hello everyone and welcome to another video by higher powers net
my name is Joshua Brown and today we are talking about how to build a cover
letter with no experience so to do that we need to talk about how to build a
cover letter in general no matter how much experience you actually have so
there are two parts that we really want to discuss when building the cover
letter the first part is the format so this is how you actually are going to
structure the content that we're going to talk about a little bit later so as
we're going through this video we're going to be looking at a sample cover
letter that I've built in Google Docs so to check out what kind of format we're
going to be using let's go ahead and take a look and see that sample all
right so here is our example cover letter and really quick I'm going to run
through the points here now this format here starting with the date you're going
to use this entire format say if you are replying to a job application through
the mail alright you're going to be sending this in a letter letter format
rather than say email you're going to include the the date so the date that
you're actually sending it up top here the name title company address the full
address of the company that you are going to be applying to so this name is
going to be specific if you have that information oftentimes you can look
through google search or a search on LinkedIn to see if you recognize
somebody from the human resources department or a name that was on the job
listing if not if you can't find that information it's okay to leave that off
just have the title you know hiring manager or the human resources
department that way the the application goes to the right process for the right
person and then also using that same information here so you don't have to be
specific you can say to whom it may concern' to the hiring manager to Human
Resources but try to be consistent for what the listing talks about if it uses
language like that if it says who it's being sent to
okay so then following that information here we have
the body of the cover letter okay so we're going to have an introductory
paragraph now when we're talking about paragraphs they can vary in size between
having a one sentence paragraph and maybe three to four sentences but
overall you can see the size here we don't want it to go over say
three-quarters of a page even half a page okay we want to try and say
everything that we want to say in as little words as possible all right so we
have generally about three to four paragraphs we have our closing paragraph
following D the main body paragraph which follows the introductory paragraph
up top here okay and again if we're sending this over
snail mail we can put our name typed here okay and then we're going to also
sign it as well so we would delete this leave a space for a hand signature in
pen all right now if I was going to be sending this cover letter say through an
online job application or through email then what I'm going to do is I'm just
going to use maybe this section here okay and I'm going to switch out these
bottom sections and just have my type signature okay so that's all it's
necessary for the format so we'll go ahead and get started working on the
actual content all right now we've had a chance to talk about the format of a
cover letter we want to talk about the actual content what's going to go in the
cover letter and what we're going to actually write about so first we want to
start off with the introductory paragraph this is where you're going to
introduce yourself obviously you're going to put your name it's also a good
idea to put the job name and if there's a job number that's specific to that job
listing that's always a good idea if you have a specific connection to this
employer let's say that you're being referred to by a friend or family member
this is the perfect opportunity to put that down
okay now if none of that applies to you it's also a good idea to put where you
found the job listing all right this can help the HR department or the hiring
manager figure out what the best ways of recruitment are for them so again very
quick very to the point let's go ahead and check back into that sample and see
what that actually looks like alright so here we're taking a look at the
introductory paragraph and again we're going to use the word
paragraph kind of liberally here because it can be anywhere from 1 to maybe up to
4 sentences depending on where it is in the body of the the cover letter but
just to go through these two examples here so the first one is my name is Jane
Doe and my good friend John Smith recently mentioned an opening at your
company for a position in the customer service department so that's again if a
family member a friend someone is referring you to this position you want
to mention that up front and the second example here my name is John Doe and I
am applying for customer service position number 3 2 1 3 4 I found
through indeed.com so again if you're not being referred
you want to give them as much information about the job as possible
and you know if it's going through somebody in Human Resources or not the
direct hiring manager you want to make sure it gets to the right department
going through and also you want to make sure that you're doing research into the
job listing so that if the position is actually called a customer care
representative then you use those exact words customer care representative ok
you want to get in the habit of using the same language as the company that
you're going to be applying to all right so I'm most x tempted to actually leave
it at that uses usually a one-sentence opening oftentimes you can kind of
combine these two here that way you know they know that somebody referred you and
the actual position number and name or you know I really don't like to put
anything about you know how you're excited to apply or anything like that
any type of connection usually goes better in the body where you can also
support that with reasons why you're a good fit at the beginning it's just a
little bit of fluff and you want to get to the main point of why you're the best
fit so let's do that we'll go ahead and take a look and see what we can do to
put in the content of the body ok so we've gotten right to the point
we've gotten our introductory paragraph down now it's time to get to the actual
body of the cover letter so this can be two to three paragraphs probably no more
and again when I say paragraph this can be two or three sentences probably at
most you don't want to go much more than half of
Paige overall in your cover letter now the body of the paragraph this is where
we're going to get into the parts where if you don't have experience you know
you feel a little bit intimidated you're not sure exactly what to put well the
first thing that you have to start thinking about is that you don't always
have to have actual job experience and what I mean by that is paid employment
so you need to start thinking about the things that have happened in your past
that you can still use as relatable experience so for most people this goes
back to if they have college experience even if you don't have that you have
high school experience you can use that as well again even if it was something
like mowing lawns over the summer or babysitting the neighborhood kids
anything that can go along possibly with a reference is going to be important but
you want to really emphasize that you know you have some type of
responsibility that you've gone through a situation and you've overcome it
you've met an objective you've met a goal and we all have situations in our
life where we could talk about overcoming some sort of obstacle
you know persevering still having the you know courage after going through a
tough challenge you know whatever that that case may be for you personally and
