Cover letter content

Gilly · 4 Feb 2016 at 11:55

I've never really understood cover letters and their use before, always letting my CV do the talking, but how does this look for content?

I'm happy with my CV, and the cover letter will be formatted to match, just not sure on what sort of wording to capture.

Cover Letter
04/02/2016
I wish to apply for the role of Head of Engineering within the <area of responsibility>.

Having had 15 years of experience supporting <major client name> in a critical 24x7 live enterprise environment at all levels, from senior technician through to Live Services Operations Delivery Manager, leading teams comprising of skilled and experienced senior technicians and high performing managers I feel that my experience would lend itself well to this opportunity. Over these years not only have I acted as a LEAN champion, invigorating and supporting continuous improvement plans and delivering large-scale agile projects but I have also a deep understanding of the frameworks and methodologies used. Using 5S through to Kaizen I have driven transformation and the resultant standardisation requirements.

As Operations Delivery Manager my duties led me to converse regularly with people at all levels of seniority and technical competency, necessitating the capability to deliver the right level of information at the right time. This has ranged from highly skilled architects to non-technical Service and Project management.

I would appreciate being considered for this role, and hope to discuss my application with you further.

Devrij · 4 Feb 2016 at 12:29

Very well written and concise. It's there a way you can relate your experience to the role in question without it becoming too cumbersome?

dowie · 4 Feb 2016 at 12:39

Looks good, you could maybe mention why you want to join their company in particular and maybe why you're looking to move(assuming it is for positive reasons, progression, new challenge etc..).

Gilly · 4 Feb 2016 at 13:22

I've had both of them and more in and out of it this morning and it just seemed so verbose. I think you're right that it needs something about the company I wish to join though.

alx · 4 Feb 2016 at 17:28

Gilly said:
I've had both of them and more in and out of it this morning and it just seemed so verbose. I think you're right that it needs something about the company I wish to join though.

This, I really think you need something about why you want this role and want to join the company which is fairly standard (and expected) in a cover letter. I completely understand it can be a bit verbose and seem contrived though.

Other than that looks pretty good

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Gilly · 4 Feb 2016 at 18:26

I added in why I would want to work for them in particular, as well as why I'm looking outside my current employer

the_r_sole · 4 Feb 2016 at 18:31

This one is pretty good, I see speculative applications coming in most days and the one thing that stands out in cover letters is people saying why they want to work at our company in terms of personal development, how they are interested in the work we do etc. Its very rare for people to write cover letters about how they can benefit the employer rather than themselves. Its a lot to do with with how you say it rather than what you say.