And finally, we need to get them to take action
So it's exactly the same concept from when the customer the consumer becomes aware of your brand your product what you're selling
Which is you all the way to getting them to trial you or make that purchase decision, which is yep
Let's get this person in for an interview
Hey Badasses, welcome back to the Badass Career's YouTube channel where you'll find everything
You need to build a career you love if you don't know me already. Hey, my name is Rosie
I am an ex Fortune 500 corporate HR manager turned online career coach
Loving my career and I want to share with you everything
I know from the HR behind the scenes
Perspectives from my 10 years working and recruitment in HR. Now in this video
we are tackling again the cover letter. If you guys haven't seen already go check out this video that I did on the
Biggest cover letter mistake that you're probably making because it's some really complimentary content to today's video
Which is four steps to a perfect cover letter now, I'm such a big fan of the cover letter
It plays such a different role to your resume or your CV
It really allows you to connect the dots of the recruiter
It really links your personality and your experience and your value-add to what the company needs
It's also a great chance to show off your soft skills
which don't often get a lot of love on your resume and it conveys all of that hunger and
Enthusiasm and passion that you have to get this job
And if you don't have that don't apply for the job seriously because when people really really want it
Those are the applicants that stand out in the end anyway
So I have seen hundreds if not thousands of cover letters in my time
And I can tell you that the really successful ones. They follow a model called AIDA
So AIDA, A. I. D. A. is actually a model widely used in advertising and marketing
so it covers off the key stages between
When a consumer becomes aware of a brand or product all the way through to win the consumer trials a product or make set purchase
So that A stands for attention
The I stands for interest
D for desire and the final A for action and we can apply this exact model to cover letters because we need to grab their
Attention. We need to capture their interest. We need to build desire. And finally we need to get them to take action
So it's exactly the same concept from when the customer the consumer becomes aware of your brand your product what you're selling
Which is you all the way to getting them to trial you or make that purchase decision, which is yep
Let's get this person and for an interview, so without further ado
Let's jump straight in to the four key steps of writing a really Killer Cover Letter that sells you
So step number one is to grab their attention and this is all about the hook
Now, I have talked about the hook before on this channel because I'm a big believer in the hook
Which is the first sentence that first paragraph which?
convinces the person to keep reading because if you have a watered down and generic hook that they were
Expecting like I'm really excited to apply for this position
And I'm really driven and hardworking and I'm uniquely qualified and all that usual stuff
It's not going to do you justice
So let me give you three examples of hooks that really really don't work and I'll tell you why
Hook number one is what I like to call The Vague AF. Now The Vague AF I mean
It says it all in the title, but let me show you what I mean
I know that with my extensive experience I can contribute to your position as a leader in the industry
I would welcome the opportunity to ensure
Company name maintains its growth and position in the field
Super generic
Extensive experience what experience how many years what kind exactly is going to be really useful for us?
I'll contribute to your position as a leader in the field
I'm not sure that that's the hiring managers biggest concern right now. They need someone for their team
So when you hit the ground running what exactly is it that you're going to deliver?
I mean I could go on and on but basically it's just too vague. Also, it could work for anywhere any industry any company
That's that's a big turn-off for recruiters the next hook
I like to call The Desperado and you'll see why. My attached resume outlines my in-depth experience and professional development if
you give me a chance in an interview and hire me as your
Job title, you will not be disappointed
So this sounds a little bit desperate because it's saying if you give me a chance in the interview and hire me
It's like woah, woah, woah, we're not even there yet
Why are you even talking about hiring you yet?
Even as excited as you may be about this position
You as a confident
professional you're going to want to have an interview because it's a discussion and you can figure out if this is the right opportunity for
You as well. It goes both ways, right?
