Ask any employer and they’ll tell you that cover letters are the cherry on top of a great CV.

Get yours right, and you’ll give the recruiter extra confidence to progress your application. Here are three easy but effective ways to make your cover letter stand out from the rest…

Highlighting your achievements

Where CVs outline your profile, key skills, career history and education, cover letters can give insight into your accomplishments. List performance-related wins in your previous roles to boost the credibility of your claims. 

Exercising concision

With stiff competition for virtually every role on the market today, a rambling cover letter will immediately put you on the back foot. Talk in simple terms, explaining who you are, why you want the role and how you can demonstrably deliver what they need.

Think about the smaller details

Forget ‘to whom it may concern’ – find out who your manager will be and address it to them. Use the same font as the company (if you can), include company values where applicable and mention key words from the job description to demonstrate your attention to detail.

For more quick tips like this, explore the Oliver James blog archive to the right.