The Email Version of the Cover Letter: Introduction to the Cover Letter.

by S. Jeffery

Hello friends! Hope all is well.  As promised, today I will be focusing on the email version of the cover letter. Yes, most of us have been doing it all wrong! Well today I'm gonna share with you how it should be done and I will also include an actual cover letter that I wrote for someone a while back. Bear in mind for the purpose of this article, it will be thoroughly modified to protect their identity.  If you haven't read about the standard version (printed version) the cover letter, where have you been? Lol.  You can catch up on your reading just go to The body of the Letter which discusses the three critical paragraphs of the cover letter and what to include in them and part 2, Format and Structure which discusses in depth the different sections of the letter and how they should be formatted.  You have no excuse, get reading and come back here to read this final introductory article.

Email Version of the Cover Letter 

Email Subject Line
Email cover letters begin with a subject line and usually has the title of the position you wish to apply for and your name as the subject. For example: 'Sales Representative - Stacy Jeffery', you could also write 'Stacy Jeffery for Sales Representative position'. 

Salutations/Greetings
Acceptable salutations are as follows: Dear Hiring Manager, if you don't know the manager's name.  Do you remember what I said about finding out the name of the hiring manager?  It's best to get the name. So for example if the hiring manager's name is Mr. Brian Walcott, You would address him as 'Dear Mr. Walcott. The format is always Mr/Ms. Surname.  Avoid using "Miss" or "Mrs." for women to avoid any offense. Additionally, If the person has a first name that could be the name of a man or a woman, use his or her full name in the salutation, for example "Dear Cameron Jones."*

Skip a line and go on to the body of the email.

Body of letter
The body of the letter is your tool to sell yourself, everything else is a formality. Make sure you use this part to really show off who you are and what you can do! 

Conclusion
If you've attached electronic copy of your letter please indicate this here  and thank the recruiter for their consideration.

Closing note
Please use formal language such as Sincerely, Truly, Respectfully, you can also venture to use the more friendly but polite 'Best Regards'.  Skip one line (space) then type your name in full.  The email version does not require that you sign your name.

For example: 
Sincerely,

Stacy Jeffery.

The funny thing though is that your online (social media) accounts become a part of your signature!

Here's how it would look:

Sincerely,

Your name in full

__________________
Your name in full
Your street address
P.O. Box/Your City
Email
Phone number
Social media accounts (LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter)

So be careful about what your social media account says about you. Recently I saw an advert which asked job applicants to include their Facebook account. Yup, it's happening folks! Recruiters are screening potential employees online too. Be very careful. 

Things to Note!!

Bearing in mind that most persons may not be aware of this format, it could be concluded that job seekers often fail to email their cover letters correctly. Here are some tips for you.

Tips

1. Email your letter in the format shared above

2. Clearly indicate the job you're applying for in the subject line

3. You can copy and paste your cover letter to the body of the email, just make sure you remove these items: 

• Employer's address (not necessary since it's going directly to them not the through postal service)
• The space between your name and the closing note.
• The date (all emails are dated anyway)

Note: Due to the copy/paste process lines/sentences may get out of kilter, make sure that your letter is re-formatted so everything is where it should be before you send it off.

Don'ts

1. Do not upload your cover letter as an attachment and then send it to the employer. You may never get a response. Your letter introduces you to the employer/recruiter. If you just put the subject of the email and then upload the resume and cover letter, the employer may not even bother looking at it. There has to be a description of why you're writing to them, use the cover letter for that purpose. Also, don't include attachments unless they are requested. Some companies block all emails with attachments to avoid viruses.

2. Do not leave the subject line of your email blank, a pet peeve of mine. I often edit/write resumes and cover letters, and from time to time persons would send these documents for me to review. The problem is: If you send me an email with no title how am I suppose to know what the email is for? Most times I will take a peak and notice that there are attachments in the email but no description of what they are for. I'm not opening them and I'm sure most employer feel the same way. 

Dos

1. Please follow the instructions of the recruiter concerning how your application should be submitted. If they require that your email subject have a specific title; follow their instructions. If they say they require the files in PDF or Word file format only, please do what they ask. 

2. Just as you would the printed copy of your letter, go through it carefully for any typos or speeling erors (just kidding, spelling errors). Also check for slight grammatical slips.

This concludes the series 'Introduction to the Cover Letter'. Tune in next week for another interesting article. I do hope the posts have been helpful to you. Feel free to give feedback by commenting below. Look for the link of the cover letter sample in 'Additional resources' just below. Thanks!

 Additional resources:
*Good Salutation for Cover Letters - http://work.chron.com/good-salutations-cover-letters-2976.html

Cover letter -Email version sample

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