{"id":83,"date":"2010-07-21T21:05:39","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T21:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/cover-letters-to-recruiters-83\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T17:21:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:51:55","slug":"cover-letters-to-recruiters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/cover-letters-to-recruiters\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Letters to Recruiters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- [if gte mso 9]&gt;     Normal   0               false   false   false      EN-US   X-NONE   X-NONE                                                     MicrosoftInternetExplorer4                                                   &lt;![endif]--><!-- [if gte mso 9]&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                &lt;![endif]--><!--  \/* Font Definitions *\/  @font-face \t  @font-face \t  @font-face \t   \/* Style Definitions *\/  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t  .MsoChpDefault \t  .MsoPapDefault \t  @page WordSection1 \t  div.WordSection1 \t   \/* List Definitions *\/  @list l0 \t  @list l0:level1 \t  @list l1 \t  @list l1:level1 \t  ol \t  ul \t  --><!-- [if gte mso 10]&gt;   \/* Style Definitions *\/  table.MsoNormalTable \t   &lt;![endif]--><p class=\"MsoNormal\">In the world of recruiters and executive search firms, resumes rule. But this doesn&rsquo;t mean you should ignore or forgo sending cover letters.<\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">&ldquo;If a candidate&rsquo;s resume is a good fit to what I&rsquo;m looking for, then I&rsquo;m going to take a look at the cover letter,&rdquo; says Dan Anderson, a partner in St. Paul-based executive search and recruitment services firm C. Anderson &amp; Associates. At Anderson&rsquo;s firm, both the resume and cover letter are filed for future reference.<\/p><p><span>Read Also :<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/what-is-a-cv\/\"><span> what is a cv?<\/span><\/a><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Your Situation Dictates Your Cover Letter Approach<\/b><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">So what do recruiters look for in a cover letter? It depends on which of these three scenarios you&rsquo;re dealing with:<\/p><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Ad-Response Cover Letters:<\/b> If a search firm is handling a job opening, gear your cover letter to the ad&rsquo;s desired qualifications. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s say I&rsquo;m reviewing responses to a Monster posting,&rdquo; says Anderson. &ldquo;If the candidate has taken the time to tailor the cover letter and bring out how their background meets the qualifications I want, my impression is going to be that they&rsquo;re a sharp individual.&rdquo;One of the best cover letters I ever saw was written by a gentleman who took each point from the ad requirements section and answered every single one with a precise summary of how he fit my client&rsquo;s needs,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;When I read it, I thought, &lsquo;Finally! Somebody answered the question.'&rdquo;\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Referral Cover Letters:<\/b> &ldquo;I always read a cover letter if it begins with something like &lsquo;You worked with my friend so-and-so on a recent search, and he told me about your service,'&rdquo; says Anderson. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve been referred to me by a source, this should be mentioned in the first line of your cover letter.&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Cold Cover Letters:<\/b> These accompany unsolicited resumes. Recruiters receive dozens of these on any given day, so be brief. &ldquo;Think &lsquo;meat and potatoes&rsquo; in terms of communicating only your top qualifications, and eliminate any additional fluff,&rdquo; says Diane Oates, founder and director of Corporate Diversity Search, a Webster, New York, firm that places women and minorities in Fortune 500 companies. Anderson adds that for this kind of cover letter, it&rsquo;s also a good idea to tell the recruiter your salary requirements, your target position and industry, and your availability for relocation or travel.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span>Read Also :<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/what-is-resume\/\"><span> What is a Resume?<\/span><\/a><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Eight Rules for Cover Letters<\/b><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">Regardless of what kind of letter you&rsquo;re writing, use this advice from recruiters to guide your efforts and maximize your chances for success:<\/p><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Remember Your Purpose:<\/b> &ldquo;Candidates need to ask themselves why they&rsquo;re writing to the recruiter in the first place,&rdquo; Anderson says. &ldquo;Are you answering an ad? Introducing yourself? Or just spamming some generic letter out, which is never going to be very effective.&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Be Brief:<\/b> &ldquo;Brevity is extremely important on any cover letter to a recruiter,&rdquo; says Anderson, who prefers cover letters be a half-page or shorter.<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Narrow Your Focus:<\/b> When replying to an advertised opening, your cover letter will focus on a specific opportunity. But when writing a referral or cold cover letter, many candidates are too broad in their job targets. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t try to make yourself all things to all people in your cover letter,&rdquo; Anderson advises. &ldquo;As a recruiter, I&rsquo;m looking for specialists with certain sets of expertise, not generalists.&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Set Realistic Goals:<\/b> Don&rsquo;t use the cover letter to try to secure a position several steps above your current level. &ldquo;Recruiters can only place people into positions that are the next logical step for them,&rdquo; Anderson explains.<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Emphasize Your Main Selling Points:<\/b> &ldquo;I like to see cover letters that profile a candidate&rsquo;s top qualifications,&rdquo; says Oates. &ldquo;Whether that&rsquo;s a high GPA, a unique skill set or a strong record of professional advancement, write it down.&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Explain Unemployment or Gaps in Your Work History:<\/b> Otherwise-qualified candidates who don&rsquo;t articulate good reasons for being out of a job or for a gap in their employment run a high risk of being screened out.<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Never Overstate Your Qualifications:<\/b> Oates advises candidates to avoid exaggerating qualifications in order to be seen as a perfect match to an advertised opening. &ldquo;Your cover letter, like your resume, should be completely truthful and accurate,&rdquo; Oates says. &ldquo;Never falsify or misrepresent your background.&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>Follow the Rules of Business Writing:<\/b> &ldquo;I like to see coherency, fluid sentences and concise writing,&rdquo; Anderson says. &ldquo;Leave out the flowery language and generic descriptions, don&rsquo;t include personal details like your marital status, don&rsquo;t forget to include your contact information and of course, make sure you spell-check.&rdquo; Consult business-writing references for guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span>Read Also : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/how-to-write-a-cv\/\">Guide to how to write a cv?<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the world of recruiters and executive search firms, resumes rule. But this doesn&rsquo;t mean you should ignore or forgo sending cover letters.&ldquo;If a candidate&rsquo;s resume is a good fit to what I&rsquo;m looking for, then I&rsquo;m going to take a look at the cover letter,&rdquo; says Dan Anderson, a partner in St. Paul-based executive &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/cover-letters-to-recruiters\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Cover Letters to Recruiters<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resume-cover-letters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55351,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/55351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monster.co.th\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}