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How To Write A Perfect Cover Letter? 11 Tips & Examples

How To Write A Perfect Cover Letter? 11 Tips & Examples

What are good elements of a cover letter? Here you will find 11 tips to write an enthusiastic, refreshing and good cover letter, including a sample cover letter. You will also find the wrong application letter mistakes here. Read more…

Why does your cover letter need to be good?

Communication is one of the most important things in your career, and guess what: in your cover letter, your employer can immediately see if you can communicate properly without being vague and unclear. So let’s get to the tips on how to handle this properly …

The best cover letter tips

Below you will find the most important tips for your cover letter.

Tip 1 – Don’t be too vague, especially at the beginning of the letter …

The next sentence is a bad, far too vague entry:

“I would like to offer myself to support you in your activities to help people find themselves again.”

Why is this a bad entrant? It is too abstract a sentence. People who use too abstract sentences come across as unintelligent  and ‘non-integrated’ to the employer.

An employer finds it a relief to immediately read a clear, concretely communicated message in the first sentence . For example:

“I hereby offer myself as a new employee in your secretariat team.”

Do you see the difference? Finally someone who understands and can communicate clearly!

Tip 2 – Don’t use cliché words that make people itchy…

Have you ever heard these?

“I am an all-round team player.”

Ouch … that’s a painful sentence. Or:

“I optimally supervise processes.”

Another itchy feeling. Or how about:

“So that I can develop myself further.”

Why are these itchy words? They are vague, they are self-centered and they say nothing at all. Here you will find more examples of itch words.

How should it be done? See next tip.

Tip 3 – Describe at least one STAR in your application letter

Have you ever heard of the STAR acronym? This is a tool for writing super concretely  about a specific situation  that shows that you are suitable for the job you are applying for.

  1. S ituation: what was the problem or the aim of the organization?
  2. T ask: what task was given to you regarding the problem or goal?
  3. A ction: what actions have you taken to do something about it? Use real verbs that have a movement in them.
  4. R esults: What was the numerical result? How many percent or how many euros did the result increase towards the final goal?

Tip 4 – In general, be super clear in your story

The previous tips all had to do with clear communication. There are still dozens of tips you can apply to communicate more clearly and effectively.

Have you written your cover letter once? Then take these extra tips for clear communication  and go along with the tips along your cover letter. Where is your story unclear?

Tip 5 – Do not use an exclamation mark in your cover letter

The exclamation mark is used far too often in written communication. Read your letter several times and ask yourself if an exclamation mark is really that important and ask yourself how professional you come across. In general, you should cut out exclamation marks.

Tip 6 – Do not write ‘weird’ things, such as extreme opinions

In everything you write, think: is this a personal opinion of mine? You can have personal opinions and you can put them in a cover letter. That shows your character. But be aware that personal opinions often deviate from the norm and can be ‘weird’. So feel free to give your personal opinion, but don’t go too far with your dissenting opinion.

Tip 7 – Creative application video as an excellent alternative

Yes, making a job application video is excellent general advice. If you make a job application video, instead of a job application letter, you are a huge step ahead of your competitors.

Different rules apply to the application video. You can show a little more of your personal traits in a video. However, make sure you still speak normally, smoothly and clearly. Be careful not to come across as too loud or too childish.

Be careful with repeating annoying – overly enthusiastic words – such as: “I really think it’s really cool to … Yes really super niceVery cool to speak to you … So … yes really su-per Great. Well, well … That was great fun, bye !!

Tip 8 – Provide a reference to your CV in the application letter

This is also an example of clear communication: let us know that a CV has been sent at all and where it can be found. “In the attachment” is not enough. Is it in the attachment of the email or in the attachment of the cover letter? Let me know. “You will find my CV in the attachment of the email.”

Are you applying by e-mail? Attach the cover letter and your CV both in the attachment.

Tip 9 – Apply this cover letter structure

How do you build your cover letter? Later in this article you will find an example where you can find the fold of a cover letter.

Tip 10 – Name the file name of your cover letter as follows

First, make sure you are sending a PDF and not a Word document. Next, the file name is also very important. Name the file the following:

File name: Cover letter {your name} for the position {position} at {company name}.

