Cover Letter (Part 3): Checklist; tick the points!!!


Yes, this is a bit tedious, but if you want to beat out your competitors, 
  • You have to do more than your competitors and 
  • you have to do it better. 

When your cover letter meets or exceeds employer's expectations, you will know that following a cover letter checklist like this one was truly worth it.

  • Is your letter customized to the specific requirements of the vacancy that you are applying for? (No generic letters!) 
  • Is your letter one page long? 
  • Have you used single line spacing, short sentences and short paragraphs? 
  • Is your font clear and easy to read? Does the general appearance of your letter make a good first impression? 
  • Is your letter concise / focused / to-the-point? 
  • Have you highlighted the best and most relevant parts of your CV while avoiding unnecessary repetition? 
  • Have you addressed your letter to the most appropriate person by name? 
  • Will your introduction get the attention of the reader? 
  • Have you responded to the job advertisement and linked your skills and abilities to the job on offer? 
  • Does your letter demonstrate that you have researched or have prior knowledge of the organisation you are applying to? 
  • Have you focused on what you have to offer the organisation, rather than on what’s in it for you? 
  • Does your letter conclude positively - without being too passive or too pushy? 
  • Have you referred to other documents such as your CV or Academic Transcript that are enclosed with your letter? 
  • Have you proof-read your letter? Don’t rely only on your spell checker. Any spelling, word-order, or grammatical mistakes could sink your application on the very first page! 
  • Have you attached the right cover letter to the job you are applying for? (Sadly such mistakes are not uncommon!) 
  • Have you saved this copy for your future reference? (It will come in handy at the time of interview) 
  • Have you named the document appropriately? (It could be “Your Name_Cover Letter_Company’s Name” or “Your Name_Cover Letter_Job Title” or “Your Name_Cover Letter_Job Reference Number”) (E.g. John_Cover Letter_ABC Ltd”) 
  • Have you changed the property setting of your document? (Title should be “Cover Letter”, Author should be “your name” & under comments you should mention “your contact numbers and email address”)

Cover Letter Writing Assistance

·         Feel free to fix up an appointment with your Employment Consultant for assistance
·         Get writing tips from your Consultant
·         Bring in your cover letter for review by your Employment Consultant

Raj Singh & Kathryn Lovelidge
Employment Consultants
iCareer Ltd
Division of Cornell Institute of Business & Technology, Auckland 
(Like us on Facebook)


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