To Sir/Madam, With Love: How To Write A Cover Letter That Gets Noticed

As a recruitment agency, we feel your pain when it comes to writing the evil cover letter (seriously, we have to read them!). Whether it’s a job through a recruiter or direct to the company, you always need a sharp cover letter to send along with your CV.

Even if you doubt your cover letter will be read, it’s still crucial to have one. So here’s Bonobo’s top tips for writing a cover letter that’ll get you noticed!

Size isn’t everything

Cut out as much waffle as you can from your cover letter and aim to get it down to three quarters of a page or, at most, no more than one page. Remove anything that’s repeating parts of your CV and stick to key information that an employer won’t learn from your resume or portfolio.

Start with a bang

Modern attention spans are short and, for an employer reading 100+ applications, it’s even shorter. Make sure you grab the reader from the first line (please, please don’t start by telling them your name) and lead with something memorable. Maybe you just worked with an amazing client, maybe you designed a cool new app — make yourself stand out!

Keep this, cut that

What to include in a cover letter depends on who you’re sending it to. For recruiters like us, you need to let us know what types of job you’re interested in, your availability, a little about your experience and your salary expectations. With that information, we can start searching for your perfect role.

For companies and specific role applications, always start by reading the job spec carefully and tailor your cover letter to that. Take the skills and experience they’re looking for and give examples proving you know those things, but, as above, avoid regurgitating bits from your CV.

And, if you absolutely can’t bear to pen another cover letter, the good news is you can give us a call today and we’ll start looking for your next job for you!