-notes took the place of cover letters back when it became possible to share their resumesonline or via e-mail.I recommend job seekers cover all their bases by sending out notes via good old fashioned snail mail as well as electronically. However, while e-notes and cover letters share the same basic parts, some pieces have changed or must appear in a different location.So lets walk through what to do if you want to write your cover letter for an electronic format.#1 Contact InformationUnlike a cover letter where your contact details must appear at the top, on an e-note this info should be located below your name in the form of an e-mail signature. Make sure at the very least you include your full name, contact number, email, address and a LinkedInURL.#2 Reference LineReference Lines telling the reader the role you are targeting appear below the “Dear Hiring Manager” line. However, in an e-note this information must appear in the subject matter line to begin the email.#3 Screen v. Print ReadsReading online is a whole different ballgame than print reading. In fact, it is much harder. This is in large part due to the fact that our eyes have a tough time digesting dense blocks of text (large paragraphs, long lists of bullets) on a screen.To ensure smooth online reading of your e-note, aim for paragraphs that are two to three lines maximum.Keep this in mind on when you format your resume too, if you expect it to be read in an online format.A Stand-Out Cover Letter Can be the Difference Between an Interview and RejectionNot every hiring manager puts a lot of weight on cover letters, but some do! And when hiring managers require it, then theres a high prob ability that they care a lot and use it to decide who to interview.If you follow the steps above for how to write a cover letter that stands out to employers, youll get more interviews and find a job faster.About this guest author:In need of some career advice, a refreshed resume or rebranded LinkedIn?Asthe founder and chief writer atVirginia Franco Resumes, I offer customized executive resume and LinkedIn profile writing services for the 21st century job seeker. I would be happy to chat!