By Michelle Wanjiku

An application letter or cover letter is the most important part of your job search and as such it needs to be done well and in an attractive manner. The application letter is the first thing an employer looks at and if you do not convey why you deserve the job properly then they won’t even look at your CV.

Here are a few things to help you when writing an Application Letter

1. Tailor it to your industry

Whenever you write a cover letter it is important to remember to tailor it to the industry you want to work in. For example if the job is a Human Resource position then there is no point in you mentioning your sales experience.

This is because the cover letter is supposed to show how you are qualified for the position which means you only need to put experience relevant to the position you are applying for. The rest can appear on your CV

2. Address the Hiring Manager

Your application letter should be addressed to the hiring manager. If you can find out his/her name and use that in the salutation. This goes a long way in showing that you were truly interested in the position and took time to do some research especially if the name was not indicated in the job advert.

3. Keep it short

It is important to keep in mind that the recruiter has to go through a lot of applications therefore if you want yours read it should be brief and clear. There is no point in writing two pages or even more than six paragraphs. The shorter and clear it is the better.

4. Be passionate

When writing an application letter it is important that you show that you truly are interested in the position and working for the company. This will help impress the recruiter and better your chances of getting an interview.

No one wants to hire someone with no real interest in what they do.

Below is a sample cover letter for graduate trainee accountant jobs.

Graduate Job Seeker,
P.O. Box 10678- 0100
Nairobi,
5th January, 2016.

The Human Resource Manager,
ABC Company,
Box 34567– 00100,
Nairobi.

Dear Sir/ Madam

RE: APPLICATION FOR GRADUATE TRAINEE ACCOUNTANT POSITION

I am writing to express my interest in the position of accountant graduate trainee as advertised in STU newspaper. I recently graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce – Accounting and Finance from Kenyatta University and have a CPA 4 qualification.

I am particularly attracted to your firm because your graduate training programme will help me gain hands on experience in the banking industry. During my time as a student I have had part-time jobs and an internship, all of which have given me a chance to work as part of a team and meet deadlines.
Working at FGH company gave me a chance to inspire and motivate others while at the same time invest in my integrity and accountability skills.

In addition to my formal education, I grasp fresh concepts quickly and can easily adapt to new changes. My first-rate communication skills will assist me in building a professional network of clients and colleagues.

I have also learnt to give positive feedback, and to use it to set my own personal goals for self-improvement I welcome the challenge of working with you in a bid to build on my professional skills while upholding your dedication to exceptional customer service delivery.

I would appreciate an opportunity to discuss my interest further with you. You can reach me at 07XX 123456 if you need further information and clarification.

Sincerely,
(Signature)
Graduate Job Seeker

A CV is supposed to be a true representation of your work experience. It should be able to tell the employer about your professional history and your skills. Simply put, a CV is supposed to be a marketing tool used to sell you to prospective employers

Here are tips on how to write a CV for 2017

There are particular sections that employers expect to see on your CV regardless of industry and below I will tackle each section and what you are expected to include.

1. Contact Details

Every CV should have your contact information; it’s the very first section on a CV. The details should include your name, physical address, email address and phone number. Make sure that the email address is professional, emails such as [email protected] show how immature you are and the employer might not want to look at your CV beyond that point.

2. Professional Profile

This is the second part on the CV; it’s also one of the most important aspects of your CV. It simply highlights your experience, your skills and expertise. The profile should be tailored to match the job you are applying for, highlighting specific qualities that match the role. Aim to keep your profile short and precise and not more than a four sentences.

3. Education

Here, you are supposed to outline your education profile starting with the most recent to the last one. Include the certification, the name of the institutions and the dates you were there. In this section you can use bullet points.

An example:

• Diploma in Human Resource, IHRM, 2014-2015
• Degree in Business Administration, Kenya Methodist University, 2010-2013

4. Experience and employment history

This is the most important section on a CV. In this section you outline your previous jobs and work experience. Your experience should be listed from the most recent to the last one. You should state your job titles and the dates you worked, followed by the company you worked for and then outline your duties and responsibilities. Choose duties that are most relevant to the job you are applying for, especially if it’s a long list. Use bullet points to outline your duties and responsibilities.

