When writing a cover letter, you’re usually responding to a job advert. As such, you model it around the details of the job description and tailor it appropriately. But what happens when you want to apply for a company that isn’t hiring? When there’s no job advert to work from? That’s when you write and send what’s known a cold-contact cover letter (also known as a speculative cover letter, letter of inquiry, letter of interest, or prospecting cover letter). Let’s get into how to write an effective cold-contact cover letter so you can learn how to apply for a job that hasn’t been posted.
Find out who you should address
Before you start writing your cold-contact cover letter, you need to find out who you should address. Sure, you could just put “Dear Hiring Manager,” but that isn’t exactly going to catch anyone’s attention — and in this case, you really need to catch someone’s attention. Use LinkedIn and/or the company’s corporate website to find the hiring manager’s name. You’re likely pursuing a specific role, so you could also look for the name of the department manager and address it to them. It depends on the company.
By addressing the right person, you’ll do two things. One, you’ll make it less likely for your cover letter to get lost in the junk mail. Two, you’ll impress the reader with your attention to detail. The fact that you bothered to find the name of the hiring manager, especially when no job has actually been advertised, shows how ambitious you are and that you carry yourself professionally — and keep in mind that this is before they’ve even read your letter.
Understand the company’s needs
The success of a cold-contact cover letter largely depends on its timing and the company’s needs. Therefore, you need to do a lot of research to make sure yours is effective. Just saying you’d like to be considered for an opportunity isn’t enough; you need to find out where the company can improve, and/or what they need, and show them how you can help. Why should they hire you?
You need to gather as much information as you can about the company. There are a few ways to do this, such as:
– Seeing if they’ve been in the news
– Looking for general industry trends
– Searching for news about competitors
– Checking the company’s website
It depends on which job you’re going for, but your aim should be to show how your skills can be applied to help the organisation achieve its goals.
For example, imagine you’re a professional copywriter. You might visit the website of a company you’d love to work for and notice their copy isn’t particularly compelling or friendly to search engines. That could be a potential opening, a sign that they need your skills. This is the sort of thing you should be looking for — any suggestion that your skills could be valuable to them. But be careful in the way you use this information in your cover letter; you don’t want to offend the employer. For example, you wouldn’t want to say “I’ve taken a look at your website and noticed that your copy isn’t very readable or SEO friendly.” Rather, you could focus on your skills and say something like “I can help your organization rank higher in search engines such as Google.”
Construct your cold-contact cover letter
Below is an example that shows how you should format and lay out your cold-contact cover letter (as a hard copy). The format is actually identical to that of a regular cover letter; the difference is in the content. You’re not working from a job description, so you have to write based on what the company needs, and only after conducting your thorough research.
43 Lake Street
Brentwood, NY 11717February 7, 2016
Mr. Joe Bloggs
Widgets Inc.
291 Taylor Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901Dear Mr. Bloggs:
Your first paragraph needs to instantly entice the reader. You need to very concisely state how you can assist the company and why you’re interested in them. If you have a connection in the company, now’s the time to mention it, but make sure the other person is happy to refer you before you state their name.
Now, prove you can help the company by summarizing your skills and backing them up with examples and evidence from your work experience. As in a regular cover letter, these skills should absolutely be relevant to the organization and its needs. Writing about irrelevant experience is a waste of time.
In your final paragraph, you should thank the reader for their time and say you’d be grateful if they’d consider you for any future openings. Once you’ve done that, it’s absolutely essential you include a call to action; otherwise, they’re less likely to follow up with you. You could request a phone call, meeting, interview, or similar — you just need to follow up one way or another to keep yourself in the reader’s mind.
Sincerely,
Your Signature
Your Name
If you’re sending your cold-contact cover letter as an email (it might be easier to find an email address), make sure you remove:
– Your address
– The date
– The company’s address
You’ll also need to include a subject line for your email, which could be something simple like “Inquiry for sales role.” You might also want to change the sign-off to something like “Kind regards” or “Best wishes,” since emails are generally a little less formal. For more on the general formatting and content of a cover letter, please read our article:
How to Write a Cover Letter Employers Will Love
Tips for a successful cold-contact cover letter
1) Avoid the hard sell
When writing a cold-contact cover letter, it’s best to avoid the hard sell. Pushy statements such as “I will be in touch to arrange my interview” should be avoided, especially in an unsolicited letter such as this. You don’t want to come across as arrogant or entitled.
2) Be creative with the content
You shouldn’t stray too far from the expected content, but it’s worth playing around with it to show off your own flair — you’re trying to impress the employer with your skills, after all. For example, you can experiment with the tone of your subject line (if sending by email). Something simple like “Inquiry for sales role” is fine, but you could also go with a more bold headline such as “Want to hire someone who can boost sales by 15% year on year?” If you do this, your subject line should still be factual and backed up with evidence.
3) Include a call to action
It really is essential that you include a call to action of some kind. Otherwise, it’s just too easy for a recruiter to ignore or forget about you. You’re sending an unsolicited letter, after all, so it might not be on the top of their to-do list. Keep yourself in their mind.
4) Find the hiring manager’s name
Do everything in your power to find the name of your reader. This could involve searching on LinkedIn, checking the company’s corporate website, calling, or emailing. If you absolutely can’t find a name, don’t panic; it’s just better if you can.
5) Make sure you’re clean
If you do some digging and manage to find the hiring manager’s name, then congratulations. But it’s important to remember they’ll be looking you up in return. Therefore, you should make sure your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles are as clean and professional as possible. You don’t want to send an amazing cover letter only to let yourself down with a poor online presence.
We hope these tips help you to construct an effective cold-contact cover letter so you can apply for jobs that haven’t been advertised yet. Do it right, and the hiring manager will think of you when it’s time to start hiring. As always, if you have any questions, please find us on Facebook or send us a tweet @ResumeLibrary. We’re always happy to help.
