Most candidates make two mistakes when writing cover letters:
They spend too much time dumping all their work experience into the letter (making it an unnavigable stream of content).
They then spend too little time tailoring the letter to the specific opportunity (let’s be honest -- we’ve all quickly replaced the company name on a generic letter...).
Sadly, both mistakes prevent you from making a clear and compelling presentation to your prospective employer.
Which is why I teach my clients how to use my simple process to craft dynamite cover letters in 30 minutes.
The secret to this process is that just like any interview question, the question you’re really responding to when writing a cover letter is “Why should I hire you?”
Your prospective employer doesn’t want your life story or a narrative recap of your resume. They want the top 2-3 reasons (max!), with supporting evidence, that you’re a great fit for the role. So why not just give it to them straight?
Click here to request my 30-minute cover letter guide to skip the rest of this article and get to writing your next cover letter RIGHT NOW! :)
But before you craft another cover letter, know this:
Sadly, cover letters and applying cold online are the least likely approach to get you the job today.
These three statistics say it all:
The average online job posting today receives over 250 applications
Only 40% of available jobs are even posted online!
85% of today's jobs are landed through networking
This is why one you never want to spend more than 30 minutes crafting a cover letter — and even more importantly, why you should never writing a cover letter until you have networked with someone at the organization and gotten your foot in the door.
Once an internal employe refers you (submitting your resume internally through an established system or simply by sharing it directly with the hiring team), you 10x your chances of landing an interview!
So before putting a pen to paper, it's to your benefit (and almost required) to first get your foot in the door.
Not only do you deserve that the content you invest your heart and energy into actually gets read and respected. But as a job seeker, your time is tremendously precious. Spend it wisely!