Passionately Interested?: Write from the heart

[Joywtome231]

The first issue, in my opinion, is the hardest part of the letter to write. How to sound as though you really connect with the role and the organisation, in a formal letter without sounding over the top or schmaltzy?

My advice is to first write from the heart. Put down exactly what it is about the role that appeals to you, in ordinary everyday language. That way, it should ring true. You can go back later and clean it up, using more formal language if necessary. Use pen and paper not the keyboard: that way, you are more likely to avoid impersonal business language.



Star Candidate?: Cover key elements and leave no doubts
In relation to the second issue, if you are struggling to fit all of your content on one afghanistan phone number library page, it’s a good sign that you have covered all the key elements of the role. Here, again, it is important to avoid sterile, cold ‘corporate speak’ language.

Match your content to the seniority of the role but write in a professionally chatty way. Your résumé is fiercely formal – what’s the point of producing another document that has the same impersonal tone?

Take the opportunity of painting a different picture of yourself in the letter. I call it ‘passing the aeroplane test’, as in ‘I’d be happy sitting next to him in a plane’. Your next possible boss is reading your letter. You want her to think, ‘This person seems nice and normal. I can see myself working with him.’

Make the letter specific to the job: an employer spots a generic letter a mile off.

Once you have painted a compelling picture of why you are the ‘star’ applicant, ask a friend who’s good with English to help you hone the content.