Tip 11 – Use this cover letter opening sentence [Example]

You’ve already seen the ideal opening sentence in a previous tip. This is it again:

“I hereby offer myself as a new employee in your secretariat team.”

Concrete and to the point. This is evidence of clear communication and that is what an employer wants to see in the first sentence.

Example application letter

For example, do you want to write a cover letter as an administrative assistant, nurse, HR officer or another new challenge? Then use the example / template below.

You will notice that the example below is not too long – and even quite short. That is exactly the intention: a cover letter should not be unnecessarily long.

cover letter writing tips how

Utrecht, September 10, 20 ..

Subject: Application for {function}

Dear Mrs. Van Vuren,

I would like to offer myself to support you as a {function} in your {type} activities.

My name is {name}, I am {age} years old and {number} years active as {function}.

What I can offer you is {number} years of work experience in {field} and affinity with {industry}, which makes me a suitable value for {company name}.

During my previous internship I have {name of previous employer} … {give a STAR story here}.

  • {Situation
  • Task
  • Action
  • Result}

I would like to use my talents effectively in your organization – that is why I am very interested in working for you. I have enclosed my CV and I would like to further explain my enthusiasm about this position in a personal conversation.

You can call me at {phone number} or e-mail me at {e-mail address}.

Thank you very much for your response and hopefully we will meet soon.

Sincerely,

{Name}

Write an open application letter for an internship [Example]

What should I include in an internship application letter? An open application letter is very suitable for your internship An open application letter means that there is no vacancy, but that you apply spontaneously with the intention that the company creates a vacancy for you.

As long as you show your enthusiasm and affinity with the company, it should be fairly easy for an organization to make an internship position available to you.

Whether you are writing a cover letter for an internship in the position of coordinator, hospitality employee, sports employee, communication employee, project assistant, software engineer, hostess, care supporter or flower binder … you can apply the example below to your situation .

good application letter tips

Eindhoven, October 28, 2020

Subject: Open Application For Graduation Internship – Strategic Marketing

Dear madam, sir,

I hereby offer myself to support you with my marketing skills in your activities from February to July 2020.

My name is Rubin Alaie, I am 21 years old and I am a 4th year student of the study Small Business & Retail Management of Fontys University. What I can offer you is one and a half years of work experience in marketing and an affinity with training people, which makes me a suitable value for your training institute.

During my previous internship, I researched the buying motives of the potential buyers for the company Wix. In addition to collecting new information – through focus groups and surveys – I investigated relevant research results from third parties. I used this information to present the most effective communication strategy for Wix, among other things, with the aim of increasing the number of paying users.

Also in the 2nd year I was involved in different facets of marketing. I started a real company in which all facets of entrepreneurship were covered, such as mapping target groups, writing a business plan and acquiring free publicity via Omroep Brabant TV and the local newspaper. Nowadays I have continued my business in the form of my own marketing communication consultancy firm. Because of this I also have practical experience with internet marketing.

During my internship it is the aim that I carry out a strategic marketing project. This will take up most of the working time. In addition, there is room for practical tasks for a tenth of the time. During these practice hours I can for example produce SEO friendly blog articles, optimize your WordPress website for SEO, increase the speed of your site, help develop products or expand your Social Media activities. As a result, your company attracts more information-seeking visitors and it ranks higher in Google.

I would like to use my talents effectively in your organization – that’s why I am very interested in working for you. I have enclosed my CV in the attachment of the email and I can further explain my enthusiasm about this internship in a personal conversation. You can call me on 06 39 88 81 09 or email me to thisismyemail@rubinalaie.nl.

Thank you very much for your response and perhaps we will meet soon.

Sincerely,

Rubin Alaie

Good luck with writing your cover letter!

To your success!

About The Author

Rubin

Hello! Thanks for reading these articles. My intention is to make happiness as simple and clear as posssible. By the way, excuse my English. I am not a native English speaker since I live in Amsterdam. Much appreciated if you use the comments to make suggestions on my grammar. See ya in another blogpost!