{"id":4638,"date":"2022-06-26T05:36:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T05:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/writing-great-cover-letters\/"},"modified":"2022-06-26T05:36:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T05:36:01","slug":"writing-great-cover-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/writing-great-cover-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Great Cover Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Your CV is impressive and you know how to handle yourself in an interview, now all you need is the right material to get you in the hot seat for that job that you know is best suited.<span id=\"more-2884\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Your cover letter is your only chance to sell yourself and make sure that you are leaps and bounds apart from the rest of the applicants.\u00a0 This is your chance to sell yourself and tailor your strengths to the specific position that you are applying for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">This is also your chance to show potential employers your good writing skills and that you are comfortable in a given language, may it be mainstream English or second language Xhosa.\u00a0 Hence your writing and language skills need to be of perfection without any mistakes at all.\u00a0 Remember to\u00a0<em>proofread, proofread, and proofread!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Three Basic Parts to a Cover Letter:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><em>In paragraph one state:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Who you are.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">How you heard of the position or company.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Why you are writing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Convince the reader that you are the best candidate to interview.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><em>In paragraph two you discuss:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Why you are interested in the position and what skills or qualifications you have will fit the spec for the job.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Past experiences can be used here to sell your capability of achieving success for the position.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use this paragraph to sparkle and bedazzle your reader.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><em>In paragraph three you:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Repeat that you are hoping to be considered for the position.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Give specific plans for your intentions to follow up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Remember to thank the employer for their time in considering you as an applicant.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Close your cover letter with \u2018Sincerely\u2019, \u2018Sincerely Yours\u2019 and your typed name with a signature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Here are some more Do\u2019s and Don\u2019ts:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Do\u2019s:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">In the first paragraph \u2013 name the title of the position that you are applying for and be specific as to how you heard about it or through which company.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Try to find out the person\u2019s name who will be hiring you and address the cover letter to them specifically.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Try to use the exact wording as the advert \/ job listing has used and gives examples of your experiences for every qualification that is listed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use the same font and paper as your CV.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Remember to sign your name.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Reread the letter a few times and check your grammar and spelling with an extra beaded eye for your punctuation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Ask someone else to proofread your cover letter.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Say that you are enclosing a CV.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Include your phone number in the last paragraph.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Make sure your envelope is clearly and properly addressed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Be specific about your skills and experiences.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Don\u2019t:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Send a CV without a cover letter \u2013 ever.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Discuss salary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Repeat information that is in your CV, except in a brief nutshell if applicable to skills needed for the job.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Generalize about your abilities or previous job titles.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Talk about what the job will do for you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Waffle on too much about personal information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Include anything that will be tricky to explain in an interview.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Say you will follow up and know that you will not.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Staple or paper clip items.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your CV is impressive and you know how to handle yourself in an interview, now all you need is the right material to get you in the hot seat for that job&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uptymes.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}