What makes the cover letter so important for your job application, besides the CV? so important? 400 applications for an advertised position and 20 seconds for the hiring manager's first decision. From this often results in the decision: Rejection or invitation to an interview. This is often how job applications are how job applications are often handled in companies.
Did Did you know how little time a human resources manager has, especially in large large companies have to sift through job applications? Let's stay with our example. Imagine the position of a secretary of a secretary is to be filled. In a very short time several hundred applications for this job arrive. Each application consists of at least a CV and a letter of application including attachments. But there are only one or maybe two employees, who have to look through all these documents. And they don't have have four weeks to do it, it has to be done quickly. So the first impression is decisive. How do you get your application application land on the first positive pile?
In addition to a lot of information you will find on our homepage
What is What is particularly important in a letter of application?
The The cover letter for an application is not just typed on the computer in a few minutes. on the computer with good content and no mistakes. At least if you want to make an impression and land the job. the job. You don't think you can manage to write a unique introduction for this important document? introduction for this important document? We are sure: You can do it! Read our tips and advice carefully. advice.
First First of all, be aware that your job application is primarily one thing: Advertising on your own behalf. You want to convince people of your merits and you need a marketing strategy. Read one or two template and cover letter sample. You will see that that many of them already differ in terms of content in the introduction.
For For every cover letter: The first sentence must captivate the reader and invite him and invite them to read on. "I hereby apply for.....", is the worst possible way to start. Just like "With I have read your job advertisement with great interest" or or "I would like to apply". These are also introductory sentences for the cover letter that no one and are used in an inflationary manner.
One One of our example sentences is used in almost every cover letter. So right off the bat, boredom is preprogrammed is pre-programmed. The fact that you are applying for a job, an apprenticeship training place or an internship is clear from the subject of your cover of your cover letter. So you don't have to emphasise in the first important sentence that you are applying. The same applies to mentioning what you are applying for. This has also already been in the subject line. You would like to apply? Then do so and don't use the subjunctive! You are very interested in the job advertised? That is assumed and does not need to be mentioned.
There are similar or other frequently used phrases that signal: "The applicant has not put any thought into this but used some kind of platitudes". Always remember: Your job application is the first sample of your work, that a potential employer will see of you. Make So think about the content of every single sentence. and take a look at our cover letter samples.
The most important thing for the first sentence is your unique selling proposition. This USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is an important criterion in sales psychology. It is precisely this insight that you should make use of it. Think about it, ask others for their opinion about you and reflect on your previous experiences. What distinguishes you from others in the professional field, what makes you unique? unique? What motivates you as a student to want to do exactly this one want to do this kind of training? Why do you want to do an internship? complete a traineeship? What content do you want your professional life to have?
That can be be many things.
In the first sentence you can also explain,
You can at the very beginning, i.e. in the introduction. establish a reference to the company:
That sounds a lot of work now? It's true! Invest your time and It will be worth it! Give yourself the time you need time you need to hone your really good application. polish. Ask yourself what you want to do in the future, what your what your skills are, why you love your job.
As The basic rule is: The length of the cover letter should not exceed one A4 page. You will also notice this from the cover letter samples on our homepage.
We will come to the and format of the cover letter later.
When you write your cover letter, you should be guided by it, whether you are looking for a job in the traditional way, on your own initiative or job search. Some things have to be worded even if the content is similar.
You must
(as well as the speculative application) do good preparatory work and
do thorough research. Look for as much information
as possible about the company you are applying to.
you are applying for. What are the core tasks? What is the company philosophy?
Find out about the company's history, get to know virtual
perhaps already know your superiors or colleagues. Find your
Find your contact person for the application. All this information
not only in your cover letter, but also later in the interview.
but also later in the interview.
Here are a few
tips for research:
In the In the middle part of the cover letter you can then refer to the the job advertisement and include the information you have collected. you have collected.
This This part of the cover letter also helps the company to get to know you a little. to get to know you a little. However, it does not make sense now to skills and qualifications from your CV into text form. in text form. Do a little story-telling. In a few sentences in a few sentences about yourself, your achievements, your strengths and feel free to use a special experience or a special project. (You can also use one or two of our template from our cover letter sample).
Your
Your skills should also be mentioned in the middle of your
cover letter - ideally in bullet points and also unique.
unique again. "Team player", "communicative" and
and "flexible", these are characteristics that are always
in job applications. Formulate your
competencies in such a way that it is more individual and more
more meaningful!
The closing section of the cover letter serves to once again
to express your interest and to include important information such as
possible start of work or willingness to travel and relocate. The
salary expectations should only be mentioned if this is expressly
explicitly requested in the job advertisement.
