Job Application Letter – How to Write Competently
When you construct a resume, the resume itself should be a strong, concise presentation of your past work history; however, it should not contain any detailed information regarding your experiences, these should be left for the job application letter (also known as the cover letter).
This letter allows you to begin the job search process, out of the gate, impressing upon your potential employer all of the qualifications you have to become a valuable addition to their company.
If you are not applying for a specific position, then you can use the letter to give a brief overview of all your skill sets as well as a glimpse of your personality.
A job application letter is the first chance you have to market yourself to a prospective employer. In the letter you can describe yourself, who you are as a person and who you can be as an employee for their company.
When you begin writing your letter you must understand that you are not writing for just the person who does the hiring, you are also writing for the people you will be working with.
You must manage in the span of one page to convey positives about yourself that will catch each person’s eye. A well-constructed letter will immediately pull you back into the interviewer’s mind when it’s time to start schedule appointments.
Overall, your letter should be just one page in length and typed, single space, on the same paper as the resume. Address your letter to a specific person, as in the person in charge of hiring and use a universally accept business font such as Times New Roman or Calibri in 10 or 12 point.
Text should be aligned to the left using 1″ margins, the standard format for most business documents. Once you have the formatting down, move on to the content. Begin with a header that includes both yours and your potential employer’s contact information. Include a date.
Once you begin writing the job application letter, start with a greeting that includes “Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name.” If you aren’t familiar with the name of the person in charge of interviews and hiring, address your letter to, “Dear Hiring Manager.”
In the introduction of your letter, clearly state which job you are applying for and then explain how you heard about the position and if you heard via a company employ, make sure you mention that. Use a line or two to point out your qualifications to give the hiring person an idea of what they will be reading in the rest of the letter.
In the body of your job application letter expand on the information you provided in the introduction. Using one to two paragraphs, let the company know what it is about the position that interests you and the reasons you would be a good match.
In this section of the letter you can present actual examples of previous work related experiences that aptly describe your skills. In closing, after you have once again summed up your qualifying skills and how well of a fit you would be for the company, ask for an interview and thank you the hiring person for their time.
Finally, before your job application letter can be considered complete, you must remember to read your letter several times, looking for grammatical errors. Proofing and editing your letter is one of the most important finishing touches you can do for your resume and letter.
When you are in the process of looking for employment and you are writing letters for different companies, it can become easier and easier to make small mistakes. Remember the hiring person and company want to get an idea of who you are, so if you haven’t presented a clear idea, be sure you make changes to reflect more of yourself.
