1. Tell a Story.

Many job seekers that come through to Executive Agents request a template cover letter to use for standard job applications, but having a basic cover letter can actually limit your potential.

According to CareerOne, Hiring Managers often ensure they are satisfied with an applicant’s cover letter before they consider calling or meeting them face to face. Cover letters are the key to evaluating an applicant’s personality, ambitions, goals, and dreams. You might have the perfect amount of experience and education but another applicant could easily get the job because their goals align with the company, or they have desirable extracurricular experience under their belt.

Be as specific as possible in relating your story to the job description and the company – like attracts like. Apply this in your resume as well as your cover letters.

2. Lead with Results.

“90 per cent of recruiters say today’s labour market is candidate-driven, up from 86 per cent last year.”

Not only should you use this to your advantage, but bear in mind that leading with results is a stronger, snappier sell.

In both your resume and cover letters, lead with your most significant achievements, and use figures where possible. Hiring Managers do not have the time to labour through an extended monologue of your past experience where you’ve rewritten the job descriptions of your previous roles.

Refine each relevant previous role into a one or two sentence elevator pitch, then jump into your most significant achievements – two or three of your best for each role is sufficient without losing your reader’s attention.