If you take the initiative and apply to a company for a job without a specific company for a job without a specific job advertisement, you will have to cover letter a little differently. The structure is identical for all The structure is identical for all cover letters.
Since you cannot cannot refer to any job advertisement, you have to score even more with your own profile. Because you do not know what a company expects, so you have to sell yourself all the better. sell yourself. There is no clue as to what is required and what is expected. But this even has an advantage for you. You temptation to adjust your own profile or not to send an application because your application because your skills do not match the requirements of a job advertisement. skills do not match the requirements of a job advertisement. match.
With an you are the active part and act instead of reacting. react. What should you pay attention to? Our tips:
Unsolicited applications are often very successful because the number of competitors is very low. few.
The i-application is a special form of unsolicited application. It is less work-intensive for applicants than the than the previous two forms of application, but it is very effective. The difference is that you do not have to spend a lot of time and their areas of focus, because with the i-application with IPSER, companies are contacted according to your selected sectors and area of your choice. The special feature: You apply on the covert job market. The hidden job market includes all those jobs that are not publicly advertised, and there are many more than many more than you might expect. Around 2/3 of all vacancies are in factnotclassically written out. The has many different reasons that benefit you. Often your i-application arrives at the company at exactly the right time. almost without competition. It is not without reason that IPSER has already recorded over 3,000 satisfied customers. You too can be part of it!
You yourself can therefore devote yourself intensively to the to the writing of your application documents. And make your cover letter, your CV and your other documents into what they can be, what they can be: Interesting one-offs.
Let's how you can best format your letter of application and how you can and how to set the scene visually.
Your cover letter should be adapted to different circumstances. It can be classic, conventional, original, creative, modern or innovative. How you design and formulate your cover letter depends, for example, on the industry and profession in which you are which profession you are applying for.
In a creative profession - perhaps as a designer - you will choose a different layout than for a business application. The cover letter should always correspond to the form and be polite. polite. However, there are also differences here and you have to decide whether you want to be very formal or a little more relaxed.
Not entirely one must not completely disregard one's own personality. personality. The reader gets an idea of the applicant based on the picture of the applicant. That is why you should remain authentic in the cover letter. An example: You have your by a friend who uses an infinite number of foreign words. words. You, on the other hand, express yourself in a way that everyone can understand and don't even know all the terms used in the letter of application. used in the letter of application. You will notice this at the at the latest during the job interview.
For For the formatting of private and business letters, formal formal rules. You can always use the DIN 5008, which tells you exactly which information belongs where on a DIN A4 sheet of paper. Except in professions where where compliance with this standard is part of everyday life, no one is likely to check whether you have observed every detail, every line spacing and every every millimetre. However, DIN 5008 should be used as an important guideline for formatting your cover letter. apply.
We give only a brief overview of the formatting of the without going into detail about how much space you need to have to the margin and how many lines there should be between the various fields. between the different fields.
Bolding are used to emphasise certain parts of the text. For example, the subject line is often written in bold. Such emphasis is also possible are also possible in the text. However, please make sure that as little bold as possible. A text is otherwise otherwise it is very difficult to read, and the text will look unstable and confusing.
The The same applies to colours in the text of the cover letter and the italics. You can certainly colour the subject line or even the the name of the sender in colour. But here too, less is often more.
As nice as it might look to use a fancy font, please stick to the standard - please stick to the standard fonts Times and Arial. The reason for this is quite simple. Not all people use the same office programmes. And so it can happen that your application becomes almost illegible for the recipient almost illegible. No recruiter will go to the trouble of reformatting your application documents, to reformat your application documents so that he can read them in a relaxed read them.
There are There are various ways of formatting the text in the display format: Right-justified, left-justified, centred or as a justified. For the text of your cover letter, right-justified and and centred are completely out of the question. What remains is justified or left-justified formatting. There is no compulsory rule. However, you must bear in mind that with justified type each line should have a certain number of characters. Otherwise there will be gaps that impair the readability of the text. readability of the text. Here is an example:
Thank you for your interest!
In the example above, the text has been left-justified, below in justified. Decide for yourself: Which reads better?
As We recommend a font size of 10, 11 or 12. and pleasant to read on a monitor if the font size is the same throughout the the same font size in all parts of the application. in all parts of the application. If we have extreme fluctuations in the font sizes, we may have to zoom in. This takes time and effort. (We have samples and tips ready for you to help).
