Strategy 1: Open With a Quote<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.\u201d \u2014 Earl Warren<\/p>\n
As a public defender, my job is to keep justice alive, and I do this by relentlessly pursuing avenues to ensure that this is carried through for the people that I represent.<\/p>\n
According to Rasmussen, this opening works really well because \u201cit specifically addresses the underlying motivators that encompass both law [the candidate\u2019s chosen industry] and the driving force for justice, which fits right along the lines of what a public defender does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nStrategy 2: Pique a Hiring Manager\u2019s Curiosity<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
I knew that I was destined for greatness when I was slimed on Nickelodeon. Nothing like being covered in green goo to help you realize your potential. \u201cHow does this apply to the open internship at Airbnb?\u201d you may be wondering. Because I am collaborative, creative and tenacious enough to get a bunch of smelly slime dumped on me and still keep smiling.<\/p>\n
Lindsay Mustain, Talent Paradigm\u2018s vice president of business development and job coach, says that starting a letter in a way that piques curiosity is \u201cconsidered a pattern interrupt. It\u2019s silly and interesting.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s enough for someone to stop and get a little bit of attention and keep your audience interested in your story. Make sure it\u2019s something interesting to read.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nStrategy 3: Show You Pay Attention to Company News<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
According to a recent article in the Portland Business Journal, \u201cABC Corporation just signed a new lease on a 100,000-square-foot office park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because [your company] is making the news with such a large new office space addition, growth is in your immediate future.<\/p>\n
It is clear that your company is adding headcount, so having a sales team that can scale revenues accordingly is critical to your continued success. And that\u2019s where I come in.<\/p>\n
Accelerating revenues is a hallmark of my career, and since my background is in the same sector, I see a great deal of opportunity to help expand your company\u2019s footprint in the marketplace and enhance the bottom line with new sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolding a mirror back up to the employer so they can see themselves in the news is a great attention-getter,\u201d said Rasmussen. \u201cBut it also shows critical thinking skills \u2014 tying together that a new lease means more people and more money needed to keep operations afloat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nStrategy 4: Tell a Story<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
When Flight 1549 touched down into the cold, dark waters of the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, as a passenger, I thought my life was over.<\/p>\n
Seeing the professionalism and calmness of the entire flight crew was something to which I immediately connected. I had thought about becoming a flight attendant in the past, but something clicked in that moment \u2014 and I realized that my desire to serve in this capacity was actually being born in that moment.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a \u201cwow factor\u201d when you tell a story in the opening of your cover letter, Rasmussen said. \u201cIt grabs your attention, and makes you think, \u2018Here\u2019s someone who had something major happen to them. I should read on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It also shows off your personality, too.<\/p>\n
\nStrategy 5: Show Your Passion<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
When I heard Elon Musk\u2019s quote, \u201cwhen something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor,\u201d I knew I needed to tell you about the passion I have around the vision that Tesla has for infinitely scalable clean energy.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been dreaming of a career with Tesla since I was in college and the Tesla Roadster became available.<\/p>\n
Fact: businesses want to hire people who are passionate about their industry and company. So, show that passion, Mustain said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know the business, you know the founder, you know the mission,\u201d she says. \u201cYou are a raving fan and educated about the company. You start with why you believe in them,\u201d and then take the letter from there.<\/p>\n
\nStrategy 6: Write Unconventionally<\/strong><\/p>\nDear [Hiring Manager],<\/p>\n
Congratulations! You have just reached the last r\u00e9sum\u00e9 you\u2019ll need to read to fill the open operations manager position.<\/p>\n
So relax, put your feet up and read on to find out how I can help your company reach its productivity, cost management and efficiency goals.<\/p>\n
This cover letter opener is gutsy, but that\u2019s the point, Rasmussen said. \u201cThe candidate is literally going directly to the key pain points of what the employer needs,\u201d she points out, \u201cbut in an upbeat way without being too snarky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRead: 15 questions you should be prepared to answer at your next job interview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glassdoor provides six cover letter strategies you can use \u2014 plus examples you can emulate \u2014 along with the reasons why they work so well, so that you can get to writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":222651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[7186,26],"class_list":["post-241485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-glassdoor","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241485"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241491,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241485\/revisions\/241491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}