Don't underestimate the importance of a cover letter

Career Connection: Building your professional career

Every so often someone asks me, "Do I really need a cover letter these days, even when a job ad doesn't ask for one?" Some hiring managers think that cover letters are a waste of time because they say they don't read them. Well, they often don't read them because some job seekers write cover letters poorly as an afterthought instead of developing them with purpose. However, if you write your cover letter correctly, it will be another document in your portfolio that attests to your professional expertise and your brand. It summarizes at a high level — with a touch of marketing panache — the accomplishments and capabilities detailed on your résumé with only minimal explicit verbatim repetition.

You'll write your best cover letters after you've polished your résumé in much the way a book author writes the preface after finishing the manuscript. Your cover letter, containing some raw materials from your résumé, then will propel hiring managers back to your résumé.

Those hiring managers who don't read cover letters and go directly to résumés often miss out on candidates who might be a notch above the competition simply by how they're selling their professional brands. And then hiring managers who just scan résumés might inadvertently pass over the problem solver, the solutions provider and/or the game changer — all whom their teams or companies need.

The cover letter is another form of documentation in what I call the Professional Skills, Knowledge and Experience (PSKE™) Portfolio that attests to your professional brand. The consultant's cover letter says: I understand your business and the issues you face every day. Call me when you need that value-added professional who has a demonstrated record of accomplishment and success.

In my career, hiring managers have called me in for interviews three times based solely on the strength of my cover letters.

A cover letter has to do several things to get a hiring manager to look at your résumé. It must:

Speak to a hiring manager's needs, not your own

Getting hired is never about you; it's always about what a hiring manager needs. You do that by following the rule of thumb that says your cover letter should have more instances of the words you/your/yours than of the words I/me/my/mine (2:1 ratio). That's just simple advertising copyrighting.

Emphasize "future benefits of your expertise"

Sell hiring managers on the future benefits of your expertise (instead of the features of your past experience), and you'll greatly improve your chances of them scrutinizing your résumé and calling you in for interviews.

The first paragraph below demonstrates what the "features of your past experience" looks like; the revised version demonstrates the "future benefits of your expertise."

ORIGINAL: "Not only do I know how regulators view and approach issues, but I also understand the challenges that corporations face in remaining competitive while meeting their regulatory and control requirements."

REVISED: You will need someone who knows how regulators view and approach issues, and understands the challenges your organization faces in remaining competitive while meeting regulatory and control requirements.

Include quantified accomplishments from your résumé that will communicate to a hiring manager that you do, in fact, have a proven track record

A common mistake is just saying you'd be a good fit without supplying the evidence to back it up. Hiring managers understand numbers more than words. The number of arrests you made as a government agent may not mean anything to a hiring manager in the private sector, but your success rate — the percentage — certainly will.

Grab a hiring manager's attention in five to seven seconds

You won't do that by beginning with, "Please find enclosed my resume ... " You start it with a rhetorical question such as, "Do you think that Company ABC would want a financial risk management professional who has accomplished the following?" And then you follow that with a short bullet list of quantified accomplishments pulled from your résumé.

Leading with a rhetorical question whose only rational response is "yes" will escort a hiring manager deeper into your cover letter and the other accomplishments that support your contention that you're the perfect candidate.

Allows you to put on your slightly assertive, unabashed self-promoter hat but only if you have the quantified accomplishments to back it up

Writing something like, "When you need that proposal writer who has garnered more than $30 million in government grants and awards, you call me: John Doe" is perfectly legit if that $30 million-dollar number is on your résumé. But without the evidence to support that assertion, you're just "all hat, no cattle," as they say here in Texas.

Eliminate "Squishy" Verbiage

Your cover letter strategy should be aware that a hiring manager doesn't care that you:

• "Love" your professional specialty.
• Are "passionate" about your professional specialty.
• Are "confident" he or she will find you qualified for the position.
• "Believe" your skills are what the position calls for.

Such "squishy" words don't belong in a cover letter and actually turn off many hiring managers from reading further. However, hiring managers understand the essence of these messages only through your demonstrated accomplishments and expertise — not through overt statements in a cover letter.

Always take control of the follow-up in your closing paragraph

Never write "hoping to hear from you" or "thank you for your consideration." Tell a hiring manager you'll call in a few days to discuss further how you're that value-added professional for the position, and then follow through with a phone call. You'll kick up your name recognition by a notch or two and promote your brand.

It doesn't matter if you speak to the hiring manager, to voice mail or an administrative assistant. Taking control of the follow-up gets your name across the hiring manager's desk again. Keeping your name out front throughout the entire hiring process — especially after interviews are finished — is key to improving your chances of getting the job offer.

Here's an example closing paragraph from a cover letter I've used in my career that includes the promise of calling the hiring manager:

"I have a 25-year track record of continually adding value to the projects for which I was responsible. I can do the same for your company. I will call you in a few days to discuss how I can help you be more successful in an increasingly competitive marketplace."

I'm sometimes asked, "What if the ad says ‘no phone calls, please.' How does that limitation change your cover letter closing paragraph?" I simply delete the last sentence of my closing paragraph and end with the previous sentence. "I can do the same for your company" is a future promise based on the benefits of your expertise and previous accomplishments. That makes a strong impression with the hiring manager.

One chance, my friends

When we're looking for that next position, we'd all like to waltz into the offices of hiring managers and show them how we're the perfect candidates. Instead, we can do that with polished cover letters that propel managers to our résumés and demonstrate how we're exactly what they need.

Donn LeVie Jr. has more than 25 years of experience in hiring manager positions for the U.S. Department of Commerce-NOAA, Phillips Petroleum (now Conoco-Phillips), Fisher Controls, Motorola SPS and Intel Corporation. LeVie is the author of "Confessions of a Hiring Manager Rev. 2.0 (Second Edition)," which was the recipient of the 2012 International Book Award for Business/Careers and the Winner of the 2012 Global eBook Award for Jobs/Careers. He has presented at several ACFE Global Fraud Conferences and conducted personal career consultations with attendees.

Read more insight and discuss this article in the ACFE's LinkedIn group. 

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners assumes sole copyright of any article published on www.Fraud-Magazine.com or ACFE.com. Permission of the publisher is required before an article can be copied or reproduced.