Would a good cover letter increase your chances of landing an interview? Yes.
Do we have any specific tips for Architect applications? Yes.
Are cover letters the same as resumes, but longer? Definitely not!
So what are cover letters?
Well, great cover letters give you the opportunity to tell a personal story, while making the right impression and proving you’re the best candidate at the same time.
Need more details? Let’s dive deep.
How to write a architect cover letter that makes you proud
There are several things you need to do if you want to make your cover letter stand out.
First and foremost, make sure to stick to a tone of voice that is either formal and more on the traditional side or completely matches the company culture.
Second, make sure you’re not just re-writing your resume. Rather, build upon it.
And third, focus on achievements and motivations, rather than plainly listing your hard skills.
Now, if you want to stay on top of your cover letter game, we’ve got some additional tips for you.
Choose the right salutation and craft an introduction that gets you remembered
We advise you to address the cover letter directly to the person responsible for the recruitment process. If you don’t know their name, take some time to research it.
This will show that you’re attentive to detail and are willing to go the extra mile when necessary.
Here's a list of salutations you can never go wrong with. Note that some of them can be used even if you don’t know who the hiring manager is.
- Dear [company name] Recruiter,
- Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,
- Dear Hiring Manager,
- To the [team you're applying for] Team
The introduction is your chance of getting the reader’s attention and giving them a reason to see you as a good fit.
So make sure you highlight your excitement about the company or the industry (or even both!) and the reasons why you’d like to grow in the field.
Avoid using clichés like “I found your job posting on website X and decided to apply”.
Emphasize your architect soft skills and mention your hard skills
While the resume is considered the best place to showcase your hard skills and achievements, the cover letter should tell a story and prove your enthusiasm for the field.
This is why we advise you to focus on soft skills and results. Think about all your soft skills and how they have helped you grow as a professional and crush your goals. Then turn this into your own very short success story.
Make sure to include some hard skills too, especially the ones listed as part of the requirements section of the job advert. This will guarantee that you pass applicant tracking systems (ATS) that screen applicant documents for keywords.
And remember – the cover letter should include new information without repeating your whole resume. It needs to offer additional value to the recruiter.
Prove your passion about the company
Showing that you’ve researched the company and are familiar with it is a good way to prove your work-readiness.
It will also point the recruiter to the fact that your skills and qualifications will have a long-term impact on the company. Just link some of your strengths to the ways in which current or potential issues can be resolved.
Choose the right ending
Ending your Architect cover letter in a suitable way can help you land an interview. Why? Because strong endings portray applicants as considerate and, what’s even more important – passionate about the job.
Just make sure that your ending (just like your cover letter’s body) matches the company culture. If you prefer to be on the safe side, go for traditional closing lines such as “Looking forward to hearing from you”.
