A cover letter is an important piece of job search document which you can use to impress an employer or a hiring manager before the interviewing process begins.

Very often, the way your cover letter is written could mean the difference between landing an interview and losing it. Therefore, you should always take cover letter writing very seriously and use it to stand out from the pack.

Given below are some of the top dos and don’ts that you should follow for writing a cover letter which sets you up for success.

Cover Letter Dos

Do Personalize Your Letter: Find out the name of the HR manager or the interviewer and address them by name in your cover letter. Write a new cover letter for each job that you want to apply for.

Do Mention the Job Position: Which job position are you interested in? Mention it in your cover letter and focus your writing around that specific job position. If the advertised job position has a code or a reference number, include it as well to remove any kind of confusion on the hiring manager’s part.

Do Make it Succinct: A cover letter has to be short and sweet. Make sure you use a simple language and tone and include only the real stuff.

Do Focus on the Audience: For each advertised job position, there are some specific skills that the employer is looking for. Find out what those key skills are and write your cover letter around the same. In short, put yourself in the hiring manager’s or the employer’s shoes while writing.

Do Proofread: Hiring managers don’t use a cover letter only to evaluate how skilled and qualified a job applicant you are, but they also use it to judge your communication skills. While writing the cover letter, make sure you communicate in a way that is both unique and impressive. After you have finished writing the cover letter for a specific job position, give it a recheck at least a couple of times so that it’s free from any kind of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, typos etc.

We’ve highlighted the Dos, it’s now time we learnt about the Don’ts.

Don’t Make it Too Long: Don’t write a cover letter that is longer than one page. Three or four paragraphs (300-400 words) are enough to create a cover letter which immediately attracts the attention of the employer or the hiring manager. Longer cover letters turn off most employers.

Don’t Boast: No matter how much qualified or skilled you are, don’t make it look like you are arrogant. Instead, focus on the key accomplishments and tell the story behind them as briefly as you can.

Don’t Use Cliches: Too-obvious cliches make your cover letter look like a general one and that’s what most job applicants do. Avoid them at all cost.

Don’t Make False Claims: If you don’t have the skills the employer is looking for, it’s probably the wrong job for you. Don’t make false claims or pretend you have the required skills. The truth will come out sooner or later.

Don’t Be Negative: Your past job experiences may have been bad. But you should never talk negatively or sound negative in your cover letter. Employers want to hire candidates with a strong positive mindset.

What is your cover letter like? Take a closer look at your cover letter in the light of these dos and don’ts. If you think you lack the skills for writing an effective cover letter, hire an expert to do the job for you. There are multiple online service providers as well that you can use for cover letter writing. Always remember that a cover letter is a powerful tool which you can use to gain an extra edge over the competition and land a job interview before it’s too late.

Source: http://colouredscribes.com/dos-dont-cover-letter-writing

I usually didn't put much thought to what my cover letter looked like until recently when I learnt of the potential a good and well written cover letter held.

J

Nice op... but jobs for naija na connections...

Persin we go get job go get am. All these cover letter, back letter etc don tire me

Good effort


This article with a Cover Letter Template would also be of immense help:
www..com/how-write-exceptional-cover-letter/

CV Sample: A Guide
www..com/cv-samples/
.

Ok ooo

thanks

Na so

So you find names of HR manager each time a job showa up. The truth is if u aint smart, u aint..

All these dos and donts would have been better appreciated if samples of cover letters were attached. After telling us, show us.

the search for a job is becoming tedious and nauseating.... do this do that nawa ooo

Op. Boasting is what gives you the job.

Nice try but some of your analysis are wrong.

A lot of HR personnels don't read cover letters.

#whatTypeOfThisIsThis?

Kk

T

nice write up op, but a sample of a well written cover letter would be highly appreciated. Thanks

ukandi1:
All these dos and donts would have been better appreciated if samples of cover letters were attached. After telling us, show us.

Guy, u dey my mind!
Op must show us @ least 1 sample o
...if not we go assume say na d usual copy-&-paste we see daily on NL.

JAHseal:


Guy, u dey my mind!
Op must show us @ least 1 sample o
...if not we go assume say na d usual copy-&-paste we see daily on NL.