You are asking how you can create the perfect cover letter? We think: There is no such thing as THE perfect cover letter. You can and put a lot of effort, love and authenticity into your authenticity into your application documents. Nevertheless, the recipient may not be recipient is not enthusiastic, even though everything seems to be right to the layout, everything seems to be just right.
This is simply because all people are different, and not because you not because you necessarily did something wrong! The one recruiter may like it very simple and only want to have text without any design. Another wants a short, and concise cover letter, while the next one might could do without. Then there is the recruiter who who gets a kick out of seeing that applicants put a lot of have put a lot of effort into the content and appearance of their with their application. And you - as the applicant - of course don't know which type will receive your documents.
Depending on the industry the cover letter is adapted. For a creative profession it will usually look different than an application for the top floor of a bank. bank.
So: Do your best, take your time and give your documents to other people to read. documents to other people for proofreading. That way you have done everything you could.
In your You have done extensive research on your future potential about your future potential employer. Not only for reason that you should never misspell the name of the company or the the name of the company or the contact person incorrectly. This mistake would already be a first KO criterion.
Speaking of Speaking of mistakes. Your application should be free of grammatical and spelling grammatical and spelling errors, although of course you can never the occasional slip of the pen. mistakes. However, if a cover letter or CV is riddled with spelling with spelling mistakes, it is difficult to be lenient. exercise leniency. There are several reasons for this:
All your must of course be true and, at best, verifiable. and, in the best case, be verifiable. It makes no sense at all, to "upgrade" qualifications. At the latest in everyday professional life at the latest, it will turn out that your statements did not correspond to the facts. A boss will not always be lenient. In the worst case, lying in an an existing employment relationship, lying on your application grounds for dismissal.
What is the aim of the cover letter? You want to arouse interest in the recruiter and get an invitation for an interview. Do not lose sight of this.
Via You have already read a lot about the formal classification of a cover read a lot about the formal division of a cover letter. Now we come to the structure, content and design of the individual parts. Let's start with the header.
In this part of the application letter you will find your name, your address and your e-mail. The e-mail address should ideally correspond to your name. Funny pet names or strange terms have no place here. have no place here. It is not originality that is required here, but seriousness and recognition value.
How is what about the telephone number? In the i-application you enter phone number for organisational reasons, for example. organisational reasons. You can enter your telephone number in the classic and speculative applications. you can enter your telephone number. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the recruiter can reach you quickly and easily. easily and quickly. The disadvantage is that you may be called at a very at a very inconvenient time and you may not react react appropriately.
The The subject line of the cover letter should state the reason for your application. If it is a job application for a specific job advertisement you will already find a number or reference in the advertisement. or a reference. Copy this into the subject line.
The The subject of an unsolicited application or i-application will contain your career aspirations.
Our Tips on what not to do:
With the classic application and many speculative applications, you will have have a specific contact person. You should also address address them directly: "Dear Ms. Sample Woman" or "Mr. Sample Man". or "Dear Mr. Sample Man". If you do not find a If you do not find a contact person in the job advertisement, simply simply by telephone.
Refrain personal forms of address such as "Dear Mrs. Mustermann" or or fancy formulations such as "I greet you, Mr. Mustermann!" Even if you know the person responsible personally personally, stick to a correct form of address. salutation. A job application often passes through several hands and and it would look strange if the salutation were to say "Hello, my dear Max! "Hello, my dear Max!"
To We have already explained a few things by way of introduction. To summarise the first sentence(s) should be as unique as possible. unique as possible. Refrain from using empty phrases and what everyone writes, what everyone else writes. Do not copy parts from other letters. As is well known, the internet never forgets and copy & paste from a from a sample or another application letter is quickly exposed.
The middle section is the most informative. Here you can report on projects or experiences, you can list your qualifications list your qualifications. Explain why the company you are applying to is of particular you are applying for is particularly interesting to you. Let the reader share with the reader where you want to go on your professional journey.
What motivates you, what drives you? What can you offer a offer a company?
One thing you should not do here under any circumstances. Do not repeat or copy your information from your CV and qualifications profile. Why would anyone be interested in reading the same information twice or twice or maybe even three times?
At the end
of the application, it is important to show interest. Interest in the
company, interest in the job and, above all, interest in a
personal interview. Because that is exactly your first goal:
A personal interview in which you can prove yourself.
yourself. In the final part, people often make the mistake of using the subjunctive.
subjunctive mood. "I would be happy...",
It would be nice...", I would like to have...."
The
subjunctive is out of place here. It is a form of possibility,
so it doesn't indicate a firm intention. "I would
an interview" vs "I am looking forward to an interview.
am looking forward to an interview." Which sounds
more firm and confident?
