Show Your Brand in Your Cover Letter

Your personal brand is the culmination of your skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications that expresses how you stand out from other candidates. One way to show off your brand is through a well-written cover letter. While many employers might regard a letter with less importance compared to a resume, this vital document could give you an edge when all other things are equal versus the rest of the talent pool.

1. Tailor Your Cover Letter

Thanks to internet searches, there are few excuses for finding out some information about the person responsible for hiring you. If you cannot find this person's name, call the HR department to get someone's name. If you're still unsure, address the cover letter to the head of HR. For smaller companies that have one person who oversees all of hiring, address the letter to the owner or CEO.

2. Keep It Short

A cover letter serves as a brief introduction to your talents, skills and qualifications. You want to make the correspondence interesting enough to make the hiring manager call you back for more details, so you should keep it short. The letter needs to have information not found in your resume or application. This serves as a summary of your personal brand that talks about your highest qualities as opposed to your entire professional story. These words should explain how your finest trait helps the firm.

3. Make It Perfect

Every word in the cover letter must be perfect. Proofread for typos, grammar, spacing issues and punctuation. Read it aloud to make sure everything sounds right. Give the letter to someone else to see what that person thinks. A flawless document demonstrates your attention to detail and impeccable accuracy.

4. Add Words From the Job Description

You must prove you're the perfect fit for the job, and that means adding some relevant keywords from the job description itself. This is so you can communicate to the hiring manager that you understand precisely what your job duties encompass. As you tell your personal anecdote to the reader, use similar verbiage that you relate to your experiences and qualifications.

5. Show Interest in the Company

Say why you want to work for this company, and this is where a personal anecdote also works for you. Point out precisely why you fit with this business — research the employer and demonstrate how you solve a problem for the company. Search the company's website, press releases and any news on the business. Take this information and turn it into a positive when you solve an issue the employer has, whether it be a problem with revenue streams, market share or cybersecurity. Your letter proves your worth and value to the employer from the get-go.

Your cover letter shows your unique voice while offering a dynamic first impression to the employer. All you have to do is make the letter shine thanks to your qualifications, expertise and skills as part of your brand.

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