Quick Answer:
Learn how to email a cover letter in a professional manner, avoiding common pitfalls that could discredit your job application. Include your name, job title, document type, and reference number in the subject line to help the recruiter quickly identify your email. Start your email with a polite salutation, introduce yourself, and highlight your motivations for the role. When emailing, write your cover letter in the email body with simple formatting to make it easier for the recruiter to read. Be sure to avoid grammar mistakes, misuse of caps lock, and incorrect formatting to make your email look professional.
Just wrote a breathtaking Cover letter, finished your application email to a cool company you like and hit the Send button in a merry exhilaration, only to find out seconds later that you forgot to attach your Cover letter. Sounds familiar?
Or you did enclose the document, but almost had a mini heart attack, seeing you addressed your Cover letter to another company!?!...
History knows some real horror stories here! Ask any HR Professional and he or she will be able to tell you all day long dozens of epic fail cases, which every applicant should try to avoid.
As we want you to be absolutely prepared, we bring you an article on how to email a Cover letter and avoid all the hidden mines on the way to success.
In this day and age, a lot of companies opt out of the Cover letter requirement, which usually leaves candidates taking a sigh of relief. Instead, they employ a number of other techniques - pre-screening, video introduction of the candidate, or job-specific tests and assignments. All of them help HR cut through the formalities and go straight to gaining in-depth knowledge of the candidate's skills and role suitability.
However, despite these novel approaches, the Cover letter is here to stay in 2022 , and it surely won't be fully replaced by other selection tools. Read more on this topic in our article “Are Cover Letters Necessary in 2022?”.
As the Cover letter is the gold standard of the job applications, it is important to know not only how to write an eye-candy Cover letter, but also to be familiar with the nitty-gritty of how exactly to email one.
In this article, we will guide you on:
- How to send a Cover letter embedded in the email body?
- How to email a Cover letter as an attachment?
- What to avoid when emailing a cover letter.
And all of this will be “sprinkled” with sassy Cover letter examples.
Cover letter email structure
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In this case, your email is actually also your Cover letter.
Think of it as a “gift”, carefully wrapped in between the subject line, introduction, and sign-off of your email.
Your main goal should be to attract the Hiring Manager's attention, while at the same time making it easy for them to “unpack” the goodies fast.
Any HR will be really grateful to you, if you help them orient easily in the jungle of other applications they manage daily, by writing as clear as possible Cover letter email.
Here is piece by piece how you can do that!
Subject line
- Make sure you specify the following:
- Your name,
- Position,
- Type of document (for example Cover letter and CV),
- Reference number of the job if any.
Example: Antoan Savov Cover letter - Cybersecurity Engineer, ref.# 55506
Salutation Open the email with a salutation, addressed to the company's responsible person for the job role.
Example:
- Dear Mr. Ivanov
- Dear Mrs./ Ms., Petrovic
If you don't know the right contactand can't find it, it is best to use a polite salutation that addresses the whole team, rather than a generic “lukewarm”, outdated type of openings like “Dear Sir or Madam”, which you are better off staying away from in any business communication.
Example:
- Dear HR team
- Dear Hiring manager
In the Cover letters help section on the Enhancv blog, you can find loads of incredible PRO tips on how to write the best Cover letter salutation in all kinds of challenging real-life scenarios, you can find yourself in. For example, you can learn how to address your Cover letter, when you have the right contact name, but you are not sure of their gender or their marital status, in case the contact is a woman.
Cover letter email introduction
Make a captivating and clear statement from the first line of your Cover letter email, elaborating on your motivation and what you would love to achieve.
Typically, that can be:
- where you have seen the job role,
- have you been referred to it
- why you are excited about it
Make it a bit bolder and by all means - an original approach is to create an undeniable connection between the must-have skill(s) for the role and your profile, that lets you dazzle the HR in a twinkle of an eye.
Example 1: My name is Antoan and I write to express my interest in the position of Cybersecurity expert at Cortex Technology, which I have seen on the company's website.
Example 2: Are you in need of a Cybersecurity expert, unbeatable in safeguarding clients financials and their cloudless happiness 24/7?
Then I can help you achieve that thanks to my solid expertise in the field.
Cover letter email body
- Here, you need to “paint” with your words a vivid carousel of images of you as a TOP expert and a remarkable performer.
- Do not spare words, including superlatives (as long as they are truthful, of course);
- Make sure to list all the relevant certificates you have and the number of years of experience you bring to the table; < li>Tailor your skills, experiences, and professional qualifications as close to the job profile as possible - believe us, this will pay off!;
- NB! Action Examples are worth a million! “Served” hot, they can get the instant attraction of the HR to your application! So present a Minimum of 1 action example here!
Example: I am an established Cybersecurity expert with 8 years of experience in implementing proactive solutions to keep big corporate companies bullet-proof against scammers, hackers, and malware. In my last job as a Lead Information Security Analyst, I managed to navigate my team of Security watchdogs to build up and strengthen the company's network. Hence, we have completely transformed it from a network, prone to frequent incidents before I was hired to an unbeatable empire. For just a year the number of security breaches has dropped by 46%, which was a milestone moment, celebrated by everyone in the company with a massive Teambuilding event!
Apart from that, I love keeping myself on my toes, so I have a professional rule to attend a minimum of 2 Coding challenges a year. This is a way to not only win prestigious international prizes but to stay on top of my game, create a large pro network and learn a lot from my colleagues.
Cover letter email sign-off:
- Conclusion: Mention all other relevant documents you attach, if any: CV, Portfolio, references etc.;
- Complimentary close: Bring on your full charm and help the HR feel your warm smile and positive attitude even on paper by a polite sign-off;
- Final Sign-off: As recruiters will want to contact you immediately, when you send them an enchanting Cover letter with the pro tips on Enhancv blog, make it easier for them to do so by including in your email signature:
- First name Last name
- Street Address
- City, State, Zip
- Cell
- LinkedIn URL
Example: Please, find attached my resume and a list of references. I will follow up with you next week to provide any additional information you may be interested in. Thank you very much for your time and interest in my application.
Sincerely yours, Antoan Savov 698 St Malo St S, California first.last@gmail.com +555-310-201 LinkedIn:….
Here is the whole “enchilada” of a Cover letter email, “dressed” to impress! Sweet, right?
Make one that's truly you.
