Your Cover Letter is Not the First Thing a Recruiter Reads
Recruiters are busy people - they’ve got deadlines – they’re juggling calls all day and they’ve got customers and management breathing down their necks to get results every single day. So they scan your resume for 10 seconds to see if your experience stacks up against the role. If you pass the 10-second scan they go back and read through your resume. Then, and only then do they look at your cover letter. They’re testing you. They’re checking you out. They’re still…
Testing to See if You Can Follow Instructions
Now you’ve got the recruiter’s attention, they’ll want to see how well you understand the role being advertised and if you can follow simple instructions. They’ll go to your cover letter for that because they want to see if you can follow instructions and…
You Can Communicate Clearly and Quickly
Short and sharp - yet addressing the key points of the job - is the way to go with a cover letter. Think elevator pitch here. Can you quickly and clearly ‘sell yourself’ to the CEO when you met him in the elevator one morning? That’s what your cover letter must be.
It’s Not as Easy as It Sounds
Remember - you’re being tested through the pre-interview process by how well your resume stacks up and how well you address the key points of the job. Can you address the job criteria in one page or less? That’s about 300 words in total. Can you really achieve the ‘less is more’ effect with your cover letter?
This is Where Experience Counts
You might think 300 words is easy. 300 little words is no big deal and anyone can do it. Not so. It’s harder to communicate and ‘sell yourself’ with a few words than it is with lots of words. And remember you’re being tested – you don’t have the interview yet – the recruiter is carefully looking over everything you’ve done so far. The interview’s not yours yet… So why delay and risk this prime interview slipping away from you when you are so very close?
You’ve done all the hard work – your resume has been read, you’ve passed the 10 second scan...
Don’t Blow Your Chances in the Last 30 Seconds
Click below to get your updated cover letter.
P.S. You’re about to take advantage of letter writing skills that have taken thousands of hours and over 15 years to perfect - and they're all about to get concentrated on your cover letter