How to Incorporate Cover Letter Keywords

Publié le 27 May 2024 Par Jobillico

Make sure your job application gets in front of a hiring manager by knowing how to incorporate cover letter keywords.

Do you remember the days when applying for a job was fairly straightforward? You wrote a letter or filled in an application form, were hopefully offered an interview, and then got the job… or not. It’s a little more complicated these days. In fact, it can be a lot more complicated but that extra effort can often be worth it.

With around 9 million job openings currently available in the US, there are opportunities out there. Of course, job availability can vary by sector as can the requirements for each role. You need to ensure you have the skill sets needed – often both hard skills and soft skills – as well as having a strong resume and a good cover letter.

With the latter, you need to ensure that you also use cover letter keywords that will grab the recruiter’s attention. Just what are cover letter keywords and how can you use them to make your application stand out?

What are Cover Letter Keywords?

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Cover letters are far more than a ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ introduction, they can give recruiters almost-instant insights into your suitability as a candidate. By including keywords and phrases, you can highlight particular experiences, skills, qualifications, and abilities that you might have and that relate to the role you are applying for. Knowing how to incorporate cover letter keywords will ensure that your unique history stands out.

The keywords and phrases you include will often be verbs, but there are examples of including nouns and adjectives too. As with SEO, you shouldn’t be stuffing your cover letter with these words or phrases as that can put the recruiter off and can detract from the flow of the letter. Place your keywords strategically so as to have the most impact when the recruiter reads it.

Why are Cover Letter Keywords Important?

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If you read over the job advertisement again, you will notice that it contains keywords and phrases. These will correspond directly to what you might use in your cover letter. For example, an advert might mention the need for report-writing skills and familiarity with a particular report format. If this is something you have experience with, then using the phrase ‘report writing’ would be an appropriate key phrase.

By including references to relevant skills and abilities in your cover letter, you’re demonstrating that you are suitable for the role and you can make your application stand out. While these will be covered in your resume (in more detail), you can think of your cover letter, and the inclusion of cover letter keywords, as a summary of your suitability that aligns with the job advert.

Depending on the role, there may be hundreds of applicants. When recruiters are faced with a deluge of applications, your cover letter is what will be looked at in any initial screening process. Recruitment is not an easy process. They need to consider how to measure diversity, onboarding costs, training costs, and other variables.

What are the Different Types of Keywords to Consider?

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As mentioned, the first thing to do is read the job listing carefully before moving to the application process. Highlight what you see in that listing, especially when what is asked for corresponds with the skills, experience, and abilities you already have. You can then start to develop your cover letter and include relevant keywords that will stand out.

Experience/action. What experience are the recruiters looking for, and what experience do you have? While some recruitment, such as campus recruiting, may not want extensive experience, you can still include anything you think is relevant. For example, if applying for a software development post, you might include your time in the university coding club or any related experience.

Skills. Of course, every recruiter is going to be looking for particular skills that are relevant to the job role. These can include both hard and soft skills. Sticking with the software development example, you could highlight Python programming as one of your hard skills and the ability to work well as part of a team as one of your soft skills.

Results. Many jobs, for example in sales, will be looking for evidence that you can produce tangible results. Let’s say that in your previous role, your work helped the company achieve a 15% increase in revenue. This would be something to highlight so that recruiters will consider you as a strong candidate for the role.

Recognition. This can be closely tied to results but is more about you being recognized for previous accomplishments. Remember that report you wrote on the future of contact centers, which led to your last employer implementing new strategies and won you an award? That’s definitely something you’ll want to incorporate in your cover letter.

Cover Letter Keyword Examples

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It’s one thing to have a general idea of what recruiters are looking for in a cover letter, but another thing altogether to translate that general idea into specific keywords or phrases. These are some of the keywords you may want to consider. A good choice of keywords can make your job application stand out from your competitors.

Experience/Action

Motivated,

Collaborated

Initiated

Achieved

Restructured

Assisted

Managed

Combined with supplementary information, these can demonstrate to recruiters that your actions led to tangible results. For example, ‘I initiated a new software debugging process that was 25% more efficient than the previous process’.

Skills

Researched

Wrote

Trained

Solved

Planned

Taught

Built

As skills can be both hard and soft, mention both if you can or even combine if possible. For example, ‘I planned and wrote a new onboarding process and led a team of five that trained new recruits.’

Results

Increased

Organized (or reorganized)

Generated

Designed (or redesigned)

Reduced

Upgraded

Secured

In this area, recruiters are looking for tangible results you may have achieved in a previous position. For example, ‘I redesigned and reorganized the company’s sales funnel which led to increased conversion rates’.

Recognition

Promoted

Appointed

Credited

Awarded

Selected

Rewarded

Presented

Recruiters like to see what you have achieved in previous roles but also if your company recognized that achievement. For example, ‘My sales figures were recognized by the company when they awarded me Employee of the Year’.

How to Feature Keywords in your Cover Letter

So, you now know the main areas recruiters look for keywords in, and you have some examples of the words and phrases that can be included. Recruitment and HR have come a long way since the days of piles of letters on a desk, and many recruiters now use candidate relationship management software to keep track of candidates, both for current roles and future ones.

Your cover letter should be more than a supplementary letter to your application, it should offer any recruiters a snapshot of who you are as a candidate. It should tell them more than ‘I’m Bob, and I’m really good at coding’. You want the letter to pique their interest and for them to move you along the recruitment process. Also, think carefully about what not to include in your cover letter as some recruiters may reject your application.

There are two main stages to constructing your letter.

Read and Review the Advert

Don’t just read the job listing once, read it several times. It can be useful to highlight the keywords and phrases THEY use so that you have an idea of the ones you should use. Ideally, you should be looking for words and phrases that correspond with the areas listed earlier, but you can also read between the lines for ideas.

Before you even start composing your cover letter, make a list of what you see as any action, skills, results, and recognition that have occurred in your career or that you feel is relevant. If you’re a new job hunter, you can even think about soft skills you have learned to date such as leading a youth group. Even that can demonstrate leadership and organizational skills.

Your initial list may contain an abundance of words and phrases you see as relevant but, if there are too many, then whittle the list down to avoid overstuffing in the final letter. Think about the ones that are most relevant to the position you are applying for and prioritize them above the rest.

Find a Balance in the Letter

When it comes to writing the actual letter, you will want to compose a draft first and may even ask friends or family for some feedback. Try to find a balance between including keywords relevant to the job with your experience, not only as an employee but also as a person. Do not just create a ‘shopping list’ of words and phrases; align your letter with what they say they want and what you feel might be important.

One thing to consider when writing your letter is that any keywords or phrases that appear in the advert may be in what they think is the order of importance. This is why careful reading and understanding of the original job advert can be so important. You don’t just want to mirror what they are asking for, but to demonstrate you have thought carefully about the requirements.

The Takeaway

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Of course, your job application is just the first step in the recruitment process but it is a crucial one. If successful, you then move to an interview (or more than one) that will culminate in a job offer. While your resume is important, it is most often the cover letter that will first grab any recruiter’s attention.

Recruiters not only want you to demonstrate suitability for the position but that you have read and understood the advert. If they list a skill as ‘essential’, then there is little point in applying if you do not possess that skill. Pay close attention to what they say and how they word it. Once you understand what they are looking for, then you can start thinking about relevant cover letter keywords.