The difference between a good cover letter and a great cover letter can often depend on the words you use. Cover letter keywords can make a drastic difference in the success or failure of your document.
Keywords in your cover letter have never been more important. Employers today almost universally using applicant tracking systems (ATS) and not using a high enough volume of key terms and phrases could scupper your chances well before a human recruiter has read a single word of your application.
To help you avoid this fate, the following guide explains how to use keywords for your cover letter effectively. It looks into the best words you can use for each section of the document that can be interwoven into the main text.
Important Keywords for a Cover Letter
Normally, the keywords you use will very much depend on the type of job you are chasing. Nevertheless, there are many generic terms that can be used to add some extra power to your document no matter the position you’re looking to poach. These, however, will also differ depending on the part of the letter you’re approaching.
What Keywords Should Appear in the Introduction?
When starting off your letter, the key theme to have in mind is positivity. You need to communicate that you are excited about the opportunity that’s become available and show the employer why you’d be a good pick. To do this you need to use expressions and words that can quickly show that you’re keen and qualified.
- Passionate
- Admire
- Inspire
- Strong impression
- Hit the ground running
- Achieve
What Keywords to Use in the Main Body
During this part of the document, you must try to create a case for why you would be a good fit in the position. To do this, it’s going to be highly important that you use industry-specific terms that apply to your profession. Recruiters will want to see practical examples of what you can do and also what sort of results you pulled in.
The most important generic keywords in this case, are going to be based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are going to be mostly numerical in nature but the statistics you use are going to need to be paired with effective verbs and measuring criteria. These are going to be highly important for catching the eye of the recruiter and include the following:
- Revenue
- Upgrade
- Awards
- Profit
- Increase
- Reduce
- Generate
- Implement
- Hours
Also, don’t be afraid to squeeze in a few terms that can give a good indication of your soft skills and ways of working. The following words will normally do the trick for this:
- Creative
- Innovative
- Flexible
- Cooperate
- Mentor
- Communicate
- Train
- Present
Keywords to Use in the Closing Paragraph
At this point in the letter, it’s important to remind the reader of your enthusiasm for the role being offered. You always want to end on the most positive note possible whilst subtly moving the conversation forward to the next stages of the hiring process. You can do just that with examples of the following phrases that restate your interest and indicate your availability:
- Looking forward to speaking
- Keen to talk more about the position
- Delighted to provide more information
- Eager to talk in person
- a privilege to discuss the position at length
A Few Final Thoughts on Writing With Cover Letter Keywords
Like any effective application document, a cover letter should always be focused and dynamic. A good way to communicate some of this energy on paper this is with action verbs and short focused sentences.
Remember that consistency is important, especially when matching up the cover letter with the resume. The way that you describe a task you’ve completed a skill you possess should broadly line up between the two documents.
Also, don’t forget about not falling into the old trap of cliché. These days it’s almost expected that you might refer to yourself as a “good team player” or “results-oriented”, so these are better avoided. You can still touch on these abilities but it’s better to rephrase them.
Try to also look out for over-repetition. If you’re finding occurrences of the same words popping up more than once per paragraph or sentence, consider swapping an example out for a synonym.
A good cover letter doesn’t need to be a work of literature. If anything the more focused you can make it the better and the use of keywords helps to bring this all together with much more ease than you might imagine.
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