An example

Human Resource Assistant;
ABC Company, 2012-To Date;
Duties and Responsibilities:

• Prepare reports and recommend procedures to reduce absenteeism, employee turnover and low morale among the workforce
• Provide advice and support to supervisors and staff selection committee
• Actively take part in the staffing function right from recruitment, selection and placement to termination
• Participate in training and development of all staff, new and current as well as outgoing
• Advising employees on employment law and the employer’s own employment policies and procedures

5. Key Achievements

If you have done anything you are particularly proud of, like implementing a system in your department you should include it on the CV, also remember to include the changes that have come about due to your achievement. This is very important as it helps you differentiate yourself from other candidates  . This should come just below the work experience.

An example

Human Resource Assistant;
ABC Company, 2012-To Date;
Duties and Responsibilities:

• Prepare reports and recommend procedures to reduce absenteeism, employee turnover and low morale among the workforce
• Provide advice and support to supervisors and staff selection committee
• Actively take part in the staffing function right from recruitment, selection and placement to termination
• Participate in training and development of all staff, new and current as well as outgoing
• Advising employees on employment law and the employer’s own employment policies and procedures

Key Achievement(s):

• Developed a management of attendance policy which has reduced absenteeism levels in the workplace by 2%
• Facilitated the rebuilding of the organization’s HR function which resulted in significant cost-savings

6. Membership/professional Affiliation

This is where you give details of professional bodies that you are affiliated with if any. An example you are a registered member for IHRM, you should include it here.

7. Hobbies and interests

When you tell your employers what you do on your own time, it says a lot about your natural motivations. These are activities that nobody tells you to do but there should be some connections to the type of jobs you do. Note that, hobbies that are not descriptive of your abilities e.g. eating out or going out to watch movies are unlikely to add value to your CV.

8. Lastly on how to write a CV, the references

Your referees should include your previous employers either in managerial or supervisory level. The section should include the person’s name, their job title, the company they work for, their contact number and email address.

My first resume was just a half-page long and the only feedback I received was that I should’ve included more work experience. When I got home, I immediately did a Google search because I (admittedly) didn’t know what I was doing.

I went the other way for my next attempt and wrote my life story. It didn’t get me a single reply. I hated that feeling and decided to experiment until I found a resume that would give me results.

So, I started designing different templates. I tried various fonts, added images, and played with all sorts of colors and effects, until I created something I felt really proud of. As an arts major with design experience, I wanted to show off my particular skill set.

I sent out the revamped version, and the very same day I got a call for an interview. Fast-forward one month and I was working at a Ritz-Carlton resort. The first thing my manager said was “We don’t often get resumes like this in the hospitality industry, so I was eager to meet you.”

I’ve used this template with every application since. While I’m still relatively early in my career and I’ve shifted from hospitality to content editing, my resume has helped me get my foot in the door each time. I know that because I always get positive comments about it during interviews.

While I can’t guarantee that you’ll have the same results as me—this formatting might not be appropriate for every industry and role—I can share what I learned when I transformed mine from monotonous to eye-catching.

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You have just gone through the stress of a first interview and luckily you have aced it. The hiring manger now wants to bring you in for a second one. Congratulations on that step!

“Just because you got through to the second interview doesn’t really guarantee you the job” says Muthoni Ndegwa, a Client Services Manager at Corporate Staffing Services Limited, a leading recruitment firm that offers career advisory services that includes interview coaching and CV writing. A second interview is no different from the first. You need to handle it, just as you did the first one to guarantee you placement in the company.

So What are the Mistakes People Make in Second Interviews?

1. Refusing to prepare

Naturally, most people assume that you don’t need to research the company since you have already made it to this stage. Probably many have not. After all, what else is left to do? All you have to do is continue being a delight, which isn’t a bad thing. However, don’t make the mistake of just going for an interview without having prepared adequately. Most of the time, you find that in a second interview, you are likely to meet new interviewers, hence the more better reason you should prepare well.

Instead, prior to the interview conduct a background check on the company on their website and social media pages. You never know what you may have missed that may just come up during the interview. The new knowledge will make the interview process flow smoothly as it makes conversing easier.

2. You Think it’s Time to Make Bold Requests

Just because they gave you a chance to come for a second interview doesn’t mean, you get too comfortable and start making unrealistic demands. These include crazy ideas like wanting to have a one on one meeting with a company executive or being given a sneak peak view into company information that is only reserved for employees.

