Writing a cover letter can be overwhelming, given the pressure of creating a great impression on the hiring manager and ultimately nailing the job interview. Yet, despite contradictory beliefs, cover letters are a crucial part of your job application.
While the resume lists down in an objective manner things like your personal information, achievements and awards won, internships, and jobs you have done. Cover letters present you with the opportunity to tell the hiring managers how you stand out and what makes you unique.
While it is a tedious and intimidating task to fulfill, there are quite a few tricks to feature relevant skills and achievements that appeal to the hiring manager. Including how you can contribute to the company or job profile and highlighting your critical skills will go a long way in writing a cover letter.
How to write a cover letter with no experience?
Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when you write a cover letter with no experience:
1. Review the job profile and research the company’s website carefully
How can you highlight your skills and prove that you are worthy of a job if you do not even know what the job profile is and what the company works within general? You need to ensure that the information you mention in the cover letter is directly related to the set of required skills for the job.
2. List your contact information at the top
You need to mention a few essential things at the top of the cover letter, including your name, address, mobile number, and email address, preferably in the top left corner. After that, add the date, the employer’s name, and address. This makes the document look more professional.
3. Greet the reader and introduce yourself
Make sure you start the letter with a formal greeting like “To Whom It May Concern”, and so on. You can then briefly introduce yourself by stating your name, what has motivated you to apply for the job, and why you are so interested or excited about it.
4. List pertinent skills and achievements
In this section of the cover letter, you can mention all your skills and achievements relevant to the job profile. If you do not have any prior work experience, you can talk about your educational qualifications and how specific courses you took will help you navigate the job expectations. Do not lie or exaggerate in the cover letter because the hiring manager will see right through such tricks.
5. Remind the manager why you are most suited for the profile
This is where you have to try to win over the hiring manager by convincing them that you are most suited to the job profile. Talk about your goals and values, along with how you are passionate and responsible towards work. Sometimes passion and hard work tend to have leverage over experience.
6. Last few steps
The last few steps in writing a cover letter include asking for a job interview where you can speak in further detail about your interests, and the hiring team gets a chance to test your abilities. Finally, do not forget to proofread the letter for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and so on.
Lastly, save the document as a PDF and email it to the hiring manager.
Summing Up
Today’s job market is highly competitive, but with an excellent cover letter, you have a decent chance of getting an interview and finally the job. Follow the steps and tips mentioned in this article to write a cover letter with no experience.
About the Author
BCjobs.ca is Western Canada’s largest job board, and host of “Innovators” a weekly podcast interviewing top recruiters in BC and across Canada. Check out our recent interview with Matt Schatz, CRO of Trulioo (Podcast link), and Peter Fitzpatrick, VP of Payments at Thinkific (Podcast link).
