Why You Need a Cover Letter (And How to Do It), with Nicole Fortner

Some say the cover letter is dead, but that’s not true, according to Find Your Dream Job guest Nicole Fortner. Nicole says that a well-written cover letter can increase your chances by at least 40%. The key, says Nicole, is using keywords from the job posting and keeping it concise, no more than 3-4 paragraphs. Be sure to prioritize your hard skills and share how you can elevate the company and the role. 

About Our Guest:

Nicole Fortner is the founder and CEO of  Hire Up Consulting.

Resources in This Episode:

Are you ready to level up in your chosen profession? Find out how Nicole can help you by visiting her website at hireupconsult.com.

From our Sponsor: Find Your Dream Job is brought to you by TopResume.  TopResume has helped more than 400,000 professionals land more interviews and get hired faster. Get a free review of your resume today from one of TopResume’s expert writers.

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 391:

Why You Need a Cover Letter (And How to Do It), with Nicole Fortner

Airdate: March 22, 2023

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Find Your Dream Job is brought to you by TopResume. TopResume has helped more than 400,000 professionals land more interviews and get hired faster.

Get a free review of your resume today.

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

Do you not include a cover letter when you apply for a job?

You’re making a big mistake, says today’s guest.

When done right, a cover letter can be one of your most effective marketing tools.

Nicole Fortner is here to talk about why you need a cover letter and how to do it.

She’s the founder and CEO of Hire Up Consulting.

Her company creates resumes and cover letters that make you stand out instead of blend in.

She joins us from New York City.

Well, let’s get going, Nicole. Why do you need a cover letter at all? Isn’t the cover letter dead?

Nicole Fortner:

Some like to believe that the cover letter is dead, but it’s definitely not dead, and based on my research and what I’m seeing, especially now, with a lot of job seekers and being in a leadership role, it increases your chances at least by forty percent. Some experts even say fifty percent or seventy-seven percent. But I like to be on more of the conservative side and say, it’s definitely gonna increase your chances by forty percent by writing a well-crafted cover letter.

Mac Prichard:

And why is that? Why does your research show that your chances are gonna get better when you write a well-crafted cover letter?

Nicole Fortner:

Well, yeah, definitely. Cover letters, especially, gives you the opportunity to really shine and show your personality, and it also gives you the opportunity to showcase what research you’ve done on that company. It gives you the opportunity to even name drop, per se, a recommendation, or if you’ve met someone at a conference, or you know someone that is a great worker in that company.

So that’s, you know, a couple of reasons right there, and also, it gives you an opportunity to explain why you may have career gaps. It gives you an opportunity to talk about why you could be transitioning from one industry to another and if you’ve been laid off, or you were in an internship, or you graduated. That is your opportunity to really shine there, too, and work that in there.

Also, you know, in my opinion, one of the most important things, it gives you the opportunity to really demonstrate and evaluate that role and talk about how you can elevate that role by providing metrics and things that you may have done in your prior role, and in your experience. Right?

So, a great example would be, as a lead manager for three years, I’ve implemented and enhanced, and streamlined processes that grew production and efficiency by twenty-two percent. Right? That’s gonna be something, a tagline, that right there is gonna be something that will make the reader keep reading.

Mac Prichard:

And why is that appealing to an employer to see that kind of message and the other messages that you suggested a moment ago? Why does that make a difference?

Nicole Fortner:

Oh, results. If you can explain- a lot of times, you can’t explain some of these things in your resume, and a cover letter’s your opportunity to explain how you created results or how you think of it from an employer’s bottom line and their perspective of how you bring value. And you can literally walk them through how you bring value and how you show your passion there, too. And it gives you the opportunity to, it’s your pre-interview, in other words, that cover letter.

Mac Prichard:

Are there employers who don’t read cover letters?

Nicole Fortner:

Some will say, I would definitely say, many, especially recruiters, they just like to know that it exists and pass it along to an employer. But when we’re talking about employers, I would definitely say a majority of them will glance through it and look for some key points. So, they definitely will keep an eye out for things that could be unique. But, I would definitely say, majority of employers read them.

Mac Prichard:

What happens to applications that don’t have cover letters, Nicole?

Nicole Fortner:

A lot of times, they can definitely still be read, and you can still be considered for the role. But I’m always gonna advise people to write them because it just ups your chances and gives you a higher probability to be called in for an interview. Right?

But if you know you could have some issues, such as you’re changing careers or you have gaps, or you want to explain that you didn’t quit your job, but you were laid off, that’s the real good opportunity to do that, there. But you can still be considered for a role if you submit it or not. However, I’m always gonna err on caution and just say, write the cover letter.

Mac Prichard:

You shared a moment ago some examples of things people can do with cover letters. What are some things that people shouldn’t do? What are common mistakes you see job applicants make with cover letters?

Nicole Fortner:

Not having someone read it and look for mistakes and basic edits. One of the common things I see when I get cover letters from potential employees is they forgot to write in the company information, and they may have left the other company that they applied to prior. Right? So those simple things that they may have missed.