The
cover letter is almost finished. What's missing now is the greeting,
the signature and maybe a little extra.
"With
Yours sincerely" - you can't go
you can't do anything wrong. Here, too, avoid anything fancy or
and exaggerated. "Warmest regards"
are just as unlikely to go down well with the recipient as "Best wishes
from the model country".
A There should already be a signature. This is not a problem with a printed but what about a job application that is sent online? sent on its journey online? It's best if you can scan your signature your signature and insert it in the appropriate size. appropriate size. In any case, however, you should repeat your own name your own name. This helps you to memorise it and recognition.
What did we mean by a little extra? Our tip: Use the good old PS. Post scriptum, which used to be handwritten or typewritten letters a postscript, if you forgot something and didn't want to start the whole letter over. from the beginning. Today, this PS is a little extra, in which you can put something concise that will be remembered by the recipient. in the recipient's memory. This can be the start of work or a special added value. You can certainly think of something!
If you can't think of what you should say about yourself and your activities about yourself and what you do, then just take a look have a look at your references. It doesn't matter whether it's an evaluation from an internship or a qualified reference. You may discover forgotten details. Remind yourself what successes you have already had. These do not not have to be the big things. It is more about the fact that You can describe your qualifications.
Professional Professional skills and personal qualities, both are important for important for a company. When it comes to professional qualifications, it is no problem to outline them briefly. If they are too extensive, you should draw up a separate qualifications profile. (For this (We provide some samples for this as Word files or pdf files). If you read several applications a day as a recruiter, you have the impression that many people have the same personal have the same personal qualities. There is hardly an application in which that the applicant is a team player, communicative and motivated, communicative and motivated.
Stand out stand out from the crowd and don't use these phrases! Why should you emphasise qualities that are in any case a prerequisite for good cooperation? Again and again there is, for For example, the enumerated sentence "I am a team player, communicative and motivated." If you want to mention that, it could be much more pleasant and informative: "With my team team, I have been able to achieve very good very good success through good communication and smooth cooperation. It was possible for us to increase the profit of product XY by 20 per cent."
When When applying for an apprenticeship, please consider the following tips:
Explain You,
Information from the CV need not be repeated in the covering letter. be repeated in the cover letter.
Many people have the opinion that the cover letter and the motivation letter are the same. the cover letter and the motivation letter are the same thing. This is not true. The formatting and structure are the same or at least similar. At In principle, however, the focal points of the two forms can be seen from the obvious from the name.
In the cover letter, the focus is on your application. You introduce introduce yourself, present your skills, explain why you are applying and why you are particularly suitable particularly suitable for a job. In short: you advertise yourself.
In contrast When writing a letter of motivation, focus on your career path, your goals and your motives. Here you can highlights from your training, job or internship. internship. You can also mention your hobbies and social commitment. The focus is therefore more on your own person or your own personality. in the centre.
Most of the time The letter of motivation is usually written when it is explicitly job advertisement. The biggest problem problem is that here, too, you have to duplicate and triple from other parts of the job application, such as the CV. CV, for example. The cover letter is placed in your third place in your application folder after the cover letter and CV. after the cover letter and CV.
Maybe you send your application to a company by e-mail. How do you do with the cover letter? Our tips:
With the i application, we will summarise and send your documents as one PDF file in a file in a suitable size and send it to you.
Of course you do not only need a cover letter and CV when looking for a job cover letter and CV, but also for internships and training. The structure does not change, but of course newcomers to the job market cannot score points in their cover with a lot of experience and skills.
If you are looking for an apprenticeship after leaving school, you might be able to tell about an internship. Formulate the cover letter in such a way that a recruiter recognises how much you are you are passionate about the training you want to do.
During During the study period, one or the other internship is completed. Here you can - depending on the progress of your studies - have some some competences. Present your skills skilfully skills and make it clear to the recruiter that you are the right person you are the right person for an internship!
After all theory and all the formalities, we have some very special tips and a checklist for you:
We wish you a lot of success in implementing our tips and shaping your professional future! Please feel free to on our homepage. We offer you samples for Curriculum vitae and covering letter, etc. as Word files and pdf files.
Gladly
offer you our professional support, so that
you can soon say: "I have found my dream job!
my dream job!" How does it work?
You send us your
application documents (initially a letter of application and
curriculum vitae) and if you work with us you will enjoy
the following advantages
The means that you save a lot of time, stress and work and can prepare for your personal talks in peace and quiet. in peace. In most cases, you will receive several invitations to an interview. you will receive several invitations to a job interview.
Get in touch with one of our Contact one of our job coaches and get advice!
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