Im still shocked at how many people decide not to include a cover note with their application for positions. But, I can totally understand why some people think its a waste of time. I think people think its a waste of time because their applications are not successful so why should I invest extra time in the job application process by providing a cover note if Im going to be rejected. Logic here is non-existent!
Your application will be rejected for a number of reasons; bad CV, location is wrong, salary expectations too high, experience not right for the job etc etc. No one has ever been rejected because they included a cover note!
So why should you invest the extra 2 minutes to include a cover note that says more than just see my attached CV, Im interested in the post xxxxx?
Well, 90% of applicants dont bother with a cover note. Thats 90% who are not bothered about job application etiquette, manners, professionalism, call it what you want. So that leaves 10% who are actually getting the whole process off on the right foot, setting the scene, introducing themselves professionally.
I know that I would like to be within the 10%. 10% have created a good first impression and we all know what is said about first impressions.
If you apply for a position which has a pretty clear job specification, including the roles and responsibilities, location and salary package we have something to work with for our cover note.
The cover note doesnt have to be a mass of words and it definitely shouldnt be a cut and paste of details from your CV. All it needs to be is a clear and concise understanding that you read the job description and that you believe you meet most of the key criteria
The key criteria includes not only the main roles and responsibilities listed but also any other items which you think the reader of the CV might have objections about.
Objections are things like, youre applying for a job in Wales but you live in London, you should mention in the cover note that you note the role is in Wales and you are looking to relocate. This shows the reader that youve (a) see this (b) acknowledged it (c) put their minds at ease that they can still include you in the shortlist if everything else is stacking up. Another objection might be the salary indicated. If the salary is shown i.e., £45-55K, in your cover note you can state, I have noted the salary banding indicated and am happy to proceed with my application
Of course, the obvious reason why a cover note is used is to introduce yourself, very briefly, to the recipient, is to show straight away that you meet the criteria in the job description. The key is to analyse the description and pick out the obvious top criteria and then present in bullet form what you bring. You have to keep the bullet points short and to the point. No long winded point is going to hit home. You MUST also make sure that your CV clearly shows the key points youve listed in the bullet points. If you state in the cover note that you have experiences of managing projects up to £10M in size, make sure its clear in the CV where and when you did this.
Theres nothing like a damp squib of a cover note/CV combo that are not in tune with each other to really annoy a potential employer and when that happens, your details go to the bottom of the pile.
So just to restate, I said this should only take an extra 2 minutes of your time in the job application process, and it does, if you do it regularly. It takes practice to pick out the key points quickly. Keep a template of a cover note which you just change each time you apply for a new vacancy. This template should only be used to remind you of the layout and not for just sending out without changes, otherwise it just becomes a pointless cover note.
Finally, heres an example job specification and cover note;
dldt
blockquotestrongPMO Planning Manager Location:London Salary:£42000,00 – £50000,00 per year/strong
PMO Planning Manager required to join hugely successful public sector programme within a large IT Services organisation in London. We are looking for experienced Programme Planners with resource management skills from an IT outsourcer/managed services background.
The PMO Planning Manager will have the following experience:
+ Significant experience across a number of contracts supporting/ managing project/programme offices with 3rd party suppliers within an IT/web/ e commerce/outsourcing environment.
+ Programme and project planner roles, using MS Project and resource pools across multiple plans
+ Experience in implementing of planning tools
+ Project/programme management within the IT industry.
+ Management and analysis of risks, issues, dependencies
+ Project and programme reporting
+ Demonstrated outstanding capabilities – understands issues of facilitating project teams to deliver on time, quality and budget to client.
+ Builds lasting relationships with internal team and external partners.
+ Accurately plans, prioritises delivers; excellent attention to detail
+ Able to think beyond and outside the status quo and effective self starter/proactive
+ Not constrained by hierarchy; prepared to challenge/blockquote
/dt/dlCover note example:
Dear Sir/Madam
Please find attached my CV for the strongPMO Planning Manager /strongrole as advertised on xxxxx on the 22nd October 2009
I am based in London, am available to commence a new appointment on the XXXXXX and have noted the renumeration of £42K-50K which falls within my salary expectations
My previous experience in PMO Management has combined both the IT and public sectors and I bring the following experience and expertises to the advertised role:
ul
liPMO Management within commerical organisations specifically outsourcing/li
liProgramme management level planning abilitiy, tools included MS Project and Primavera/li
liPlanning skills include creation and maintenance of plans, WBS, resource utilisation etc/li
liFull programme / project lifecycle experience including planning, reporting, resourcing, issues, risks and hands on programme level support/li
/ul
I look forward to hearing from you about the next stage of the process
If you have any further experiences or comments to share on the success (or failure!) of cover notes, let us know by leaving a comment below
