By
Martin Yate
A reader asks, "What are the differences between a cover letter to a recruiter and one to a hiring manager? Do you make the same points?" Good question, the simple answer is that while the overall structure and intent of the letter is the same:
- Sell to the customer's needs as you understand them
- 2-5 paragraphs
- For a printed document never more than one page
- For an email the same points apply, with your strongest selling points visible on the initial screen view of the page, with minimal scrolling beyond
- Legible 11or 12 point sans serif font (the font has none of those touchy-feely curlicue touches that only Kindergarten teachers are authorized to use)
A hiring manager has one very specific set of needs and the better you
can understand those stated needs, and what is behind them, the more
effectively your cover letter can speak to your ability to address them
successfully. When you do this, it will establish relevance, arouse
interest and build a bridge for two professionals to discuss a common
interest.
Writing to a headhunter is a more complex issue. S/he represents a
range of hiring managers and their interests, and is also keeping an eye
out for interesting candidates for a wide range of past and potential
future clients.
Many times when you will write to headhunters with no job opening in
mind, but because they specialize in your profession/work. You hope they
will introduce you to companies and hiring managers of whom you have
never heard.
In these instances you obviously cannot sell yourself to one specific set of needs. Instead you will...
- Introduce yourself as someone qualified for a certain type of job
- Address the skills and capabilities you bring to that work
- Identify the industries in which you have experience
- Identify the types of companies in which you have worked and been successful
If you are writing to a headhunter about one particular opening, you
can address it in the same way as you would with a hiring manager.
However, if you have a range of skills that qualify you for other
openings, it would be wise in a closing sentence to reference that wider
range of skills and to which jobs they might apply they might apply.