Another thing you definitely don’t want to do, you never want to have a cover letter that’s too generic. That you can just literally can give to any job, and you’re just throwing it out there blanketly. You also don’t ever wanna come off as desperate, that you really need a job when you’re writing it. You don’t want to be too casual, too formal, and you don’t want to miss your opportunity to really talk about how you can elevate that role.

And you don’t want to even restate your resume. You really want to talk about, while you’re reading the job postings, some of those things that they’re looking for and hit on those keywords, and how you’ve not only done it but how you can do it better.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk about how to write a cover letter. I know you talk about two styles of cover letters. Tell us more about what those two styles are.

Nicole Fortner:

Well, you always want to have a traditional cover letter. That’s the one that you’re gonna use when you’re applying via email, and that’s an attachment. Then you have the email cover letter, and that’s the one you copy and paste in the body. And an email cover letter is a little bit more brief and more condensed because you really want to get the hiring manager or recruiter to read and click on your resume or application or whatever you’re submitting.

So it’s two different styles. The traditional you can use as an attachment, and also the email style where it’s just brief, concise, and giving them the reason why you are interested in the role.

Mac Prichard:

Why shouldn’t you simply write a cover letter, attach it to an email message, as well as your resume? I’ve seen candidates do this, and I’m sure you’ve seen these messages too, which say, “Dear Hiring Manager, attached is my cover letter and application for this position. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Why is that not a good approach?

Nicole Fortner:

Well, you always want to send your cover letter as a pdf and also the resume, too, because a pdf keeps it intact, and it’s no alterations to the format or the document. Sometimes when you just send your resume and cover letter as a word doc, it can end up on two pages instead of one, which you didn’t intend, and also can convert some of the font to appear a little differently than what you originally had, and also it can change the margins around. So, I always advise any of the clients that I work with to always send that as a pdf.

And also, look really closely at the job postings. A lot of times, they’re very clear if they want a pdf form or format, or if they want a word document format. So, you always really want to make sure that you’re following that. But if you don’t see either or any instruction, always send a pdf.

Mac Prichard:

Well, this is all terrific, Nicole. Let’s take a break, and when we come back, I want to talk a little more about the opportunities that an email message offers you when you’re reaching out to employers with your cover letter and your resume.

So stay with us. When we return, Nicole Fortner will continue to share her advice on how to write a cover letter and why it’s not dead. Stay tuned.

Besides a cover letter, every job application needs a resume, too.

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Find out what the experts think.

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

TopResume will review your resume for free.

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Now, let’s get back to the show.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Nicole Fortner.

She’s the founder and CEO of Hire Up Consulting.

Her company creates resumes and cover letters that make you stand out instead of blend in.

She joins us from New York City.

Nicole, before the break, we were talking about why you need a cover letter and how to do it, and just want to follow up on that last point in the first segment about the opportunities that an email offers you to restate some important points that might matter to an employer about your candidacy because you’ve attached your resume and your cover letter as pdfs, but now you’ve got some real estate you can use for another purpose. Don’t you?

Nicole Fortner:

Yes, you often always want to make sure that you copy and paste the email cover letter, which is that shorter form where you’re hitting those concise points of what you may have seen in your job posting. So, for instance, if an employer are talking about some of those hard skills that they’re seeking, such as experience with salesforce and maybe five years experience in sales.  That’s your opportunity to talk about how you have ten years in sales and how you use salesforce and other similar software, and how you’ll be great at the role.

So that’s just giving them the chance to want to open the attachments in your resume and cover letter and read it. But you definitely want to take advantage of that real estate in the email itself. And another thing, just to segue into, pdfs are always virus free. Pdfs nowadays pass applicant tracking systems, whereas ten years ago, they didn’t. So definitely, as long as it doesn’t have any graphs and charts, definitely go that way with a pdf and the copy and paste of a shorter form of your cover letter in the body of the email.

Mac Prichard:

One of the tools you recommend for researching and writing a cover letter is wordclouds. How can using wordclouds help you write a cover letter that’s gonna get the attention of an employer?

Nicole Fortner:

Oh yeah, so anytime I work with any of the clients, I often have them check out two wordclouds that I use, wordcloud.com and also monkeylearn.com. And what you typically want to do, you take the entire job description or job posting that you may see, and you put it in the wordcloud.

That wordcloud is going to take all of the information in those words and rank words of relevance, and it’s gonna give you percentages. It’s also gonna tell you the words that keep repeating. And so, when you see those words of relevance, that’s what’s important to the employer. And that’s some of the things you really want to make sure hit and land in your cover letter and your resume.

So, for instance, if I keep saying something like roll-up sleeves, someone that’ll dive right in there. It can literally be those types of words. I’m going to make sure that cover letter is going to state I’m a person that rolls up my sleeves and gets the job done, and dives in.

Mac Prichard:

Are there other criteria that you recommend to your clients for selecting which keywords to use once you’re looking at the results from a wordcloud survey?