again you have to decide this on your own because you don't want to get too
personal but you still have to have something down because having those
types of situations even though that they may not be professional they may be
more personal I always find that it's better than writing you know I know I
don't have experience but I'm gonna work hard you know it's it's almost like
begging so you don't really you don't want to see that you'd rather see
somebody try and explain themselves you know show their skills even if it's not
you know apples to apples comparison of of what they can do so again let's go
back to that sample resume or excuse me the sample cover letter and we'll take a
look and see what exactly that could look like okay so here we have a couple
examples of some body paragraphs so I'll go ahead and read through and then we'll
talk about it a little bit all right so the first one I am a highly organized
individual with a history of reliability in my high school's student store I was
responsible for maintaining here with stock records on a variety of
items number two I have a background working with others in a fast-paced
environment as my family and I volunteered once a month at our local
soup kitchen I was responsible for running all dishes from the kitchen to
the cafeteria and back number three it's important to me to work for a
company that also cares about giving back to the community
I have also participated in a charity named City project slash local school
project and volunteered with their organization in some capacity okay so
here we see a few different examples of the body paragraph so before you've even
started on your body paragraphs of your cover letter you want to make sure that
you've done enough research on the job listing okay most entry level positions
that you're going to be applying to are going to be filled with a lot of
transferable skills these are basically going to be skills that talk about a
person's maybe organization abilities their commitment to working hard their
work ethic right a lot of things to do with the the quality of the person their
character attributes rather than their their technical skills because again
it's an entry-level position and you don't have that experience so they're
looking for things that are still going to be useful in the job these are the
skills that you have to really latch on to and back up with actual details so
again in this first paragraph I'll read it again I am a highly organized
individual with a history of reliability okay so maybe in the actual job listing
they've mentioned how there's a lot of turnover at their their company or you
know they mentioned something about needing your own transportation to work
right usually if a company puts that it means that they've had an issue with it
or it can be a problem so again you want to address those concerns when you can
right because you may not meet all those other technical skills so the skills
that you can meet and in the second half of that paragraph in my high school
students tour I was responsible for maintaining an accurate stock records on
a variety of items okay so you now you have backed up that initial statement of
being organized and being reliable okay so just how you would once you get the
skills later on in your professional career you have to back it up right so
again that's what you're going to be doing now you may not have you know
student store experience but you again you can go through your past school
experience you know past experience you know in even in high school volunteering
is also a good opportunity okay anything where you can draw that comparison all
right now in this last paragraph we talk about community service you know working
alongside other organizations of that type whether they're charities and
volunteer opportunities in the community this is also an opportunity to do some
research about the company about the people that are important in the company
the president's maybe the board members things like that what are they saying in
social media okay also on the website of the company that you are applying to you
want to look for you know how are they active in the community are they active
in the community what are their goals do they have you know a five-year plan a
ten-year plan okay these are all areas where you can create a connection in the
cover letter to see that you know the person who's going to be looking altum
Utley at your cover letter make that connection with them and standout write
your they're not just talking about oh how I love to work for this company okay
you have to have an actual reason why you apply to their company rather than
another company in their same industry so again the most important thing is to
look through the job listing find areas where you have some background where you
can create that connection and use these as a guide to again state a fact and
then support that with your background experience alright so we'll move on next
to the ending of the cover letter all right so you've wrapped up the body of
your cover letter now it's time for your official clothes you want to do a couple
of things here the first thing is let them know your interview availability so
this is pretty much going to be any time anyway
err over the phone in person you know they name it you'll be there okay it has
to be that broad obviously you know you want the job you want to get in you know
let them know you're available when they're ready for you okay second thing
is to leave again more official contact information so this can be email address
but also needs to include your phone number no matter what else you include
needs to have the phone number again also you want to thank them for the
opportunity you know thank them for your for their time you know they've gone
through the process with a lot of different cover letters reading the
resumes you know you want to give them that that shout out that things okay so
again let's take a look back at the sample and see what that looks like
alright so now we're wrapping up the cover letter and quickly I'll read
through our closing paragraph here thank you for the opportunity to apply for the
position I am available anytime for an interview and can be reached at 555 give
them your phone number I will follow up next Friday to confirm you've received
my application okay so again you want to thank them
provide your telephone number also if your email address is a great way to get
a hold of you put that in there as well but again I always recommend to have the
phone and then if you are so bold what you can do is you can actually say when
you're going to follow up now this is important you want to make sure that
it's okay to follow up you want to make sure you've read through the job listing
you know if it says no phone calls please you know respect that make sure
that you're you're doing in following the process as they've laid out
perfectly now if they don't say anything I always recommend that you at least
give it about a week or so then you can follow up you know again use Google
search use LinkedIn as a way to find contact numbers always be polite work on
your telephone voice you know write down the names of secretaries and
administrative personnel that you're you're talking to and then when you
follow back up again you can you know say their name oh hey remember me all
right you know use your customer service abilities if you have them if not this
is a perfect way to practice alright so I want to thank everyone for joining us
today the
cover letter that you saw here in the video today is available for download in
the comments check that out if you haven't already please subscribe we have
more videos coming out every single day we hope you enjoyed it have a great rest
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