One of the big questions that I often get asked is “How do I write a cover letter?” or ”What do I write in a cover letter?”

In terms of a cover letter, keep in mind that you are introducing yourself to your potential future employer.

A lot of people will want to explain and put as much detail as possible and I’m going to tell you that you want to put in the right, focussed detail and you want to make it sharp and snappy.

You want to demonstrate your enthusiasm so your first paragraph may go; “Hey, to whom it may concern, I’m excited to work at your company. I’m really excited because I have a passion in these areas and I’m really excited about this field of study. In particular, my experience in this area, really lends towards the type of work I’ll be doing here.”

As a final paragraph you can say “I’m super excited to see where everything is going and where I can actually contribute to your company in the future. I would love to have an interview, thank you very much”.

In that breakdown, I am demonstrating excitement, I’m showing why I am interested in looking at this role, telling them how I am suitable and some of the key things that are from my specific experience that are specifically related.

We don’t want to do a full essay about what’s going on.

At the end, we finally tie it all back in and tell them that you are really excited and I really see the vision of myself working with your company and doing amazing things together.

Notice that at the end I said that I would love to have an interview.

This is something that is really easy, you are putting in the application and it is almost a given that you want the interview but I’m just going to recommend that you go ahead and ask for it.

Now the “to whom it may concern” section that I put that at the top. I’m going to recommend that you never use that line where possible.

You want to do whatever you can to find out who the actual person who is the hiring manager.

You want to address the cover letter to that person so that you are actually having a conversation with that person.

It’s something that you can do to set you apart from other candidates, especially at the earlier stages of your career where not a lot of people are doing this.

So, that’s some quick things about what to write in a cover letter.