You’ve written a strong cover letter opening, and you’ve got the hiring manager’s interest with the first paragraph. Now you’ve got to prove your value by illustrating details of your experience while going into some depth about how those details make you the best fit for the job — while illuminating your personality — in the two succeeding paragraphs. You can do it! We’ve got your back.
Here’s What People Are Saying About Us
What to Include in the Body of a Cover Letter
This breakdown should help you write an interview-winning cover letter. Consider the following:
Who:
The company is. Treat the business as if it is a person. Learn about its history, products and people; the goals it has and if it’s been in the news lately, and speak to some of those things briefly.
You are. Your cover letter is your chance to show your personality. Let the hiring manager see the person behind the page.
What:
The company needs. Address the company’s biggest challenge.
You bring to the table: Pick the top three skills you have that can help the company overcome the challenge.
Why:
You want to work for the company. Show your enthusiasm, not just for the job, but for the company. Do you just love their products? Does their mission align with your values? Does their culture seem like a perfect fit? Tell them.
You are the best person for the job. Tell the hiring manager exactly why you are the best fit for the job. Hint: It’s not just because of those skills you mentioned. Relate an interesting, job-related experience, a challenge you overcame and what you learned from it, for example.
How:
Your work experience matches the job description. For instance, if the job description states “Must have five eyars of experience in customer service” or “ Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel is a must,” make sure you let them know you’re not wasting their time.
You will help the company achieve their goals. It’s not enough to tell the employer you’ve got some skills they could use, or about that time you saved your last company from ruin. You’ve got to show them how you would employ those special qualities to help them shine. Be specific.
First Paragraph — The Professional Journey
After your opening statement you need to approach the first paragraph in the body of your cover letter as the opening of a short story behind your resume. That first graph should start the hiring manager on a brief journey through your professional experience, showing them you are the best person to address the company’s needs. You must start to present your value clearly and provide specific details as to how you can benefit the business in the following graphs.
Second Paragraph — The Hiring Manager Hook
The hiring manager has made it this far down the page, so you’ve got the floor. This is your chance to convince them (in six to eight sentences) that your work experience, related skills and education make you the only candidate for the job. But be careful: This is not the time to copy and paste your resume and then rework it into paragraph form. This is the time to bring it all together in a way that makes them want to meet you.
You can do this by studying the job description and picking out the most relevant required qualifications as well as a desired trait or two. Then play up three to five key skills that you can connect to those competencies, and explain exactly how you used them in the past as well as what you learned from them. Tie it all together by explaining how you can apply that knowledge to the job.
A bank teller, for example, might write something like, “I noticed you are looking for someone with a strong track record of handling large accounts while providing outstanding customer service to help grow your customer base. I am sure I fit the bill. While processing transactions for 50+ customers per hour, opening more than 150 accounts per month, balancing the ATM and handling over $550,000 daily at Star Bank, I learned a great deal about financial systems while sharpening my customer service skills. I’d love to put my expertise to use to help you meet your customer acquisition goals.”
Third Paragraph — The Closer
Here’s where you wrap up your story. You should do this with the same gusto you used in your opening paragraph. This your opportunity to close the deal — leave no doubt that you are the best person for the job.
You should address any possible concerns the employer might have, such as lack of experience, too much experience, employment gaps and why you are looking for a new job.
For example, if you don’t have direct experience in the position at hand then point to skills you learned at previous jobs that translate. Or you might have picked up the necessary qualifications from volunteer experience or on-the-job training. Alison Green of Ask a Manager notes that providing this kind of context can make all the difference to the hiring manager.
Then close the deal! Remind the employer that you are excited about the position and the company, and thank them for considering you.
4 Best Practices for Writing the Cover Letter Body
Look beyond your resume.
Show what makes you especially well-suited for the job beyond your work history, skills and education. For example, you might mention job-related awards, volunteer or community service work that made a lasting impact, or as HR consultant Erin Riska advises, add testimonials from colleagues or past employers, or include a quote from a great performance review.
You’ll also stand out if you share a related anecdote that pertains to the position. For instance, have you been a loyal customer of this company for many years, or has the company’s product or service benefitted you or your family in some way? If so, you have a personal connection to the brand, which can make for a compelling story. These unique details help create an interesting and unique narrative and provide a personal connection between you and the company or the job.
Let Your Personality Shine
Don’t be shy. Make sure your personality shines through by keeping a conversational tone. As writer Cathie Ericson points out, you’ve got to strike a balance between too formal and too casual. You don’t want hiring managers to see you as uptight, so it’s important to be conversational in your cover letter body paragraphs, but you still have to be appropriate and use impeccable grammar and spelling.
Use powerful language.
The careful use of power words — verbs or nouns that inspire, encourage or evoke an emotional response — such as “winning,” “thrilling,” “remarkable,” “thrive” and “devoted” help convey action and describe experiences in a dynamic way. They can add persuasive flair to the body of your cover letter while grabbing the hiring manager’s attention and even influence them to take action, according to writer John Morrow.
There are hundreds of power nouns, adjectives and verbs that work in a number of combinations to uniquely describe job qualifications. The chart below gives some examples of powerful verbs you can use to convey some of the top skills employers look for.
Skills to demonstrate
Verbs to use
Skills to demonstrate
Leadership
Verbs to use
Accomplished, contracted, assigned, directed, orchestrated, headed, delegated, managed, led
Skills to demonstrate
Communication
Verbs to use
Addressed, translated, presented, negotiated, moderated, promoted, edited, wrote, prepared
Skills to demonstrate
Research
Verbs to use
Researched, interviewed, constructed, examined, critique, systematized, investigated, modeled, formulated, analyzed
Skills to demonstrate
Creativity
Verbs to use
Revitalized, redesigned, developed, integrated, conceptualized, fashioned, shaped
Use numbers.
We can’t stress this enough: Employers want to see numbers that show the impact of your past achievements because they add credibility to your experience and because they show what you are capable of doing for them. But don’t just copy and paste achievements from the work history of your resume. Instead, for each experience you mention, choose the most recent and notable achievement you reached using the skills and discuss it in depth. Just like the skills you choose to highlight, the achievements you quantify should matter to the hiring manager, and therefore they should be directly relevant to the team, the company’s goals, your profession and the job description.
So if you are applying to be a cook, for example, and the business is looking for an efficient and creative cook who takes initiative and can help them increase table turnover times, you might go into depth about a process you initiated for your last job that increased kitchen efficiency by 35 percent; how you reduced food and labor costs by 20 percent; or how you were named Employee of the Month four times the previous year. But you wouldn’t mention how you fielded 300 + calls per day or created a new scheduling system that increased accuracy by 25 percent when you were working as a receptionist six years ago.