General covering letter tips
Your covering letters are really important and a very critical tool in assisting in getting you “noticed” by the recruiter. Writing a good covering letter is as important as writing your CV. Your covering letter is an important way to show your personality, whereas your CV generally is more factual, so do make sure that your wording reflects you as a person and your personality as opposed to just your skills and experience.
You need your covering letter to be a targeted covering letter if you are applying for a specific job. As the name implies, a targeted covering letter speaks directly to the job you are interested in, using words and phrases that match the job description. Thus, no two covering letters should ever be exactly the same.
It can be painful to have to tweak your covering letter for every new job application, but as each job is unique, so to a covering letter needs to be 100% targeted to that job. You don't have to rewrite your entire covering letter every time - have a basic template and just rearrange and restructure it to fit the specific details of the job opportunity.
Covering letter templates
You can easily find numerous covering letter templates on the internet. As a summary, ensure that your covering letter includes the following:
Short intro para referencing the job which you are applying for and stating your strong interest
Personal career summary highlighting your key skills, expertise and experience. You are “selling yourself” and covering key attributes which should match some of the “sought” skills in the job advertisement
Specific skills as they relate to the position you are applying for – these could be strong, sharp and bullet pointed
“Call to action” final positive para leading to the recruiter inviting you for an interview
In summary…
Make sure it is clear that you have read the job description/advertisement carefully and understand exactly what the employer is seeking with the position
Be positive and confident about your abilities relating to the position
Don’t “copy and paste” large chunks of copy from your CV
Keep the covering letter concise and to the point, not more than one page, ideally less
Try to engage with the recruiter/person reading the covering letter so that she/he will be looking forward to reading your CV
Some specific covering letter tips for older job seekers
Many of the tips for writing a CV apply for a covering letter, so please read the CV section as well as the tips below as we didn’t want to repeat ourselves unnecessarily!
Don't summarise your entire CV. A good covering letter doesn't read like an autobiography or a shortened version of your CV. For older candidates, it is important to veer away from a sequential recounting of your employment, and instead focus on experience relevant to the job at hand.
Focus on flexibility. Mention your flexibility, adaptability, and willingness to learn in your covering letter. It will clearly show you as young and eager, even if you aren't so young in years. Similarly, highlight any knowledge of current technology that you have since this is often a big concern for recruiters.
Be careful about salary expectations. If the job posting requests your salary expectations, note that you are flexible. That way employers won't think of you as being overqualified and/or overpriced.
Not old-fashioned. It's essential that your covering letter does not look old-fashioned. Watch for dated language, too. Your word choices can potentially make you seem older or younger than your actual age. Favour short, snappy sentences over longer, more complex syntax. Consider having a younger professional, preferably in your industry, read through your covering letter to make sure your phrasing doesn't date you.