How to write a perfect cover letter in English Business English Course Lesson 2

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy we’ve spoken about

writing a wonderful CV but alongside

that you will most likely need a cover

letter

some people consider a cover letter to

be pointless but I think it’s an extra

opportunity to persuade a recruiter to

give you a telephone interview some

recruiters may receive hundreds of

applications a day so your cover letter

gives you a chance to stand out from the

crowd in this lesson I’m going to tell

you everything you need to know about

writing a perfect cover letter let’s get

started with the lesson now a cover

letter should be an a4 piece of paper or

document to start you will need to

include your name your contact details

the date and the recruiters contact

details as well even if you are emailing

a cover letter it needs to be written as

a formal business letter always send it

as a PDF file as you don’t know whether

the recruiter will be using Windows or

Mac and a PDF will open on both and the

formatting will stay the same it should

be no longer than 1 a 4 page and I

advise a maximum of 4 paragraphs start

with your name address and contact

details in the top right hand corner

make sure your details are sensible

email addresses like crazy babe 393 @z

male comm won’t make you look very

professional underneath on the left you

should write the company address and the

date

now let’s talk about appropriate

greetings for your cover letter when

you’re doing your initial research try

to find the name of the hiring manager

or whoever will be reading your letter

this way you can make your letter a lot

more personal and it will prove that

you’re a determined candidate who wants

this job specifically if you aren’t sure

of gender just write their full name

make sure you check your spelling

because misspelling their name will

cause them to disregard your application

99% of the time if you can’t find their

name or if you aren’t sure about their

name you should instead start with dear

sir or madam or dear hiring manager or

dear recruiting manager or even dear

human resources professional just avoid

to whom it may concern as it’s a little

outdated now let’s talk about the first

paragraph the first paragraph needs to

include why you’re writing the letter

and the position that you’re applying

for

you should also mention where you found

the position and the fact that your CV

is attached at the end you can add a

little extra about yourself that you

couldn’t share on your CV for example

I’m writing to apply for the role of

Account Manager in response to the

advert posted on the seed jobs platform

please find my CV attached alongside

this cover letter having worked in the

agricultural industry for five years I’m

very excited about the prospect of

working with a company that has such a

strong focus on sustainable food

let’s discuss the second paragraph now

that you’ve introduced yourself and

established your enthusiasm in the

second paragraph you can discuss your

most relevant experience and talk about

the specific qualifications and skills

that make you the perfect candidate in

this paragraph you need to sell yourself

something that we talked about in

another lesson

make sure you’re not just repeating what

you’ve put in your CV you want to add

something extra while still emphasizing

your skills and experience let’s talk

about your third paragraph the main goal

of your closing paragraph is to thank

the employer for their time and

consideration you can also use this

paragraph to justify any major gaps in

your employment history sum up your

qualifications and express an interest

in continuing to the next stage in the

hiring process

you could also show your availability

for a callback and an interview before

you sign off you should try to promise

more information for example I would

love to show you my award-winning design

portfolio or I would like the

opportunity to show you how I increased

productivity by 23% just be prepared to

fulfill any promises in the interview

now let’s talk about an appropriate

sign-off you should end your message

with a formal clothing such as sincerely

regards or best regards

if your clothing contains more than one

word capitalized only the first word as

in best regards or your sincerely be

sure to put a comma after your closing

on the next line you need to write your

full name and then you need to write

your telephone number and your email

address on separate lines after your

name

although you will already have put your

contact information at the top it’s

important to remind them including it

again makes life easier for the

recruiter now we’re going to be looking

at cover letter grammar my first grammar

tip is to avoid contractions where

necessary I’m or I am don’t or do not

I’d or I would so how do you know if

it’s okay to use contractions in a cover

letter or not well it depends on who’s

likely to read it and the job that

you’re applying for you want to

demonstrate that you’re a good fit and a

good way of doing that is to match the

communication style of the employer in

your cover letter you should always use

full sentences bullet points are for the

CV full sentences are for the cover

letter you should avoid the passive

voice and use the active voice most of

the time an example of the passive voice

is a promotion to supervisor was awarded

to me after only one year the active

voice

after only one month I earned a

promotion to manager the passive voice

loyalty was recognized as one of my

strengths the active voice I am very

loyal now let’s discuss the vocabulary

that you should and should not use in

your cover letter firstly don’t use any

slang this is a formal business letter

you should also try to use keywords from

the job advert additionally you should

use powerful verbs and adjectives I’m

going to give you a list of weak verbs

and the powerful verbs you can use

instead number one instead of get you

can use receive number two instead of

give you could use provide

number three instead of help you could

say assist for instead of answer you

could try reply number five

instead of twos you could say select

number six

instead of saying talk about you could

use discuss

number seven instead of to make sure you

could say ensure and number eight

instead of to tell you could use to

inform lastly before you send off your

cover letter you need to check is

everything attached is your CV there as

well is everything proof read are there

any spelling mistakes or are there any

grammar mistakes right if you follow all

of my tips you should have a really

clear and concise cover letter that

should make you stand out amongst the

crowd okay now it’s time for a quiz

correct the following sentences in the

comments down below using what you’ve

learnt in this lesson

there are also some further grammar

mistakes I’ll be looking out for correct

answers but please feel free to correct

each other number one to whom it may

concern I’m interesting in this job to

whom it may concern I’m interesting in

this job

number two I looking forward to get your

feedback I looking forward to get your

feedback

number three I made sure all the

customer were helped

I made sure all the customer were helped

number four I give my contact details

below I’ve give my contact details below

number five I helped my boss in

developing to the project I helped my

boss in developing to the project

number six I love the project management

which is why I hope you choose me for

this position

I love the project management which is

why I hope you choose me for this

position number seven I am available for

an interview at your convenience I am

available for an interview at your

convenient

number eight you’re sincerely Alan Smith

you’re sincerely Alan Smith right that’s

it with the quiz comment your answers

down below that’s it for today’s lesson

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you

learnt something don’t forget to connect

with me on all of my social media I’ve

got my facebook my Instagram and my

Twitter and I shall see you soon for

another lesson what

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