Supported

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IAMMUIC:
A cover letter is an important piece of job search document which you can use to impress an employer or a hiring manager before the interviewing process begins.

Very often, the way your cover letter is written could mean the difference between landing an interview and losing it. Therefore, you should always take cover letter writing very seriously and use it to stand out from the pack.

Given below are some of the top dos and don’ts that you should follow for writing a cover letter which sets you up for success.

Cover Letter Dos

Do Personalize Your Letter: Find out the name of the HR manager or the interviewer and address them by name in your cover letter. Write a new cover letter for each job that you want to apply for.

Do Mention the Job Position: Which job position are you interested in? Mention it in your cover letter and focus your writing around that specific job position. If the advertised job position has a code or a reference number, include it as well to remove any kind of confusion on the hiring manager’s part.

Do Make it Succinct: A cover letter has to be short and sweet. Make sure you use a simple language and tone and include only the real stuff.

Do Focus on the Audience: For each advertised job position, there are some specific skills that the employer is looking for. Find out what those key skills are and write your cover letter around the same. In short, put yourself in the hiring manager’s or the employer’s shoes while writing.

Do Proofread: Hiring managers don’t use a cover letter only to evaluate how skilled and qualified a job applicant you are, but they also use it to judge your communication skills. While writing the cover letter, make sure you communicate in a way that is both unique and impressive. After you have finished writing the cover letter for a specific job position, give it a recheck at least a couple of times so that it’s free from any kind of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, typos etc.

We’ve highlighted the Dos, it’s now time we learnt about the Don’ts.

Don’t Make it Too Long: Don’t write a cover letter that is longer than one page. Three or four paragraphs (300-400 words) are enough to create a cover letter which immediately attracts the attention of the employer or the hiring manager. Longer cover letters turn off most employers.

Don’t Boast: No matter how much qualified or skilled you are, don’t make it look like you are arrogant. Instead, focus on the key accomplishments and tell the story behind them as briefly as you can.

Don’t Use Cliches: Too-obvious cliches make your cover letter look like a general one and that’s what most job applicants do. Avoid them at all cost.

Don’t Make False Claims: If you don’t have the skills the employer is looking for, it’s probably the wrong job for you. Don’t make false claims or pretend you have the required skills. The truth will come out sooner or later.

Don’t Be Negative: Your past job experiences may have been bad. But you should never talk negatively or sound negative in your cover letter. Employers want to hire candidates with a strong positive mindset.

What is your cover letter like? Take a closer look at your cover letter in the light of these dos and don’ts. If you think you lack the skills for writing an effective cover letter, hire an expert to do the job for you. There are multiple online service providers as well that you can use for cover letter writing. Always remember that a cover letter is a powerful tool which you can use to gain an extra edge over the competition and land a job interview before it’s too late.

can u pls attach any sample cover letter here

you all asking for cover letter... is Google on break

Please friends, what is the difference between cover letter and CV? I need to be enlightened.

Speedyconnect8:
Persin we go get job go get am. All these cover letter, back letter etc don tire me

Hahahaha , I feel you. But we good to do ones best sha.

Hmmm I have seen people with a more horrible CV format get jobs so all these cover letter, best cv format bla bla bla is only applicable to those who doesn't have any back-up. This is Naija and we have to face the reality.

Wow !!! Truly very rich in content... Many Thanks.

Me no go tire to dey learn, sample of a good cover leter pls

Jasiro:
Please friends, what is the difference between cover letter and CV? I need to be enlightened.

CL: A cover letter is usually a short essay (letter) that accompanies your CV. It's normally about half a page and that half a page can make or break your chances of getting the job. It's a pain in the ass and no one ever really knows what to put in those few paragraphs and chances are, you're going to screw it up.

CV: is a list of your qualifications, achievements, skills etc that you give to a prospective employer.

bamiDee1:


CL: A cover letter is usually a short essay (letter) that accompanies your CV. It's normally about half a page and that half a page can make or break your chances of getting the job. It's a pain in the ass and no one ever really knows what to put in those few paragraphs and chances are, you're going to screw it up.

CV: is a list of your qualifications, achievements, skills etc that you give to a prospective employer.

Thanks a lot...