如何写一封成功的cover letter

hejing3268

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收藏 2014-11-21

How to write a successful covering letter
Why do you need a covering letter?

“My pet hates: incomplete and inaccurate application forms, no covering letter, poor grammar and spelling, careless handwriting and letters written on scrap paper”

_Partner in firm of solicitors.

The covering letter is vital to your CV. This is why it is the first page and not an addition. "Please find enclosed my CV" won't get you very far.

附信对于你的CV来说至关重要，这也是我们把附信放在第一页的原因。

Your covering letter demonstrates your writing style better than your CV (which is usually more brief and factual).

附信比CV更能证明你的写作技巧。

The covering letter puts flesh on the bare bones of the CV. It points out to the employer the information showing that you have the qualities the job calls for, and makes a statement about yourself and your suitability for the job. It should give the personal touch that your CV will intrinsically lack.

附信向招聘者表明：1.你已经拥有了这份工作所需要的品质；2.对你自己以及你自己适合这份工作，做一个陈述。

A survey in the US of employers found that

42.9% wanted candidates to submit a cover letter for each position.
29.8% felt that they were not important ("I don't have the time to read them anyway")
27.4% had no preference

How long should your covering letter be?In the same survey above

19% of employers preferred a full page
46% preferred half a page
11% had no preference
24% felt the shorter the better!

The key point here is that it should never be longer than one page long.

关键点在于附信不能长于一页。

Plain white photocopier paper is fine. 用白色复印纸打印就可以了。It's OK to print your letter on expensive cream or pale blue paper, but content and layout are far more important! Use the same colour for your CV. Don't use lined paper or paper with punched holes!
If emailed put your covering letter in the body of the email. If you attach it with nothing in the email body it may be misidentified as spam.
如果是发邮件，那么将附信放到邮件的征文；如果你把附信作为附件发送，但邮件内容空白，那么你的邮件也许会被误认为是垃圾邮件。
Don't make the employer work to read your letter!
不要让雇主来读你的信。保证你的附信清楚、明白、切中要点。
Keep it clear, concise and to the point.
Try not to go over one side of A4: if it does, you are writing an essay instead!
长度尽量不要超过一页A4纸。
Use your own words not formal long-winded clichés.
使用你自己的话，而不是那些正式冗长的陈词滥调。
Action verbs can help to make it sound better.
动词会让你的附信听起来好一些。
Spell-check and then double-check your spelling and grammar. Spell checkers won't pick up form instead of fromor sex instead of six!
检查拼写，再次检查拼写和语法。
Answer the question "Why should I see you?"
替招聘者回答这样一个问题：为什么我应该给你面试机会？
Make the person who reads it feel special: that it is addressed to them personally and not one of fifty identical letters you are sending out without thought or care,
让读的人感觉你的附信很特殊，是专门写给他们的，而不是你没有思考就发给所有公司的模板。
You might include your understanding of thework/knowledge of the company, and how you fit the criteria required. "I have a real interest in working as a ...." will not do: you must say why you decided to pursue this career, what first brought it to your attention, why you as aHistory student should be interested in a career in finance.
你可以陈述你对工作或公司的了解以及你怎么符合所要求的标准的。“我对。。。职位有浓厚的兴趣”这样的说法益处不大，你必须说明为什么你决定追求这份职业，期初是怎样注意到这份职业的，你是一个学历史的学生为什么对金融类的职业感兴趣？
Relate your skills to the job. Show the employer that you have obtained the communicating, teamworking, problem solving and leadership or other skills that are appropriate for the job. See our Skills pages
将你的技能和工作联系起来。
Say when you're available to start work (and end, if it's a placement): be as flexible as possible.
说明你什么时候可以开始工作：越灵活越好。

Find a quiet place to write your letter .....

Even something as basic as the name of an employer, or an individual recruiter, is often spelled incorrectly. The former Graduate Recruitment Manager at City law firm Mayer Brown found that 20% of applicants got the firm’s name wrong.

即便是最基础的如招聘者或者某个招聘人员的名字也经常会被拼错。

Who should you address your letter to?应该将你的附信写给谁？

Try to find the name of the person to write to. Research by Forum3 found that those who included a letter with their CV were 10% more likely to receive a reply and those who addressed the covering letter and envelope to the correct named person were 15% more likely to receive a letter of acknowledgement and 5% more likely to gain an interview. They also found that 60% of CVs are mailed to the wrong person, with the managing director being the main beneficiary of the unsolicited mail.