So if you're already talking about, you know, please give me a chance to interview and hire me
It's just a bit too much too soon. And it comes across quite desperate. The next example of a hook that really doesn't work
Well at all, please don't do this
I call it The Cocky Vibe goes a little something like this
If you are looking to hire a successful and proven job title who can step in and immediately
Contribute to company look no further
The enclosed resume will make it clear that I am the top candidate to be your new job title
Please don't tell me who's going to be my top candidate as a recruiter. I'm the one who's gonna figure that out. Thanks, though
Anyway, just for this one
There's a huge difference between being confident and self-assured and kind of arrogant almost thinking like there's nothing left to learn
So what do you need to put them to really grab that recruiter or hiring managers attention?
It all comes down to the basics of influencing people
So one of the key ways that you can influence someone is to make them feel interesting make them feel special
so when you're applying to a company and I mean
I'm gonna use L'Oreal as an example because that's where I was last working as an HR manager
but you wouldn't apply and say L'Oreal is the number one beauty company in the world worth X billion and revenue and
90,000 employees
and so I think it would be a great place for me to grow and develop so don't just get that generic information off the
Website and put that in your cover letter. They know that already they know where they work. They know the stats
They know it's the number one Beauty company in the world
You really want to make it come across like it's a match made in heaven and you can do this
most effectively by telling them something
Real do you have a personal story? Do you have some sort of connection to the company?
Did you work for one of the competitors maybe? are you a customer? Did you grow up with the spread?
Did your mum grow up with this brand? Do you share the same convictions and values?
Are you already playing on the same team in some way?
Do you just get it the problem that they're trying to solve the person that this hiring manager is trying to recruit do you see?
Exactly what they're going to need to be doing and how you can provide that because if you can put it here
I mean ultimately I would challenge you
Can you just say something human. Something that you're actually thinking in your head to get them to keep on reading so
loads of examples of these for you which you can download in my freebie nail that hook
So if you download it down below it will give you several
examples of Cover Letter hooks that obviously got the recruiter to keep reading because they scored an interview so you can download those but I'm just
gonna cover two here in this video
So the first one is more around a personal connection or story and it goes a little something like this
I'll never forget the first time. I read a Cosmopolitan magazine
School camp 14 years old giggling about the dating advice with my girlfriends in our tent
Today, It is my go to pick me up empowering me to show up as the best version of myself and work and relationships
Coaching me and everything from skincare to finances to networking. We truly grew up together
That's Cosmopolitan magazine if you don't know it
So that's a really nice
Example of a personal connection or story that would hook the reader in and on a perhaps more practical level
The next hook is more around how you're a match made in heaven when it comes to what they need,
The problem they're trying to solve, and what you know how to do so basically screaming out
I'm the perfect person for this role. "All the pixels and all the code in the world can't save a website from a bad user
Experience when your website literally is your business with 6 plus million customers worldwide
Relying on your interface to be all different flavors of Awesome. It is truly a matter of survival
So, how can we take Deezer's website?
From really good to really great having customers shout
Yay along the way". Honestly the way that this is written just makes people want to sit up and keep reading
It's so engaging that's so exciting as saying I get it
You want to have a great user experience on your website? Your website is literally your business
This is for a company called Deezer which is a music streaming website. So this person has shown a straight away
They get it they get the importance they get the mission of this role and then the next paragraph they start breaking down their
Accomplishments and their achievements and their ideas that will enable them to take the user interface to the next level
So after you've nailed that hook the second part is about capturing their interest. So you've got the recruiter to sit up and pay attention
Now don't disappoint them. This is where you want to draw them in to let them know that you'd be an excellent
Person to take on this role look basically the hiring team wanna know two things
The first is that you can do the job
And the second is that you're going to do really well on the team. You're going to be good fit culturally
So capturing their interest is all about the first part. I can do this. I can do the job keep reading
I'll tell you how so carrying on from the Cosmopolitan magazine example
The next paragraph may go a little bit something like this
"I even remember using cosmos interview tips to land my first writing job seven years ago
Never imagining that I would one day be applying for my dream role as a staff writer with you
Since then I have forged an international writing career connecting with experts around the world and creating compelling content for print
websites and social media." See how they've moved away from
Cosmopolitan is awesome
And I've got a personal connection to your your brand your company
To basically sign up in a sentence why you're qualified actually to do the job that they've advertised for which is the staff writer role
Let's carry on the other example the other hook about Deezer, the music streaming website
So they're looking for someone who can do user interface. So what does this person say next?