Some even go to the extent of arriving three hours before the interview, since they want to ‘hang around’ with the employees to learn the company culture. Keep calm! You have not been hired. Just because they called you in for the second interview doesn’t mean, they think you are the best candidate. Be humble. However, don’t strain much. If you need anything, like to use the restroom just ask. Just avoid asking for things you know very well you don’t need.

3. Getting Too Casual in Your Conversations

At this point of the interview process, it’s natural to feel like you know some of the interviewers you interacted with the first time on a personal level. It’s therefore easy to let down your guard and start sharing information that is too personal. The truth is that no matter how relaxed you feel; keep the conversation as professional as possible.

What you need to keep in mind is that, this is still an interview like any other. It’s not a casual meeting you would have with friends to discuss what’s trending on social media. However if you have something personal that you think is relevant to the interview, there is no harm in sharing.

Making it to the second interview stage, should be a great accomplishment that you should be proud of. However, while at it, don’t walk into the room like the jobs is already yours. This is still an interview, to determine if you are the best fit but that doesn’t mean being too uptight. Instead carry yourself in a professional way that might just be the reason you are given that offer letter at the end.

When I first moved to New York, I was a cover letter machine. I wrote to every sir or madam with a job opening. I expressed my interest in positions for which I had none. I waxed rhapsodic about companies I’d never heard of. My response rate? A whopping zero percent.

Around the 10th unanswered application, the negative chatter started to kick in—and it sounded suspiciously like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

Go home, Lisa, said the small, icy voice in my head. You’re just not cut out for this. Also, you have no sense of style. At my lowest point, while surfing job boards at Starbucks, I actually locked myself in the bathroom and cried.

Here’s the good thing about rock bottom: Nothing is off-limits. I gave myself permission to try any and all tactics in the cover letter playbook, from throwing in a Beyoncé GIF to pretending the hiring manager and I were good friends. Finally, 103 cover letters later, I landed on one that worked.

Within an hour, I had an interview request waiting in my inbox—and then another, and another. Soon, my response rate skyrocketed from 0 to 55%, and I was scheduling interviews with Vogue, InStyle, and Rolling Stone into my calendar. In other words, this letter—fueled by an old copywriting framework called problem-agitate-solve—is powerful stuff.

Here’s how this three-part formula (a.k.a., my secret sauce) works:

1. Identify the Problem

55% of hiring managers don’t read cover letters. Why should they, when we write like modern-day Oliver Twists, begging them to please, sir, give us the job?

News flash: The hiring manager isn’t here to make your dreams come true. They’re in it for themselves. OK, that’s harsh, but the truth is that they’re looking for an awesome candidate to come in and do a kick-ass job that’ll help them run their department (or company) more efficiently and successfully. That’s why, when a friend tipped me off to an opening at the fashion magazine I’d read religiously since middle school, I resisted the urge to gush—and opened with this one-liner instead:

“As a veteran of Details.com and Vs. Magazine, I’ve seen how crazy fashion month can get.”

This sentence, though just 16 words long, tells the hiring manager two things: I understand the problem you’re trying to solve, and I’ve been there. The trick? Zeroing in on the right problem—because it’s almost never spelled out for you in the job description.

When you’re writing your own cover letter, start with the list of responsibilities and ask yourself, Why? Why is this task important to this company? Keep digging until you can’t go any further. The true need is usually the one at the end of a chain of whys.

2. Agitate the Problem

Now that you’ve identified the problem, here comes the fun part.

Because no hiring manager has ever said, “I just love paying employees thousands of dollars every year!” your challenge now is to remind him or her how painful the problem is, and by default, how valuable a solution could be. Don’t be afraid to twist the knife a bit, like I did in my second paragraph:

If you’re looking for someone who can not only keep up, but also deliver that SEO-friendly, 75-page street style slideshow five minutes ago…

Notice I didn’t say, “If you’re looking for someone who can turn around projects quickly…” I was specific, and I made sure to use an example I knew would resonate with a stressed-out web editor.

And if you’re new to the industry or the role? Just ask. This is exactly what informational interviews are for. Find someone on the team you’re applying to, let your interviewer do most of the talking, and pay close attention to how he or she discusses the company’s challenges.

