Are you one of those people who see a job advertisement for which you have the necessary qualifications and put pen to paper without fully reading the entire job notice?
Within that job advertisement lies the key to how you should structure your cover letter. As someone who have been in the position of hiring and going through letters of application, I would be lying if I said I read every word of any application. I scan each application and look for the required qualifications. If a person does not have the required qualifications the application goes in one particular pile.
After I find all those that have the required qualifications, I then look among those for the applicants with the essential skills and those go into a separate pile.
After that I look among this second group for those who have the most desirable attributes, those who have outlined some concrete tasks they have undertaken, how involved they are in community work, hobbies and other softer attributes the job notice suggested. I make my short list from there.
If a person who has a PhD is arrogant enough to just list his qualifications and academic achievements and just skirt over his or her experience and other qualities, he may miss the opportunity to be interviewed.
Here is a sample job notice:
"The successful candidate must have several years experience in mediation. Experience in interpreting and applying legislation is essential. Proven organization, interpersonal and computer skills are required.
Excellent public speaking skill is essential. Experience in writing analytical documents and reports is desirable".
For a job application with the above information you must address every skill they need. The must have may not be as important as those essential and required but you must include whatever experience you have in this area required. Perhaps you have two years - those two years might work in combination with your other skills.
Writing a cover letter is an art and a skill but it is not difficult if you spend the time responding to the needs of the potential employer.
If you follow the above advice you will be sure to get at least your foot in the door for an interview. Next Will look at preparing for the interview.
