Life Puzzle Blog

When searching for a new job, most people are generally at the end of their tether with their current one.

"My boss is driving me crazy", "I'm not appreciated/recognised in my job", "I asked for more money and they said no"...sound familiar? As a Success and Performance Coach, I've observed many clients shoot out dozens of CV's to any position that looks slightly better than the one they are in, simply because of their ‘emotional reaction’ to their current position. Most of the time, due to the urgency, they neglect two of the most important parts of the application process: Research and the Cover Letter.


In the current market, Dean Salomone, Director at Franchise Careers explains "you need to do your homework about the organisation, culture, growth and marketplace perception if you want to make an impression". Dean also cautions “If you adopt a scattergun approach to finding employment, you will more than likely end up with a similar result.” Dean says, “I look for a candidate who can clearly articulate what major achievements have been realised whilst undertaking their previous roles”.
As a result of receiving hundreds of applications for jobs, Recruiters and HR Managers often need to see something a little different to make them remember you. On average, a maximum of 1-3 mins is spent reading a Cover Letter and only about 5-7 mins to shortlist applicant resumes. Portraying your personality and smarts in your application is important as Dean says, “if you can’t stand out from the crowd from the outset, don’t expect to afterwards”.


If you do your homework and write a knock out cover letter that clearly matches your skills with the ones the employer/recruiter is seeking, you will be in a much better position to get a call back for an interview. Dean advises that a great cover letter “should state clearly the reasons why you are applying for a specific role and you shouldn’t use a generic cover letter”.

So, in order to write a knock out cover letter that will increase the likelihood of a call back you should follow these 5 easy steps:

1. Prepare & Search: Once you have updated and perfected your CV, search for jobs that you are interested in. As best you can, find roles that are seeking the skills and attitude that you already posses. (Make sure that the job/industry is something you are passionate about, as your passion will help your impression at the interview)

2. Identify what they want: When you locate a job that you like, read through the ad carefully and highlight key words that relate directly to your attitude, your skills set and your past experience. Do some research on the company, as this will assist you when personalising your cover letter.

3. Match what they want with YOU: Come back to the words that you have highlighted in the job ad. Reflect on past roles where you might have demonstrated that experience. (Note: you do not necessarily need to have held that job title previously to have demonstrated the skills they are seeking) Start to create small paragraphs outlining these examples and where possible use the keywords that you found in the job ad.

4. Personalise and write your Letter: Don’t use a generic letter. Writing a personalised cover letter for each application can take some time (it will all be worth it when you’re in your perfect new job) however this will demonstrate that you have done your homework and research.

   When writing your cover letter, keep it to 1-2 pages maximum, ideally you would have 3 or 4 paragraphs with a few sentences in each.

   Be specific: Make sure that you outline a few of the following things in your letter:

   (a) what do you know about the company/why do you think you would be a valuable asset?

   (b) what strengths you have demonstrated in the past that would be relevant to them

   (c) what other achievements/affiliations do you have that would support your application i.e. community involvement, sporting groups, local chamber of commerce etc.

   (d) what are some of your character traits (make sure that you are honest here)

   (e) if you don’t have experience in this area why should they consider you?

5. Proof, Edit & Send! There is nothing worse than a brilliant letter with spelling mistakes! Now that you have spent the time and effort to write a great letter, make sure that you spend that extra few minutes to check the grammar and spelling. First impressions can be everything, so you might even ask someone else to read it before you send it, just to be sure you didn’t miss anything.

Stay positive and happy job hunting!

www.franchisecareers.com.au  
Franchise Careers is a specialist Recruitment Agency working with Franchisor and Licensor organisations throughout Australia in helping source Operational and Development Personnel. Other core Services of Franchise Careers are Public Relations, Learning and Development Solutions and Franchise Consulting.

Dean Salomone, Director of Franchise Careers is also the President of the Victorian/Tasmania Chapter of the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) www.franchise.org.au  

www.lifepuzzle.com.au  
Life Puzzle is dedicated to empowering people to ‘bulldoze’ through the barriers that keep them from getting what they want. For further assistance, contact us info@lifepuzzle.com.au

Chandell Labbozzetta is a Master Practitioner/Coach of NLP, Hypnosis & Time Line Therapy™ to find out more about how Chandell can help you get results go to www.lifepuzzle.com.au