Nicole Fortner:

Always prioritize the hard skills, and that’s the skills that is important and needed to perform the job. So hard skills are skills that everyone cannot do, and those soft skills are skills that everyone can do. So, an example of a soft skill would be great communicator, communication, that word, per se, and then hard skills can be, again, salesforce, types fifty-five words per minute, Marketer software, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe, Photoshop. So, you want to make sure that if you see those hard skills in a relevancy pop-up, that’s what you want to prioritize and include in that cover letter and also that resume.

Mac Prichard:

We’ve talked about the benefits of cover letters and different styles and how to do research before you write. Now, you’re getting ready to sit down and write your cover letter. What are the most important elements, Nicole, in a cover letter?

Nicole Fortner:

Making sure your personality comes through and shines through, and making sure that you can explain how you elevate that role. In my opinion, those are the two most important things, and it also gives the chance for the employer to see how well you write. So, definitely, if you can write something very concise, in two to three or even four paragraphs on a cover letter, that’s gonna be something that really shines for the employer and make you stand out.

Mac Prichard:

And what about length? You mentioned writing, perhaps, two or three paragraphs. Is there a rule that you follow as far as the length of a cover letter? Do you want to fill up all of the available space? Or keep it short? What have you seen be most effective?

Nicole Fortner:

Short and concise is always the best. Typically, to be honest, about three to four paragraphs would do it. But not very long-winded. There’s a couple of styles you can use. You can use an informational style where you are bullet-pointing things that you have accomplished, and that can take up some real estate, and then you can just go with two or three paragraphs, if you’re gonna, go with that style.

Or if you’re gonna write something where you’re talking about your story and how you can help elevate the company and the role. Then, I would definitely say you can go a little longer, as far as three to four paragraphs there, too.

Mac Prichard:

Does every cover letter have to be different? Or can you come up with a generic cover letter that you can send to every employer where you’re applying?

Nicole Fortner:

That is not my favorite. I definitely get a lot of those. I’m always gonna tell people to never use a generic cover letter that you can just blanketly throw out there. You always want to, at least, if you’re gonna have one, you can have one that’s a base.

But you want to make sure that you are mirroring what that job posting is saying. That’s really important to that employer. And that’s how the wordcloud is gonna tell you what’s important and what’s relevant. And then, you want to make sure you include those relevant things in that cover letter that shows as important to them.

Mac Prichard:

What would you say to a candidate who says, “Well, gosh, I don’t have time to write an original cover letter for every application? I’ve got to get as many applications out as I can.”

Nicole Fortner:

Hire me. No, I’m joking. You can always find really good samples out there and inspiration by Googling it. You can also hire a career strategist or a job coach that can help you along the way.

But, you know, as far as me getting better at what I do, I use a lot of examples as inspiration. I buy books. One of the best books you can buy, in my opinion, is, Knock ‘em Dead Cover Letters. Which started off with Knock ‘em Dead Resumes. So, that’s where I start, and it’s a lot of different books and variations.

So, again, use inspiration of other award-winning cover letters that people have found success. Also, I’ll send you to my website, where is plenty of examples of cover letters that you can use, and I’m also gonna give out a free resource to any listeners, too, where you can look at some of the cover letters, and use and draw inspiration from them.

Mac Prichard:

Earlier in the segment, you mentioned the importance of using pdfs rather than word documents. Is there a generational difference here, too? Do you find that older job seekers often default to using word documents?

Nicole Fortner:

Definitely. I definitely see that more often. Especially when I’m speaking to a lot of the clients that I work with, I’m often like, hey, make sure you send this as a pdf because it’s really important. And they may have not known, and they say why, and I just explain to them that it’s really important that a pdf just keeps your document intact and it looks, and you’re sending it exactly how you intended it to be viewed by that person.

Where if you send it in a Word doc, again, that can just the font can translate differently. It can go from one page to two pages, or if that person doesn’t even have Microsoft Word, it definitely won’t even come through the way you intend your resume to look. And then it can just come off as sloppy. And it’s probably not even your intention.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a terrific conversation, Nicole. Now, tell us, what’s next for you?

Nicole Fortner:

What’s next? I’m going to continue to help a lot of people across the states with resumes and cover letters and helping them level up in their profession. And continue to do the great work. So that’s what’s next for Nicole and Hire Up Consulting.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. I know listeners can learn more about you and your work by visiting your website, hireupconsult.com, and I know you also encourage listeners to connect with you on LinkedIn, and when they reach out, I hope they’ll mention they heard you on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Nicole, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want a listener to remember about why you need a cover letter and how to do it?

Nicole Fortner:

Very simple, like Nike, just do it. Just do the cover letter, it costs you nothing but a little time, and it’s gonna help you stand out.

Mac Prichard:

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Next week, our guest will be Orlando Haynes.

He’s a talent acquisition leader, host of the CareerTALKS Podcast, and co-creator of the Career Accelerator Planner.

Writing articles for LinkedIn and other sites is one of the best ways to get the attention of employers.

But do you get writer’s block when you try to do this?

Join us next Wednesday when Orlando Haynes and I talk about how content creation can help your job search and how to do it.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer is Matt Fiorillo. Ryan Morrison at Podfly Productions edits the show. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.