Are cover letters still relevant in 2022?

Drake Marketing

Are cover letters still relevant in 2022? The short answer is yes! A resume without a cover letter only tells half of the story. The cover letter is what brings context to your narrative and an opportunity to present your professional personality. 

The cover letter quickly reveals: 

• Your communication and written style 

• Your skills and experiences relevant to the role  
• Your interest in the role 
• The cover letter, when crafted correctly, allows you to contextualise and highlight your key achievements relevant to the position you are applying for. 

This is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability to clearly organise and express yourself. Cover letters can be very dry, if you can write with an engaging style and can convey your enthusiasm and excitement, you will be more memorable. 

To make that positive first impression, you need to understand what to include in your cover letter.   Ask yourself these five questions before writing to build a great foundation for your cover letter:  

1. What is the employer looking for and how are your skills relevant? 
2. What are your objectives and how do they tie into this opportunity? 
3. What are your top 5 qualities that match the position description? 
4. How can you match your experience to the job? Give specific examples of achievements that relate to the desired attributes in a candidate? 
5. Why do you want to work for this organisation? 

Once you have formed a plan based on the above considerations, it’s time to start. Let’s break it down: 

Start by telling employers who you are 

The “who you are” part is a brief introduction of yourself with a phrase like: “I am in my final year at XYZ University graduating in May with a degree in biology.” The information needs to be clear, simple and relevant to the job that you are applying for. 

The Sales Pitch 

The objective of this part of the letter is to list–either in paragraph form or bullet points, the reasons why the reader should see you as a viable candidate. It’s best to start with a statement that provides an overview of your experience, then go into them more specifically, using the examples you identified before you started writing. A typical opening statement might sound something like: “As a political science professional, and former campaign volunteer for the Conservative party, I offer the following skills and accomplishments.” 

A Request for Further Action 

You can thank them for reading your application and let them know you will follow up with a call or email to see if a meeting can be organised. 

Once you have created your cover letter it is important to proofread more than once. If you can, ask a friend or relative to proofread your letter for you. 

There are many advantages of a well written cover letter. Ultimately it should help you make the short list and move a little closer to that new job.   

To help you, we have created a best practice downloadable COVER LETTER providing you with the ideal structure to create a memorable cover letter.   

If you’d like to speak to one of the Drake Recruitment team or explore our current job opportunities, please get in touch today on 13 14 48 or submit your resume here.