How to Write a Cover Letter to Complement a CV

It is a two-part act of job search persuasion. Your CV covers the facts while your cover letter provides the emotional hook. Hiring managers need both to invite you to interview. You need a cover letter to complement a CV – they can sell your story in different ways.

When you are sitting in front of them, the cover letter (in particular) will diminish in importance. You can tell your story in person. However, as a medium to secure the interview, a cover letter is essential to share the beginnings of your “why.”

A CV packed with retrospective achievements, statistics, skills, projects, education and awards cannot possibly explain why you would be a fantastic fit for any specific job. A great CV is a menu of career excellence, but a hiring manager will still need an eagle eye to pick out precisely what is most relevant.

Cover letter complements a CV?

The cover letter to complement a CV allows you to pinpoint your value. Not only from a practical point of view, but with your emotions front and centre. Connect with your future boss. Tell them why you want the job. Let them imagine what it will be like working with you.

It might be tempting to use the cover letter as an addition to your CV in terms of what you couldn’t say, but this will weaken its impact. Select only the most relevant accomplishments. Surround them in stories that show what sort of employee you are. The two documents will often be read together. You should always attach a cover letter rather than include it in an email that is easily lost.

A cover letter that complements a CV should seem like a love letter to your future dream job. Every sentence should be unmistakably tailored to the role’s demands and how it aligns with your previous experience and future ambitions. Generic cover letters are a crucial reason why people don’t get invited to interview. If you can’t be bothered to write 300-400 words on why you think the role is for you, are you even that interested?

Cover letter approach

A cover letter can still use standard CV devices such as bullet points to break up the text and focus the reader on certain aspects of your application. It should never be more than one page. This can save space and focus minds. You will wish to convey several different messages in the cover letter, so these changes in format can serve as effective visual breaks.

In its role as a personal sales pitch, a cover letter should make its persuasive case. Then it can ask (hopefully, not expectantly) about the potential next steps. It should be written with a sense of urgency. After all, you are expecting other offers – so end by saying that you are looking forward to finding out more at a potential interview. You don’t want a hiring manager to sit on their hands. Prompt them into action. 

If anyone tells you that cover letters are ineffective, they are talking rubbish. That may be true about generic cover letters. If you take the time to write a cover letter for each specific job (you should), then a full calendar of interviews is guaranteed.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists.

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).