What’s your Hook?

Employers can see hundreds of applications for any one position they have posted on their website. Therefore, it’s critical and essential to stand out from the crowd by ensuring that you’re using a cover letter targeted towards the specific needs of the employer to increase the chances of being called for an interview.

If you choose to use a cover letter that is solely focused on you, you’re providing a history lesson to the employer. This could be problematic if your history isn’t relevant to the position, which may not engage an employer enough to want to call you for an interview.

This doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have the right skills to fulfill the needs of the posting for the employer, but it can result in people not seeing your value. Follow these tips to help showcase your value:

• First paragraph: clearly identify the job title that you’re applying for and why this company interests you. Connecting yourself to the values, missions, or history of the company will begin to build a sense of relevance and connection that should help you get noticed.

• Second paragraph: this is where you can look at your past experiences or training to highlight skills that would be relevant to their needs.

• Closing: provide a polite thank you for their time to read over the application and your excitement for them to connect back with you soon!

Being specific to the types of keywords or skills in a job posting will not only help increase your suitability scores against Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) scanners used by employers, it will also help convey your unique perspective of what you can offer.