In conversation, we instinctively trust people who mirror our body language. On your application, you won’t get the chance—but you can do the next best thing: Pick up on your interviewer’s subtle cues and phrases and then mirror their speaking language in your cover letter.

3. Offer the Solution

By this point, you’ve got the hiring manager squirming at the table. Now, deliver the solution. Hint: It’s you.

Think about what makes you incredibly qualified to solve the problem. In my case, I knew I wanted the hiring manager to think of me and say, “Lisa? Oh, she’s the one who knows our backend systems and seems like a real go-getter.”

Here’s how I made it happen:

“Since TeamSite and I are old friends, I’ll be able to hit the ground running—and whether it’s churning out a dozen blog posts per day or refreshing the homepage with breaking fashion month news, I’ve done it all. Most importantly, you’ll never hear me say, “That’s not my job!”

4. Close With Confidence

After all that work, you aren’t going to dash off a breathless “Hope to hear from you soon!” right? Instead, seal the deal with a sentence that displays confidence, competence, and a genuine interest in the company:

“I’d love to learn more about your production needs and how I can help!”

Boom. That’s it.

Like its contrarian sibling, the pain letter, this cover letter takes some guts to send. I get it—the first time I fired it off, I was so terrified my boyfriend had to hit the enter button for me.

Look at it this way, though: Everyone else will compete on how many buzzwords they can stuff in a sentence. They’ll swear up and down how passionate they are and how hard they work. But you? With this cover letter formula, you’ve already proved it.

You, my friend, play a different game.

Credit : themuse.com

I’ve read a lot of cover letters throughout my career. When I was a fellowship program manager, I reviewed them in consideration for more than 60 open positions each year. So I saw it all—the good, the bad, and the standout examples that I can still remember.

As a result, I’ve become the go-to friend when people need feedback on their job applications. Based on my own experience putting people in the “yes” (and “no”) pile, I’m able to give these cover letters a quick scan and immediately identify what’ll turn a hiring manager off.

While I can’t give you insight into every person’s head who’ll be reading your materials, I can share with you the feedback that I give my own loved ones.

1. The Basics

First things first, I skim the document for anything that could be disqualifying. That includes typos, a “Dear Sir or Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern” salutation, or a vibe so non-specific that it reeks of find-replace. I know it seems harsh, but when a hiring manager sees any one of these things, she reads it as, “I didn’t take my time with this, and I don’t really care about working here.” So, she’s likely to pass.

Another thing I look for in this initial read through is tone. Even if you’re applying to your dream company, you don’t want to come off like you think someone entertaining your candidacy is the same as him offering you water at the end of a lengthy hike. You don’t need to thank the hiring manager so incredibly much for reading your application—that’s his job. If you align considering your application with the biggest favor ever, you’ll make the other person think it’s because you’re desperate.

So, skip effusive thanks and demonstrate genuine interest by writing a cover letter that connects the dots between your experience and the requirements of the position. Telling the reader what you’ve accomplished and how it directly translates to meeting the company’s needs is always a better use of space than gushing.

2. The Opening Sentence

If your first line reads: “I am writing to apply for [job] at [company],” I will delete it and suggest a swap every time. (Yes, every single time.) When a hiring manager sees that, she won’t think, “How thoughtful of the applicant to remind me what I’m reading!” Her reaction will be much closer to, “boring,” “meh,” or even “next!”

Compare it to one of these statements:

• “I’ve wanted to work in education ever since my third grade teacher, Mrs. Dorchester, helped me discover a love of reading.”
• “My approach to management is simple: I strive to be the kind of leader I’d want to work for.”
• “In my three years at [prior company], I increased our average quarterly sales by [percentage].”

See how these examples make you want to keep reading? That’s half the battle right there. Additionally, it makes you memorable, which’ll help when you’re competing against a sea of applicants.

To try it out for yourself, pick a jumping off point. It could be something about you or an aspect of the job description that you’re really drawn to. Then, open a blank document and just free write (translation: write whatever comes to mind) for 10 minutes. Some of the sentences you come up with will sound embarrassing or lame: That’s fine—no one has to see those! Look for the sentence that’s most engaging and see how it reads as the opening line for your cover letter.

Credit : themuse.com