Cover letters
Your cover letter is your first opportunity to impress the employer with your application and may decide whether your resume will be of interest. It offers you an opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the job or organisation and to 'sell' your main strengths. It is also courteous to include a cover letter unless you are specifically asked not to.
What's in a cover letter
How to write a cover letter
Cover letter tips
What's in a cover letter
A cover letter enables you to express your interest in a particular job and organisation, to highlight your main skills and attributes and to match these to the employer's selection criteria. It also allows you to explain an opportunity you are seeking, your enthusiasm for the work and company and to demonstrate how you could make a contribution.
Unfortunately many cover letters tell the employer little more than that a resume is attached and that the writer considers himself or herself an ideal candidate for the job. This is a missed opportunity to interest them in your potential.
How to write a cover letter
How to write your cover letter depends on whether you're responding to an advertised job or writing a speculative letter (ie. when the employer hasn't advertised a specific job).
Have a look at our letter-drafting tips and example letters, and then have a go at writing your own. If you keep a copy of your draft cover letter, you can use it as a template the next time you put together a job application.
Letter-drafting tips and examples:
Cover letters for advertised jobs
Cover letters for unadvertised jobs
Cover letter tips
Make sure your cover letter is legible. Unless otherwise requested, you should type your letter. Keep a copy of your cover letter - you'll need it to prepare for the interview you'll (hopefully) be invited to.
It's your responsibility to follow up your letter with a phone call within a few days - especially when you're contacting an employer on a speculative basis. This demonstrates that you're the sort of enthusiastic self-starter most employers want.
