How to create an effective cover letter to accompany your CV

Instead of compiling a cover letter for a job application, that only says ‘ Please find my CV enclosed etc ‘ , spend a little more time and complete a Mirror Image cover letter. The Mirror Image cover letter is one of the most effective ways to impress the recipient and it compares the job requirements to your own skill set which gives the reader time to make their own analysis. This will give the recipient of the letter a ‘heads up’ of your own capabilities even before they read your CV.

The formulation of a Mirror Image cover letter is as follows :

1) Create a 2 column table with the following headings a. Left column heading : ‘Your Requirements’ b. Right column heading : ‘What can I offer’.

2) In the left column, write down key job requirements that you are targeting and this canbe extracted from the job advert or actual job specification.

3) In the right column, write down on what you can offer them to fulfil the particular job requirement eg If the job requirement is ‘Develop and implement a marketing strategy, then in the adjacent column, you might input ‘Involved in planning of company’s European marketing strategy to launch a new software product to the financial sector’ .

Another key aspect of the Mirror Image letter is that is shows that you have used your initiative and carefully analysed and matched the key characteristics of the job, and this would normally impress the recipient. This can be a critical factor in influencing their decision as to whether they will invite you for an interview.