Phrases to Use for Cover Letters Cheat Sheet

While I think I may have mentioned, oh once or twice that cover letters are not an option, I will admit that they are hard to write. If you are like me – and I write for a living – you might find that when you sit down to write a letter you cannot come up with something to say. I think that people draw a complete blank when sitting before the keyboard. Person­ally, I have my best ideas in the shower. The minute I step out the perfect thought leaves my head. I should have written it on the shower door (I think to myself). I could then grab the computer and quickly put on the screen that wonderful gem of an idea before it flies off into the night. Here is my effort to help you come up with some phrases as you are drafting your well written and compelling cover letter:

Committed to organi­zat­ional growth and develo­pment, I discovered early in my career the power of mentoring staff and promoting accoun­tab­ility for results. To that end, throughout my profes­sional experi­ences, I encouraged cross-­tra­ining and afforded staff the opport­unity to improve their skills through ongoing education. In my present capacity as [Title], our team has achieved a #1 national ranking in sales, a position I attribute to our overall focus on employee develo­pment and produc­tivity, client service, and satisf­action.

Through the implem­ent­ation of a Just in Time (JIT) program unused inventory was elimin­ated, which resulted in a $65,000 annual cost savings. Equally important was my contri­bution to the develo­pment of the company’s safety manual, which reduced worker’s compen­sation claims by 25%; the new safety programs were adopted as a corporate best practice for all domestic and intern­ational locations.

Organi­zat­ional Skills:

You would think that this is a given. Of course people are going to claim to be organized. You wouldn’t hire someone if you thought they didn’t have this skill. If you are applying for a job where this is referenced as a critical component, the following will be helpful:

Due to my ability to manage complex projects simult­ane­ously, I was selected by the company’s president for the ‘Star’ award, which is awarded to one employee on an annual basis. In addition to stream­lining the develo­pment and dissem­ination of marketing litera­ture, I also created a system to track and follow-up on sales leads.

Through the management of client relati­ons­hips, schedules, and changing priori­ties, my depart­ment’s efficiency increased by 14%, and employee morale as measured by company satisf­action surveys increased by 25%. I am experi­enced in working with people at all profes­sional levels to identify needs and establish programs to achieve corporate growth and success.

Writing a strong cover letter and resume is critical to demons­trate what you can do for a potential company. Your ability to commun­icate effect­ively on paper is a sign that you are diligent, care about the process, and have attention to detail!

Perfor­mance Focus:

As you know, driving organi­zat­ional perfor­mance is critical to business success. Your ability to talk about this topic in your cover letter will allow you to quickly demons­trate your value:

In part I attribute my success to my ability to drive sustained results. During my tenure with XYZ Corpor­ation, my contri­bution to team goals resulted in achieving sales growth of 45%. In addition to fostering an enviro­nment predicated on open commun­ica­tion, I also recomm­ended and drove the implem­ent­ation of weekly feedback sessions, which facili­tated improved employee morale and commitment to corporate goals.

Cost Savings:

Cost savings is another area that will enable you to provide metrics to quickly establish credib­ility. Consider the following to help you create your own content related to cost savings:

As the CFO of ABC Corpor­ation, my work was instru­mental in driving cost savings of 30% through the implem­ent­ation of automated systems and processes. Subsequent to ongoing operations analysis, the finance team oversaw the establ­ishment of a shared services organi­zation, which eliminated redundant programs and improved profit­ability by 35%.