Cover Letter Editing Tips: Make Your Cover Letter Shine
Accompanying a well-written, ATS-optimized resume should be a short yet concise covering letter that highlights your personality fit for the role. Although some employers tend to see cover letters as a thing from the past, the vast majority still expect to receive one along with your resume. So, when making a professional resume, be sure to pay enough attention to your cover letter as well to increase your chances for an interview.
One-size-fits-all covering letters don’t work any longer; neither do the formal ones that add up anything to your resume. What kind of cover letters works best for securing you an interview, which popular mistakes should be avoided and how to approach the editing process to ensure the perfect stylistic and grammar – read below.
Why hire a cover letter editor?
If you have managed to create a cover letter which is absorbing from the first lines, it doesn’t mean that the job is done. Following the writing should be the editing of your application to remove all mistakes in grammar, punctuation and style. And it’s strongly recommended that you have the second pair of eyes to review that cover letter before submission. An editor by trade is likely to spot and correct the errors you haven’t though of as well as the mistakes you never knew existed, shaping your great writing for perfection.
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Does writing a cool cover letter seem a bit stressful? In this case, we’re here to help. Our staff resume writer will gladly create a competitive, eye-catching covering letter to support your career aspirations. We respect deadlines and value perfection in writing – our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you will get the best quality for your money. By the way, you can get help making a resume as well.
How to create a high-impact cover letter? Here’s the answer
A great cover letter serves as an addition to your resume and adds more personality to your application as you share what motivates you, explain the interest in a particular employer or address their pain points. In this way, a cover letter can highlight your cultural fit and personality type – the traits which are valued by hiring managers even higher than the set of relevant skills. For those writing a cover letter from scratch we have prepared a short guide to making it effective:
Step 1. The writing process
- Tell a story
There are multiple approaches and tactics to writing a cover letter; however, one of the most effective ways to make yours read is to tell a story. Covering letters that use a storytelling approach are rare, so they immediately stand out from the pile of generic, standard ones.
What kind of story will be of interest for the hiring manager? Well, it can be an explanation behind what pushed you to choose this line of career. You can also expand on your connection with the company’s good or services that motivated you to seek an employment with them. It’s also a good idea to outline how company’s success is aligned with your long-term career goals.
When shaping your story, don’t forget that the cover letter is not an essay - you still have to be concise and follow the rules of business writing. Here you can get some inspiration and storytelling advice: https://resumeperk.com/blog/how-to-start-your-first-novel-15-winning-tips. - Be genuine
If creativity isn’t your cup of tea, simply be genuine. Don’t flatter and don’t lie about your excitement to work with the company if in reality it isn’t so – your praise will look fake, and it won’t help you to win an interview. Being genuine in your writing also means that you will likely have to write a new cover letter for each job opening (or at least to customize it).
Do you have a thing for creative writing? Great. Just keep in mind that creativity in cover letters works best in creative industries (such as design, marketing, media, etc.). Sending an ironic and creative cover letter for an auditor role can be misinterpreted. Being genuine yet following the industry rules is also one of the dos of modern resume. - Focus on the future, not the past
Your resume is all about what you have accomplished professionally so far. Given this, your cover letter shouldn’t be focused on the past as well – not only such letters are uninteresting to read, but also paraphrasing a resume is the waste of cover letter space.
Instead, focus on your career goals and preferred areas of growth. Highlight the skills you are currently developing and show what motivates you to continue your career this way. Tie your cover letter with a job description closely and showcase that you’ll be able to fulfill roles and tasks mentioned in the job posting. A cover letter exuding confidence about your professional future looks more attractive than those stuck in the past. - Take advantage of figures
You are probably aware that figures and percentages work magic on your resume. Figures highlight your orientation on result, prove your professionalism and guide the hiring manager’s attention as they read. Why not use the same trick on your covering letter?
You don’t need to repeat all the stats from your resume – choose 2-3 the most impressive and relevant accomplishments supported by figures. By showing you performed well in the past, you allow the prospective employer to anticipate your future successes if they hire you (because it’s how the behavioral approach works).
Lack measurable accomplishments? Read more about personal development in the workplace: https://resumeperk.com/blog/importance-of-personal-development-in-the-workplace. - Address their pain points
Typically, if the company has posted a job, they have a problem that hiring you should solve. They are looking to hire someone who is not the most experienced or knowledgeable, but rather excels at performing the range of tasks their business will benefit from.
For instance, the company is a new business looking to expand the client base. If they are looking to hire a sales manager, they’re in need of someone who can acquire clients and generate new leads. And here’s what you can do in a cover letter: highlight the successful examples of attracting new clients and turning them into regular ones. Learn as much about the company to identify their pain points: browse their website, media articles, and more. If you anticipate the pain point right, the hiring manager will see you as the perfect fit for the role at a glance.
Step 2. Editing and proofreading
- Take a break after the writing
Don’t edit your cover letter right after you’ve finished writing. As the writing process is involving, if you go straight to editing you’ll likely to omit most of the mistakes. Taking at least few hours to unwind, relax or get busy with something else will help you to look at the document with a fresh eye. - Use a spell checker – but don’t rely solely on it
The spell checking software is a helpful tool, and you should definitely run your letter through the automated check. However, remember that the spell checker cannot spot all possible mistakes. When it comes to writing proper names and addresses, if you misspell them, the spell checker won’t highlight it as a mistake. If you confuse between than and then, although it’s not a grammar mistake, it will change the meaning of the entire sentence. So, always use a spell checker to clean up the most obvious mistakes, but get a human proofreader cover letter as well. - Print it out on paper
It’s a well-known fact that we comprehend the information on paper and on the computer screen differently. When reading a physical paper copy, we get more focused and actually read into each word rather than skim the sentences through as we read from the desktop or mobile screen. The difference between reading approaches can help your editing process a lot.
Print your covering letter out and grab a pen to correct the mistakes as you read. Probably, you will also want to make corrections to the content. - Read it aloud
Another popular editorial trick is reading the text aloud. Yes, you should actually do it, and the result will probably surprise you. You might find out that the phrases that looked strong on paper sound confusing, or the articles are missing, or the long sentence should be broken into two shorter ones. Try reading it in front of a friend or family members – maybe, they’ll also give you a few suggestions about what should be improved. - Perform a facts check
Since cover letter is a business letter, you need to make sure that the factual information is correct. A missed article won’t do you a lot of harm; but a misspelled phone number can actually prevent you from receiving an interview call.
Check the names, address, phone number for several times to ensure the correct spelling (remember that online checker won’t point you out at these mistakes). Also, you need to make sure that the information is actual – maybe, you’ve just moved to a new city and pasted an old home address out of habit. Make sure that the organization names you work for remained the same, and the figures are accurate – otherwise, you can come across as a liar.
Hire a cover letter editor to make your application flawless
Getting an editorial professional to review your cover letter is always helpful; however, it’s even more beneficial if you hire a resume writer to do the editing. For instance, the editing service provided by our company includes not only correction of grammar, punctuation and style, but also the improvement of the letter structure, and adding/removing the small excerpts of text if necessary. Our editor will take care of the quality of your application, so you’ll have more time to prepare for the upcoming interviews with these questions to end the interview.
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