Cover Letter Tips

Cover Letter Tips for Applying to Jobs, Which are not Advertised by Companies

Sometimes you should not wait for the opportunity to knock at your door you just have to find it at the right place. The same goes for jobs that companies usually don’t advertise about. A number of companies don’t advertise their jobs because they get loads of applications and even consider job application of deserving candidates for future openings in the company. To harness such opportunities, you must prepare a professional as well as a speculative Cover Letter. The nature of the Cover Letter will depend largely on whether the company is hiring or not.

If you know that there are some openings in the company, then you must write a conventional Cover Letter, which expresses interest in the job opening. However, if you are of aware of any openings in the company, then you must go for a speculative Cover Letter to pitch your qualifications and prove how beneficial you would be for the company. In another instance, if you don’t know whether the company is recruiting or not then you must use a different approach for writing the Cover Letter.

Cover Letters that are addressed to the hiring manager of a company despite of any job opening can be a wise strategy, as many companies do not advertise their full job openings in public. Here are the key steps that you should take when writing a Cover Letter for a job that has not been advertised.

  1. Address to the right person: It is important to address the Cover Letter to the right person. Instead of addressing it to the entire HR department, in which case your Cover Letter will hardly reach anyone, you can contact the HR department and get the name of the hiring manager.
  2. Choose the right format: The format is another very important aspect of writing a Cover Letter. If you get the format right then the probability of getting attention of the recruiters also increases. The Cover Letter not only helps in highlighting your skills and qualifications, but also helps in demonstrating your creativity and professionalism. Here are some of the points that you should consider while formatting a speculative Cover Letter:
  • The business letter format is more suitable for this kind of Cover Letter, even if you decide to mail your Cover Letter. The addressee’s name is followed by the name of the company. The subject line follows this. If you are applying for a targeted field, then you can write the subject line as-Accounts Career Opportunity.
  • The body of the Cover Letter: when writing the Cover Letter, you must make sure that you include your interest in working for the company and the reason of your writing the letter. This should be followed by a brief description of all your relevant skills, professional training, credentials, and other qualifications. Try to highlight all your major skills in place of highlighting only one, as this shows how beneficial will you be for the company.
  • Talk about your achievements in numbers: This is also important as this shows how successful you are, or how much you have attained in your career. Try to mention your achievements in quantitative form and through ratings.
  • Include your contact: This is probably the most important part of writing such a tentative Cover Letter. You should include your contact details in the Cover Letter, so that they can contact you if they find your Cover Letter interesting.
  • Ask for a meeting in the Cover Letter: Doing this is a wise way of get in contact with the hiring manager of the company. You can ask for an interview in your Cover Letter. However, it should not be a direct demand, as there is no explicit job opening in the company. Therefore, you need to use an indirect approach by asking the hiring manager to give you an opportunity to meet him or her and find out more about the company.
  • Follow up: This is equally important as writing the Cover Letter itself. Your job does not end by just mailing or posting the Cover Letter. You must follow it up once in a while. You can make a phone call or mail a reminder, if you find it suitable. This will enhance the chances of a positive result.

Here are some other special tips that will help you in writing an interesting and luring Cover Letter for a job that has not be advertised:

  • While writing the Cover Letter, you should show interest in working for the company. You can take help from latest industry reports, news, and profile of the company to know more about the company and the career opportunities it offers.
  • Try to customize it to the best of your ability, as the more you customize it according to the job you are seeking or the industry to which you are applying, the better impression the Cover Letter will create on the hiring manager or any other addressee
  • Although you can mail the Cover Letter to the addressee, yet it is advisable to use the traditional way of sending the letter. You should leave no stone unturned to grab the attention of the hiring manager
  • No matter how good you are at writing a Cover Letter, you must proofread it because this helps you to identify small loopholes in your Cover Letter and correct them before sending to the concerned person. Remember that your Cover Letter reflect your personality, your communication skills, and your creativity at the same time. Therefore, you should make sure that there are no language or grammar errors in your Cover Letter. Sometimes small mistakes like repeating a line in the Cover Letter can lead your Cover Letter to the rejected heap.
  • You should also make sure that you include majority of your contact information, so that the employer can reach you through any one of it. Don’t forget to mention your email address in your Cover Letter.
  • You should also mention that you have attached your resume with the Cover Letter, as this will urge the hiring manager to go ahead and read your resume. Ultimately, this will augment your chances of getting the call from the hiring manager
  • Try to keep the Cover Letter brief and crisp, so that the hiring manager can get all the information that he or she needs from a quick glance at the Cover Letter. Too much clutter can be a disadvantage for a jobseeker, as this puts off the employers immediately after looking at the Cover Letter

If you keep these points in mind while writing a Cover Letter for a job that is not advertised, then you can achieve what you want to. Sometimes, such Cover Letters can give you new hope to get the job you always aspired for. All you need to do is to cover all the major elements of a good Cover Letter and keep it as professional as possible while showing your interest in a job or a post through the Cover Letter. Just pay extra attention to the format and details that you put across through such speculative Cover Letters. 


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