What Hiring Managers Look for in Cover Letters

Landing your dream job is no easy feat. In fact, looking for a full-time job is a full-time job in and of itself. If you’re job searching, you may be spending every day writing and editing cover letters and resumes to send out to potential employers. Here are some things that hiring managers look for in cover letters:

Be Creative 
No hiring manager wants to look at boilerplate language. It’s very obvious when you use the same cover letter for different businesses and just replace the name. Although it does take much longer, be sure that you’re writing an original cover letter for each potential place of business you apply to.

Do Show Your Research
This sort of goes in hand-in-hand with not using the same cover letter over and over, but hiring managers are also looking in your writing to see if you did your research about the company. Do you mimic the kind of style and language the company has on their website? They’ll notice that. You’re essentially selling yourself and your skills to the company. Therefore, hiring managers are looking for details that show you would be a good fit for the job position, according to Business Insider.

Overall, don’t just talk about your personal life. Try to keep the content to only points that relate to the position you’re applying for. You don’t need to highlight all of your internship experience if it doesn’t relate. Choose carefully.

No Errors
This goes without saying, but hiring managers are looking for people with good grammar and writing skills. Do not forget to proofread your cover letter before sending it. Spell check doesn’t get everything! If you want to be taken seriously, you have to keep it professional without any errors. Most hiring managers who notice errors in the writing immediately toss out the application. Proofing is crucial to landing your dream job.

Don’t Repeat
A hiring manager isn’t looking for you to repeat what’s exactly in your resume in your cover letter. These two are supposed to be separate. Instead, tell a story about a time you used the skills you learned at a job in real life. Managers love anecdotes because they show that you apply what you’ve learned in real life situations. Plus, it will make your application stand out in a pile.

Keep It Short
Hiring managers have to make it through a lot of documents. If your cover letter is more than a page long, they may not even take the time to read it. Keep it short, succinct and easy to focus on. Your job is not to get them to love you; it’s to convince them to bring you in for an interview. There’s a difference.

Add Something Extra
If you want the hiring manager to remember you, add a little something extra to your cover letter by using professional personalized stationary or including a business card. If you put your name out there on a separate sheet of paper, your application will be more memorable.

Address It Correctly
The key to wooing a hiring manager goes further than just what’s in the cover letter. Do your research before writing it, and make sure you’re addressing an actual person – not just the company. It may take a little extra work to find the manager’s first and last name, but it’s essential. It will show that you went above and beyond and didn’t rush through the process. Your efforts will not go unnoticed.