How to write a good cover letter

There are three stages when writing a great cover letter: research, writing and finalising. Here's a step-by-step guide to writing a great job application.

Here is a step-by-step guide to writing a sharp job application.

Your cover letter has one purpose: It should make the employer so interested in you that you are invited for a job interview. Therefore, you should tell them why you can add value to the company in question through the job – and you should give them confidence that you can handle the tasks.

It may seem like a big mouthful, but we've broken the process down into several small steps that you can follow.

Analyse the job posting thoroughly

It may seem like obvious advice, but many underestimate how important it is to do thorough analysis and research before they start writing their application.

Even though it takes a little longer, the extra work is well spent because it increases the likelihood that you will emphasize the things that the employer is looking for and looking for when they read through the application.

When you read the job posting, make sure to be thorough. There can be important knowledge hidden in every sentence. It is a good idea to highlight the skills, tasks and methods in the posting that you either have experience with or knowledge of. Also highlight the elements that you are not familiar with – this is not necessarily a disadvantage, because if it is not a requirement from the company, it can be an area of development for you.

Often there will be descriptions in the posting where it is unclear what role or competencies a new employee is expected to bring. These unclear descriptions are obvious to ask about when you call the company before writing your job application.

Also take note of what companies write about themselves: What values are important to them and what they would like to be known for externally.

Do research on the employer before you call

The most important research you can do before writing your cover letter is call the employer - but before that, you should start by gathering information from the company's website and in your network.

On the company's own website and partly via its social media profiles, you can get a slightly broader impression of the company and their values than you got in the job posting, their mission, vision and what products or services they provide. Spend 5-10 minutes on it and assess after your application process what value the research gave you.

You can also check LinkedIn to see if you know anyone who is employed or has worked at the employer in the past. They can give you an insight into the culture and work environment. However, remember that employees cannot tell you what the manager values – only a call to the manager can tell you more.

Call the company

In Denmark, it is totally accepted to call companies when applying for available positions. However, you should call for a reason. You should never call the employer so that they “remember your name” when they read through the applications. If you don’t have any relevant questions, it’s better not to. When analysing the job posting, you noticed some of the descriptions that required further elaboration. This is one of the things you can now call and ask the company about.

In addition, there are several things that are not stated in the job posting that you can ask about to gain an advantage when writing your application:

What is the most important challenge in the job?
Which of the tasks in the job posting will you spend the most time on?
What professional competencies are most important for holding the position, and are there any professional competencies that are a requirement?
What is the success criterion for the position over the next 6 and 12 months?

When you get answers to these questions, you will also get a better idea of whether the position is for you at all, and you will gain knowledge about what to prioritize in your application when describing which tasks you can contribute to solving based on your expertise and experience - and how you will approach the tasks.

When you call on a job posting, it's a good idea to prepare a short 'elevator pitch' about your background and why you're interested in the job in case the employer has any questions for you. Remember that the purpose of the call is for you to get information that will enable you to target your application – not to deliver your pitch. But if they do ask, you're prepared, and that will give them a good impression of you.

Write a targeted cover letter

You've heard it before, but it's important to repeat: Your job application must be tailored to the specific job you are applying for.

There is no point in copying and pasting an application for another job if you need to be specific and personal and show the company how you are the perfect candidate for the job.

If you want to streamline the process, have some raw material on hand that you can draw from to suit the individual company and supplement with how it fits into the job at hand.

Structure your cover letter

Studies show that employers scan job applications superficially. Therefore, it is important that you make your job application easy to overview and read – and you do this by writing concisely, precisely and with several headlines.

The headlines should, of course, reflect the content of the sections. This allows the reader to skim through your application in a matter of seconds and still get a positive impression of you in relation to the position.

It is important that you include your professional keywords in the headlines for each section.

Your application must only be 1 page long, so you must carefully select your content and eliminate filler words and information that is not relevant to the company.

Write a catchy headline on your cover letter

A good personal headline makes the employer want to read on and summarises why you are a good fit for the job. Therefore, you should sell yourself from the start instead of using a bland headline that could suit all applicants.

The heading should typically include your academic title as well as a professional keyword that the company has mentioned they prioritise in the job ad and that you either have knowledge about or experience with. 

Here is an example of a bad and a good headline:

Bad: Application for the job as a sales engineer
Good: Export engineer specialising in market analysis

Show your motivation for the company and the job

The first paragraph should be your motivation for applying for the job. Here, you should base your statement on the words and themes that the employer uses about themselves in the job posting, on their website, and in the phone conversation you had with them.

It's not enough that you think "the company seems exciting" or that you "would like to work in the industry". You need to address why exactly this company is interesting and why. What is it that they do that you find inspiring, courageous, innovative - and why do you think that? What kind of agenda or task solution would you like to be a part of, and why is it important or exciting to you?

You need to keep a close eye on whether your motivation is focused not on what you get out of the job, but rather on how you contribute to the company achieving its goals.

Describe the tasks you can solve for the company

Now you need to describe what makes you a competent candidate and demonstrate that they can confidently hire you. This is when you need to focus on the core tasks and competencies that you identified when you analysed the job posting and spoke to the manager on the phone. Clearly state which of their highest priority tasks and professional competencies you meet.

You must describe how you approach the tasks, how you can contribute knowledge, and what positive effects it will have for the company.

If you have 1-2 examples of past successes, experience or tasks that match your future tasks quite precisely, describe them briefly and concretely. Just remember that your application is a statement of intent that should point forward and show how you will handle the work of the potential employer, and that your back catalogue is already presented in your CV. The application should not be a reproduction of your CV.

Remember your personal characteristics

When employers hire a new employee, they largely consider who they will be working with every day.

When writing your application, you should therefore describe in the last paragraph the personal and social skills that make you a good colleague and employee in the company and in the job you are applying for. Select the skills that make you the best fit into the team and the way they work. Also mention the skills that increase the likelihood of you succeeding in the role.

Write a little about how you are curious, detail-oriented, or structured and what you contribute to the collegial community. You should not lie about yourself and, for example, make yourself much more extroverted than you actually are. This will benefit neither you nor the company.

Have your job application read through.

Even if you're not applying for a communications job, poor language and grammatical errors can detract from your assessment, as they make you appear sloppy. So avoid clichés and make sure a fresh pair of eyes read your application for spelling and typos that the spell checker won't catch.

Send your application, CV and any attachments as PDF files

Read the job posting carefully and only send the documents that the company requests. This is often, but not always, both a CV and a job application. More companies have started to ask for anonymous submission of job application materials, only to receive the CV or cases – follow their instructions.

If you believe that there is a significant overlap in a recommendation from a previous job to the tasks in this job, you can include it. Other attachments can be, for example, educational documents, portfolios or certifications.

Always save and send your documents as PDF files to ensure your layout stays correct and name them “your name CV.” “your name application.” This will help the reader navigate by name in their documents.

Be patient when waiting for a response to your job application

Should you call or not if you don't hear back from the company after submitting your application?

It depends on whether or not the company has specified guidelines for follow-up and process.

If the guidelines for the recruitment process are clearly described, then follow them.

If there are no guidelines for what you can expect to hear and when, and it has been a long time since you sent your job application, you can call and ask if they have any updates on how far they are in the process.

Do not call solely with the intention of standing out among the applicants or to hear more about the job – you risk backfiring and leaving the impression that you did not do your research before applying.

Be patient – it can take time to evaluate applications.

Once you have received an update, send a thank-you message expressing your appreciation for their time and effort.

Solicited and unsolicited applications

Want to know more about the difference between solicited and unsolicited applications in Denmark?