Sometimes the small things make a big difference in your cover letter and increase your chance to get jobs in Egypt.
1. The cover letter must be without any typos or grammatical errors. (Not even one) Because the Employers won’t even consider candidates who they don’t appear qualified at the first view.
2. Use a basic font and remove the formatting, “simple is best”.
3. Keep your cover letter short and simple. This is not the time to tell your whole life's story.
4. Do not use contractions like: (I'd, didn't, it's).
5. How to address your Cover letter, in the salutation: If you have a contact person for your cover letter, be sure to include their names in your cover letter.
For Example:
For Example:
- Dear Mr. Ali,
- Dear Ms. Rania,
- Dear Dr. Ahmed,
Note:
- Miss - an unmarried female
- Mrs. - a married female
- Mr. - a man
- Ms. - a woman who perhaps you don't know if she is married, or some woman prefer to be called this anyway.
But if you don’t have a contact person at the company you can use one of the following:
(I wrote them from the most important one to the less important)
- Dear Hiring Manager
- To whom it may concern
- Dear Sir/Madam
- Dear Human Resources Director
6. You must write your cover letter targeted to each position you apply for. However, if you don't invest the time in writing cover letters, you're probably won’t get the interview. ( I prefer making a different cover letter for each vacancy you will apply for )
7. The most important tip: Take the job position and list the criteria which the employer is looking for. Next list the skills and experience you have or address how your skills match the job in a paragraph. ( you will find examples below )
8. Finally put your contact information in your signature including:
- Your name
- Your Email
- Home Phone
- Mobile Phone
9. (If you will send your cover letter as an attachment file via E-mail) Save your cover letter with your name so they don't get mixed up with other candidates, For Example: BassemOsamaCover.doc … etc.
10. Also (If you will send your cover letter as an attachment file via E-mail) save your cover letter in PDF format or doc format (you can make it with Microsoft word 2003 or older), don’t save it in docx format (you can make it with Microsoft word 2007 or earlier) because may be the interviewer doesn’t have the last version of Microsoft office on his computer.
