The business cover letter is the hiring manager’s first impression of who you are as an employee. It can easily be the difference between whether or not you are considered for an interview or not. It also gives you the opportunity to discuss your hard skills, soft skills and work experience to further convince the hiring manager to consider you as the best fit for the job.
Stella Smith
678 Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 12345
stella.smith@example.com
(210) 681-0124
Joanna Montgomery
Example Firm
975 Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 12345
joannam@example.com
(210) 135-7911
Dear Ms. Montgomery,
Having successfully advanced to a challenging position as an Administrative Assistant for Unreal Company within the first two years of being employed there, I am excited to expand that success to fill your Office Manager position.
My career began with my role as an Administrative Intern for Sample Firm, which allowed me to master the organizational skills that are crucial for the job. In my current Administrative Assistant role, I had the opportunity to develop and broaden the skills necessary to succeed in the Office Manager position.
Examples of my relevant experience include project management, scheduling meetings and inventory management. I supported the completion of the Example Management merger by transcribing meeting minutes and recording notes to relay to senior staff. I am also relied on for my excellent communication skills and teamwork building.
I am confident that I would be an excellent match for your team. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time and consideration.
My attached resume outlines my in-depth experience and professional development within the Administration field. If you give me a chance in an interview and hire me as your new Office Manager, then you will not be disappointed.
Sincerely,
Stella Smith
The professional experience that you list in your cover letter will pertain more to business-related ventures, but otherwise, it should follow the same format as any other cover letter.
The header is pretty easy to format. All you need is to include the following contact information:
You also need to include the hiring manager’s information as well:
This opening paragraph is key to earning the hiring manager’s attention. A good cover letter will introduce who you are and list your most relevant skills within this introduction. You should also always address the hiring manager directly to create a more personal connection with them.
In this paragraph, you should list your skills, work history, and other achievements. These can all show a hiring manager that you are the best fit for a specific job.
You can also pick out keywords and phrases to use in your cover letter from the job description itself. Not only can this help you sound like the best candidate for the job, but it can also get your letter past an applicant tracking system (ATS). Oftentimes, job applications are run through these systems to select the most relevant skills within each application for the job. Those that score the highest will typically have their applications placed in front of an actual hiring manager.
You may also want to list any relevant certifications you hold. For instance, healthcare professionals will often require their office staff to be familiar with specific medical procedures, tests, and other terminology to explain them to the average patient. Holding medical certifications can therefore act as shorthand for those qualifications.
Recruiters don’t just want to know what you’re good at. They also want to know how you can apply your specific skill set and experience to the job. Typically, a brief work-related anecdote filled with specific metrics can prove your qualifications.
For instance, if you currently work as an administrative assistant, you can state that your office management skills boosted productivity around the office by 30%.
Finally, you will want to use the last paragraph to say thank you for consideration and provide a call-to-action statement requesting that the hiring manager or recruiter reach out to you for an interview.
Yes, you should write a cover letter for every job position you apply to. Even if the description lists this letter as optional, writing a good cover letter can help you stand out from the other candidates. Unless a job posting specifically states not to, then you should always aim to submit a personalized cover letter along with your resume and job application.
Typically, cover letters should be no longer than 3/4 of a page. You should aim to be as succinct as possible but still present your best work related qualifications. If you have years of experience in a specific field and need more room to describe your accomplishments, you can extend the cover letter to as long as one page.
If you’re struggling to write the perfect cover letter, then try using a cover letter builder tool. These tools have plenty of cover letter templates, cover letter samples and cover letter tips to help you craft a great cover letter in minutes.
