TAGS: Perth, Australia Resume or CV | Job application cover letters | How to write a cover letter | Custom cover letters
Resumes or CVs and
Cover Letters:
Tips and Tricks
Your Resume or CV and cover letter is your chance to prove to a prospective Perth employer that you are the best
person for the job. As a marketing tool they have one job. The cover letter needs to introduce
you as a candidate and how you meet the key selection criteria, while your Resume or CV builds on that information.
Your cover letter should draw the employer into reading your Resume or CV and thus invite you to attend an interview.
The importance of a cover letter in the Perth job market
The contents of your cover letter should be so compelling that the hiring organisation will want to read your Resume or CV. Your cover letter and Resume or CV are a pitch to a Perth employer to place you on the short-list.
Contents of a cover letter for Perth jobs
First and foremost - The cover letter is a business document and should be written and presented professionally.
What impression do you think a cover letter that says little or nothing will make on your application? You are absolutely right, little or nothing. Will they want to read your Resume? Probably not. So if that is the case you cannot rely on them reading your Perth Resume or CV, your cover letter needs to be so compelling they have to read your Resume.
It could be argued that the cover letter doesn't need to say very much other than who you are and what job you are applying for, after all they have your Perth Resume or CV to read through which does say it all, the question is - what happens if the person who is reading the cover letters has hundreds of applications to go through? What happens if all they have time to do is read your cover letter, and maybe skim read your Resume? Do you think you will make it to the interview if you haven't sent a convincing pitch in your cover letter?
Cover letters and Applicant Tracking Software
With hundreds of applicants for many jobs in today's Perth market, in most cases a person is unlikely to read any part of your application until is has been put through applicant tracking software (ATS). This software is designed for one reason - to weed out those people who have not addressed the selection criteria in their Perth Resume or CV and cover letters. Only if you get through this stage will your application be read by a real person.
Each and every word that you put on your job application should be working for you. It should be saying, 'I am the best candidate there is, you need to meet me so that we can discuss the position in detail and so I can prove that I am the best person for the job'.
Each cover letter you send with your Resume or CV should be customised for the role you are applying for. Especially in today's tough Perth job market.
The Tips and Tricks of writing a good Perth cover letter
- You must put your contact details on all your correspondence. That includes your Resume or CV, cover letter and the statement addressing the selection criteria if you have to send it. If you don’t, how on earth do you think the organisation is going to contact you?
Perth Cover Letters and contact details
- Add a telephone number to your Perth cover letter and Resume or CV. However, giving them the switchboard number of your current employer (if you have one) is not going to go down very well with either party. If you have to use that number because you cannot be reached in any other way, then advise your prospective employer on the letter.
- Add your email address to your Perth cover letter, BUT - make sure it is a “professional” one. How would you react if you received a job application from a recipient whose email address was elvisthechicken2003@, or Surfzup@ or anything else that could be deemed to be inappropriate or indicated that you would rather be elsewhere! It may also harm your chances of employment if you use your current employers email address and telephone contact details – as this does not indicate any level of loyalty to your current employer. The ONLY time this is acceptable is if you are applying for a promotion or your own job should that ever happen to you.
- If you do not have a personal email address to add into your cover letter, Gmail (and others) offer a free email service; all they require is that you have access to the Internet. When creating your email address, avoid using nicknames, pet names, or hobbies, as this really does not show you in the best light. A simple but effective email address is firstname.surname@
- If you have a hotmail address you might want to get a Gmail account. Hotmail is notorious for hitting the SPAM filters. If you send an application through to a hiring organisation and you are using a hotmail account - telephone the organisation to make sure they received your application as it will most likely be sitting in their SPAM folder.
- The cover letter must be dated.
Who to address your Perth Cover letter to
- Where possible, the Perth cover letter must be addressed to a person. If no name is given in the application - use Dear Hiring Manager instead of Dear Sir or Madam.
- You should always state which job you are applying for in the cover letter, and the job number if there is one. This is vital as the organisation rarely has just a single position on offer. If you are sending out a mass-market Perth cover letter it is important that you tell the organisation that you are available for work. For example. "I read in XYZ paper that your organisation is undergoing an increase in operations and I would be interested in discussing any opportunities you might have available."
- In the next paragraph of your Perth cover letter you should summarise the skills and attributes you possess, and most importantly, use those that are emphasised in the advertisement and/or selection criteria / application package. The way you meet the key selection criteria should also be highlighted in your Resume or CV.
- Follow this, in your Perth cover letter, with a little bit of flattery. Even if you are sending out a mass cover letter mailing, you should always tailor the Perth cover letter to the organisation that is hiring in Perth. For example use the organisation’s reputation, sales record, size, corporate culture or any other interesting fact that tells the organisation that you have cared enough to research the organisation a little.
- Make sure the Perth cover letter is the right length. If it says no more than 2 pages... they mean it, so don't waffle.
- Finally, before you sign off your Perth cover letter, you should ask for a meeting (in a nice way of course). If you are only contactable during certain hours, or you are working away on FIFO for example, it may be prudent to say that you will contact them, and when you are going to do so, or give them alternative contact details so that when they do call to ask you to attend an interview they are not left talking to your voicemail, or even worse not being able to leave a message at all.
- If you are printing out your Perth cover letter and Resume or CV, it is advisable to use standard size white paper and black ink. Please ensure that the font and font size is the same as the font and size that you have used for the rest of your application. This point may seem trivial, but it makes your application easier to read. Also note that 'designed' (especially coloured) Resumes may not be printed in colour so be mindful of the colur scheme you choose.
- Always save the Cover letter and Resume documents in the format required by the organisation. If in doubt save and upload as PDF as organisations who use the Apple products cannot read word docs unless they convert them - and they are unlikely to do that.
Perth cover letters and emails / e-notes
If you have been asked to email your Resume or CV, you may not need a cover letter as well. So - check the instructions. An e-note is often asked for.
If you have been asked to email your Resume or CV to a prospective employer in Perth, you should treat the body of the email in the same way as you would for the cover letter. Be professional, be polite and lay the body of the email out in the same way.
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TAGS: Perth, Australia Resume or CV | Job application Perth cover letters Bunbury | How to write a Perth cover letter Perth | Custom cover letters Rockingham