Think of a covering letter as a glass of brandy. It's a short measure, quite potent, you'll know very quickly if you like it or not, and it's very easy to judge the quality.

A CV is more like a glass of wine. It's a bit longer, and while like brandy it's basically fermented fruit juice it takes more time to grade, and probably a bit more skill.

-David Welsh, Richmond Solutions

将你的附信比作一杯白兰地。量很小，但酒劲很足，你可以很快知道你是否喜欢它，并且你可以很容易就可以判断出质量的好坏。

而你的CV更像是一杯烈酒。CV更长一点，而白兰地基本就是发酵的果汁因而需要更多的时间去评级，并且需要更多一点的技巧。

A recent survey by Saddleback College in the USA found that the preferred salutions of HR managers were:

Dear Hiring Manager, 38.1% (I'm not so sure that this is right for the UK!)
Dear Sir/Madam, 17.9%
Dear Human Resource Director, 9.5%
To whom it may concern, 26.2%
Leave it blank if you don't know the name. 8.3%

"We would recommend to students that they think carefully about how to re-write at least their covering letter, and possibly also their CV specifically for the post they are applying for. The best applications were succinct and clear, with unfussy covering letters and CVs.It is also always worth checking over a covering letter before sending it, as there were silly errors such as spelling mistakes or the covering letter written for a different placement. A good idea that we saw surprisingly little of is to list the competencies that the job advert says are being looked for, and outline how and why you fulfil those competencies. "——Civil Service

A survey of 500 employers and 2,000 consumers by the jobsite Foosle found that 60% of employers think CVs don't accurately represent people applying for jobs in their organisations. Many candidates use buzz words they think employers wish to hear.‘Hard-working', 'team player' and 'motivated' were the most over-used words on CVs making them meaningless to employers and doing little to make candidates stand out.

The writing rules of George Orwell

Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive voice (e.g. "Bones are liked by dogs") where you can use the active voice ("Dogs like bones").
Never use jargon if you can think of an everyday equivalent.

Does your surname matter?

[size=1em]Researchers at Cambridge University found that, if your surname is King or Prince, you are more likely to be a manager, whereas those with more “common” names such as Cook or Baker are more likely to end up in blue-collar jobs.

What do employers look for in covering letters?Onesurvey of employers found the following
(From the brilliant 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by Eric Hilden)

33% Tailored skills from the job description
26% Clarity (well-written, formatted, specifying job applied to)
20% Details from your CV (additional accomplishments, explanation of any gaps, etc.)
19% Your value, not the basics, why we should hire you
18% Spelling & grammar
17% Personal vision & uniqueness
12% Brevity
10% I never read them!

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hejing3268

2014-11-21 09:01:40

Suggested structure for your covering letter:建议结构

First Paragraph第一段

State the job you’re applying for.陈述你正在申请的工作
Where you found out about it (advert in The Guardian newspaper etc. - organisations like to know which of their advertising sources are being successful)你在哪里看到的招聘信息
When you're available to start work (and end if it's a placement)什么时候可以开始工作

Second Paragraph第二段

Why you're interested in that type of work为什么你对这类工作感兴趣
Why the company attracts you (if it's a small company say you prefer to work for a small friendly organisation!)为什么我们公司吸引你？

Third Paragraph第三段

Summarise your strengths and how they might be an advantage to the organisation.总结你的优势，并陈述这些优势将对公司带来什么好处
Relate your skills to the competencies required in the job.将你的技能和工作所要求的能力联系起来

Last Paragraph最后一段

Mention any dates that you won't be available for interview注明任何你不能去面试的时间
Thank the employer and say you look forward to hearing from them soon.感谢招聘者并且说你盼望很快得到他们的回信

If you start with a name (e.g. "Dear Mr Bloggs") you should end with "Yours sincerely". If you start with "Dear Sir or Madam" you should end with "Yours faithfully".

Emailed letters

Put your covering letter as the body of your email. It's wise to format it as plain text as then it can be read by any email reader.

