Hello and a very warm welcome to episode 8 of CareersLab, with your friendly
careers coach, Raj Sidhu, based at University College London. Have you ever
wondered how to write a really effective cover letter? What to include... the right
tone to strike? Well look no further because in this video I share, using my
experience, the top two tips to writing beautifully executed cover letters every time.
The first paragraph is absolutely critical and I recommend starting with
why you are applying to that particular organisation, but more than that; why they
should care about that particular motivation. Here's an example. So I'm
opening with something super specific about what the firm has done and
specific is really important because the more specific you are, the more
meaningful it will seem, and the more it stands out from the competition. If
you're struggling to find a detail, I recommend looking up the firm's annual
or quarterly reports, and it's in that literature, which typically goes out to
their shareholders, where they're going to reveal most about their hopes, their
direction and project successes. You're going to find a detail in there that
speaks to you. Once you've done that, the next step with the first paragraph is to
bring yourself into the picture by drawing a parallel. It's a well and good
being interested in a detail of what an organisation does, but you have to bring
yourself into the narrative to show them why they should care, so this area here
builds your credibility with the employer. When drawing a parallel you
definitely want to be using something you know the interviewer will value in
the role so use the job description as a guide. Here I've used a skill detailing
my use of Saturn software. Now do this well and the first paragraph will pretty
much lock in the feeling from the reader's point of view, that you're going
to be invited for an interview. Starting with them rather than you, essentially
gives the reader a sense of validation. It tells them exactly why you're writing
to them and potentially that gives them more scope for giving you more attention
when you're talking about yourself and your skills. Now with the first paragraph
done, you can potentially add a second one which keeps the focus on the organisation,
especially if you've had a conversation with someone inside the organisation and
you want to reference it, such as in this example here, but it's not necessary.
The next two paragraphs should focus on one specific skill each; those skills
particularly important to the employer from the job description. I recommend
literally starting each of those paragraphs with those skills in order to
catch the reader's attention. You can see here that I've kept the
focus on one skill in this paragraph; developing it and bringing out different
aspects to fully satisfy the reader of my ability in respect of it. In case
you're wondering how I knew what things to focus on within organisation skills
it's not an accident... I used the awesome Harvard Competency
Dictionary which I've provided a link to in the description box below, and it's freely
available, to help me structure specific elements of my answer... and you'll see
here that I used sub attributes that they mentioned in the Harvard Competency
Dictionary including prioritising, determining tasks and resources,
scheduling and the use of resources. I've incorporated them into my example in
order to give strong structured evidence and this is how you demonstrate one skill per
paragraph. Now the Harvard Competency Dictionary
contains over 40 skills and competencies to help you structure amazing
evidence-based paragraphs. The key to these two paragraphs is delivering
incredible and detailed evidence so that the reader is totally convinced in
respect of those top two things that they really want to see. Now combining
these two tips with a simple professional closing is a great way of
showcasing your relevant skills to that employer. A good cover letter is one that
is relevant, precise and no longer than it needs to be. It's a marketing document
with the express aim of getting you that interview. Now definitely don't hesitate
to let me know if you have any other questions relating to cover letters. You
can leave a question in the comment section down below, or you can email me
directly at careers.marketing@ucl.ac.uk ...Now I have a personal favour
to ask... if you like this video please hit the like button because it helps us
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and I'll see you next time!