How do they capture their interest "as a UX and graphic designer with nine years of experience in designing new website functionalities
I pride myself on getting measurable results and elevating the customer experience across all platforms and devices
most recently
I designed a new website interface for an e-commerce client that resulted in a 3.6% increase in customer attention
Always seeking to optimize workflow
I also convinced our head of design to switch to a different UX design tool which increased our team productivity by 40 percent
I'd love to bring similar results to Deezer as the VP UX and design" Boom!
How good is that if I'm the recruiter I'm with you right now
I'm like tell me more tell me more
so part 3 of the AIDA framework and the third step to making sure that this is a really really killer cover letter is
Building that desire. So you've already hooked them you've built that interest and now you need to really create that desire like oh, yes
Yes. Yes. We need to see this person
So this is going deeper into I can do the job and I'll do it really really well
And it's gonna really highlight your achievements but not just any achievements but the achievements that prove that you could do this job
So what you might want to do is use headlines or bullet points and sort of highlight two to four really key accomplishments
Related to what this hiring manager is going to need and honestly
It can be as simple as creating a two-column table on one side
You're writing down the requirements of the company when you're analyzing the job ad and on the other side
You're brainstorming proof points
Like how can I prove that I answer to what they need that I can do what they're asking for here
and then you're just picking out the most powerful examples there one point I would make is try to back this up with data and
quantifier wherever possible
so if you say, you know, I organized events how many, how often, how many attendees? get specific. Because
psychologically, if you can add numbers and quantify things it really helps to impress the hiring team because psychologically for whatever reason if you use
Numbers is actually seen as being more trustworthy
So if you can use numbers to back up these proof points back up these accomplishments
Then it's going to be really impressive for the hiring team the fourth and final step is action
We want them of course to take some action
but because we want them to pick up the phone and schedule a time to interview you so we want to make sure you have
A really strong clothes here, so don't fizz out after all that work
Don't fizz out here and say something like please if you have the time or I would be truly grateful
If so
We don't want to put you in this low
position where you're kind of begging and we also don't want to do the opposite where it's a really hard sell and you just sort
Of assume, you've already got the interview and you're like well, I look forward to our meeting
You also don't want to do that either
We just don't want to kill all the work that you've done by being a bit pushy and kind of putting them off a little
Bit at the end you're in the homestretch. This is your lasting impression. So what are you gonna say?
I usually like to go for something pretty simple and straightforward
Like if this letter has ignited your curiosity, I would love to carry on this conversation with you in more detail
I can be reached at any time at job.seeker@gmail.com or on...
... your phone number to schedule an interview
What's good about? That is it's just a nice simple close
But there's a call to action and you make it really easy for them. You tell them exist how they can reach you
It's also good
If you're in a situation where you can create a bit of honest and the key word being here honest urgency as well
so urgency as in they've got a limited amount of time to contact you because people buy things that are
limited offers or you know going off sale soon kind of things so if you say something like
"I'm graduating on May 17th and actively looking to secure a new role before this date
So I hope to hear from you before then or something like that or with my move to Switzerland imminent
I'm actively looking for my next opportunity and would jump at the chance to discuss my fit in greater detail
I hope to hear from you shortly
If you can honestly add a little bit of urgency there as well
Sprinkle it and just a little bit just into the the key ingredients of the cover letter to make your beautiful pebble either thin yet
Go for it. That would be really really good as well
So there you guys have it four steps to a perfect cover letter one that sells a true
Marketing document that's going to get people buying what you're selling and again guys after putting in all that work for the cover letter
It's not going to get read
If you don't nail that hook, so please do download the freebie and the link will be in the description box down below
save some real inspiration from real life cover letters that have
Completely nailed that hook if you guys liked this content and would like me to create more. Please. Give me a thumbs up
So I know
Leave me a comment down below
I'm always excited to hear what you have to say and to jump in the discussion with you and until the next video
Stay Badass. See you guys next time. Bye!