"As an employer who's just gone through recruiting a graduate, I'd say about 50% of graduates sent me a pro-forma letter and standard CV, with no attempt at matching their skills and experience to those on the job specification.

Several had either got my company's name wrong, or left in the name of the organisation that they had previously applied to. A good 30% of the cover letters were between four and six pages long and a number had used CV templates without removing the format.

But those who can write a relevant cover letter and CV stand out like diamonds and are a joy to shortlist."

Emails are not as easy to read as letters. Stick to simple text with short paragraphs and plenty of spacing. Break messages into points and make each one a new paragraph with a full line gap between paragraphs. DON'T "SHOUT" (WRITE IN UPPER CASE!) Your CV is then sent as an attachment. Say you'll send a printed CV if required.不要以上级的语气说你的CV在附件里。说如果有必要，你会发送一份打印版的CV。

If you don't know the name of the person you are writing to, it's probably best to use the formal Dear Sir or Madam and to sign off Yours Sincerely or Yours Faithfully (see above).

如果你不知道你应该写给谁，那么最好用正式的 Dear Sir or Madam，并以Yours Sincerely或 Yours Faithfully作为结尾。

If they have already emailed you, reply back in the same style, so if they have signed their email "Jenny", write Dear Jenny, but if they have signed it "Ms Smith", write Dear Ms Smith.

If they have emailed you and addressed you Hi Dave, then it's OK to reply Hi Jenny.

如果他们已经给你发过邮件，那就以同样的格式回复。如果他们在Email的签名是Jenny,你就写 Dear Jenny；但是如果他们写的是Ms Smith，你应写 Dear Ms Smith。

如果他们已经给你发过邮件，并使用“Hi Dave”,那么你使用“ Hi Jenny”回复也是可以的。

Also mirror the way they sign off, if they use "regards", "best wishes", then it's safe to do the same.

也要模仿他们结束语的书写方式，如果他们使用 "regards", "best wishes", 那么你使用同样的结束语会比较安全。

For more about this see the excellent BBC article Should e-mails open with Dear, Hi, or Hey?

How should you start it?
Survey of covering letter opening lines.

Here are the most common opening lines from a sample of covering letters by University of Kent students (numbers of occurrences in brackets)这里是一些最通用的开头。

I have just completed my final year at the University of (3)
I am a final year law student at the University of (2)
As a law undergraduate at the University of Kent I am looking for
Currently I am pursuing a degree in .... at the University of
My name is .... and I am a final year student at the (4)
My name is .... and I am writing in response to your advertisement
I am writing to apply for the post of .... in your company (5)
I am writing in response to your advertisement in/for (3)
I am writing to enquire if you have any vacancies for ....

I was very interested to read your advertisement for
I was most interested to read your advertisement for
Further to your advertisement in ...., I should like to apply for
With reference to your vacancy for a ....
I enclose my CV for consideration of the post of
Please find enclosed my application for the post of (3)
As you will see from my CV
I am seeking a placement within a
I am currently looking for an entry-level post in
I am very keen to work for .... because of your reputation for
Your company has an excellent reputation for the training of graduates ...
I read with interest of your organisation's plan to.....
I open my own doors. When my peers give up, I go on.

How not to write a covering letter:书写cover Letter不能做的一些事

Being a Virgoan, my sense of assertiveness and resilience has prompted me to continue with my ambitions to be a solicitor in a major city law firm…I am also a seventh generation descendant of a Chinese princess and a Sulawesian warrior, which makes me…both an amiable and energetic person.
Up until a little while ago I used to compete in British-Eventing competitions on my horse, from which I got a real kick.
Am currently reading Robbie Williams' thought-provoking autobiography.
Like one of your coffees, I am designed to be opened, savoured and enjoyed. (in application to Nestle)
I am someone who knows my own destiny, but I have no definite long term plans
I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely in no one and absolutely nothing.
Here are my qualifications for you to overlook.
I am applying for the post of obstacle assistant (for optical assistant post)
If called to interview I would like to discuss the salary, pensions and sickness benefits
I have excellent memory skills, good analytical skills, excellent memory skills.
Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions.
I was working for my mother until she decided to move.
Spelt his own name wrongly: noticeable as he'd included it at both the top and the bottom of his covering letter.