Cover Letter: 7 Golden Rules for a Successful Unsolicited Application
4 March 2013
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The principles for writing an unsolicited application are generally the same as those for responding to an ad, with an even greater need to capture the reader's attention. An unsolicited cover letter must also be more personalized than a response to an ad. It is imperative to address a specific person: recruitment manager, human resources, or directly to the company director for SMEs.
1. Get your message across
A local or specialized press article, small ads, a presentation at a conference... these are all elements you will carefully keep about the company that interests you, to build a small database that will allow you to start your letter well, thanks to a precise and targeted opening. Don't explain all this to the employer to show that you're a good student. Focus on the message you want to convey.
2. Generate interest
Even minimal research allows you to identify keywords for the company that will help your application get past the recruiter's first glance. Analyze their recruitment methods and types, try to find out the diplomas and profiles they are looking for to use terms that "speak" to them. In this case, you can use the first person, because you are addressing the company with terms that refer to its needs.
"Do as some brands do who send commercial offers in mailboxes. When they write: "Dear Ms. or Mr. So-and-so, it's your birthday and I'm sending you a small gift," they don't specify: "I bought the file with your contact details and your date of birth from such and such a company..." and that's how I know you were born on July 25th," explains Jean-Marc Legras, consultant at the JMLP firm in Caen.
"It doesn't matter how you got the information. Just as the recruiter will try to generate interest from the candidate when they post an ad, the latter should not reveal all their secrets. If they have information, they should not say how they got it. I would even say that when they prove they have done "economic intelligence," they can be called for an interview to find out how they obtained such and such information," continues Jean-Marc Legras.
3. Spark curiosity
Other recruiters, in professions that undoubtedly require a lot of curiosity, such as human resources, like the way the candidate personalizes the information more than the advertising message. "I need to be told how they found out about me," explains Remy Dreano, who recruits skills assessment advisors for his organization, CLIP. Whether it's after reading an article in the press, via the Internet... It's my curiosity as an employer. Of course, if I represented France Telecom, I wouldn't ask that question. But I recruit for a small structure; I'm always flattered that someone found me. I don't need them to tell me: "I heard good things about your organization," to give me a lot of talk. But I expect that in the introduction, they explain how they chose me."
4. Create a connection
Unsolicited applications, however, have a major pitfall: that of over-justifying oneself, once again talking about oneself. This reflex is understandable: the person who will receive your application will indeed ask two questions: "Who are they?", and: "Why this choice?" The "game" will be to immediately create a link between them and you, or even to force their hand a little so that they become interested in you; they will not always wait for the third sentence of your letter to form an opinion. This link may have been established through a phone call, in person, via a website, through information at a trade show...
• Make the recruiter's memory work "As agreed following our phone conversation on (date), I am sending you my application."
• Reverse the recommendation "Your company was strongly recommended to me by Mr. X, who worked more than ten years in the sales department..."
• Show that you have done your research "Your company was present at the (theme) trade show on (date) in (City). I was thus able to discover the activity of the (such and such) department, related to my professional experience (...)"
Recruitment is not an exact science, and the success of your application will depend largely on the recruiter's personality and the method they have chosen to adopt. The essential thing is to find yourself in one method or another, but to create a sufficiently attractive opening, as Nicolas Thebaut, head of the Tebopro association, a professional network for job-seeking executives, summarizes. "The most important thing is to attract enough attention to get an interview. The goal should not be, at least initially, to argue or to go into too much detail."
5. Differentiate recruiters
Imagine: you are the boss of an SME of 50 people, you receive a few dozen applications a year. You are the director of human resources or the recruitment manager of a multinational, your company receives a few hundred CVs... per day! It is probably in the small company that your cover letter will be read most attentively. More "humanly" too.
In large groups, it is often the recruitment assistant who is responsible for carrying out the first sorting, based on keywords. The expression of your feelings, your combativeness, what you are deep down and are ready to give will not be decisive, at least for this first selection of applications. In an SME, yes. "I like to be addressed directly," explains Brigitte Herbomez, CEO of Wim-Bosman. When my name is indicated on the letterhead, it's a definite plus. I read the CV and the cover letter in parallel, they are equally important. But the letter must speak to me, explain things to me." Depending on the size of the company but also its sector, the words should not be the same.
6. Respect your interlocutors
Having respect for recruiters is first and foremost about having respect for yourself. And not agreeing to sell yourself to everyone at any price. The idea, even when adopting a marketing approach, is not to offer a ready-made product to a standardized company. However... "The cover letters that attract our attention because they show a minimum of interest in our company only represent 10% of those we receive," laments Francois Gardebled, general secretary of Haas Extincteurs. This is probably because we are often more in a dynamic of "job seekers" than "job searchers." For example, we received a letter acknowledging our expertise in the banking field!" Employers don't always ask the impossible...
"The cover letter must be targeted," also specifies Jo Dreau, head of the Kerhis company. An impersonal letter is a negative point for me. We don't ask people to know the company perfectly, but to have been curious enough to look at what we do and talk about it a minimum. On our website, what we do is indicated, i.e. IT management, in the agricultural field. These are very clear terms. The candidate must highlight them, indicating for example: "Preferred IT partner of cooperatives and producer organizations, Kerhis has caught my attention." This letter interests me, I tell myself that the person has done their research and knew how to highlight our particularities. If someone talks to me about customer service, even without talking about agriculture, I would also be sensitive. On the other hand, if they write to me: "You are a dynamic company, and I match the profile sought," it will leave me quite cold."
7. Find the "something extra"
Keep in mind that SMEs represent the largest reservoir of jobs in France, and that highlighting their "international presence," when their activities are essentially within France, tends to annoy them. Always interest employers, regardless of their size, with an element that concerns them and that is not so difficult to find.
This recommendation is valid regardless of your experience and status. Bruno Rendu, consultant at Right Garon Bonvalot and who supports executives in their careers, often deplores the lack of research in letters. "I find that in most of them, people simply repeat what is in the CV. We should add information related to the analysis we have made of the company, to the perception we have of it. This can allow us to give some ideas, some indications about one's personality."
(1) "Cover Letters for all situations", l'Express ed., 15 euros. Career change, layoff, seniors... 200 formulas adapted to your case. Tips to follow, mistakes to avoid...
Dominique Perez, Nathalie Samson.
Pourseformer.fr
Posted online March 4, 2013.
