How To Write An Effective Cover Letter

Writing an effective cover letter that generates interview is not easy. There are lots of skills and strategies in it.

When I do the resume critiques for my readers, I notice something in common. I can’t say these are errors, but things need improvements.

Repeat Experiences
Many tend to re-write their experiences which were mostly captured in their resumes. A better strategy is to summarise your USP (unique selling point), in other words, how your best strength would add value to the role you are applying. You may also include capabilities that were not stated in your resume, such as how your people skill contributed to your success; how you achieve results through team work.

Over Selling
Though cover letter is a sales tool, but we still don’t want to make it too aggressive, such as ‘hey, I’m here, hire me.’ An appropriate tone is very important.

Too Long
One of the most classic piece of work came from an undergraduate – perfect English, appropriate tone, excellent layout and good experiences – however one FULL page long. Actually the letter was so well written and there was nothing I could correct. I was thinking to refund the fee I was paid.

Listen! Remember my 20-second cover letter suggestion? 20 seconds does not only mean that the hiring manager is too busy and has only 20 seconds to read your letter. It is when a person read, what they read in the first 20 seconds will seed into their brain more firmly. If the phone rang when the hiring manager was reading your letter, and when he finished his long phone call, he may simply lost interest in continue reading your long letter. Your well written letter may go to the ‘no’ tray.

Bottom line: If you can’t write all you want to write in 20 seconds, set half page as a maximum.

More Writing Tips
If you are proactively approaching a bank, please include ‘3 WHYs’ on your cover letter: Why IB; Why HSBC (or name of the bank you are approaching), Why you. Show your passion in banking and don’t let the employer think that you only want a good-pay job.

Back to the question of how to write an effective cover letter.

If you enjoy writing – DIY – read guidelines from this blog. If you want some more reference tools, the Amazing Cover Letters is very popular among my readers. If you want a pair of professional eyes to go through your resume, hire my critique service. See details on the right hand side of this blog.

If you don’t enjoy writing – hire a former investment banker to write it for you. DreamResume who specialized in financial services resume writing, offers 10% discount to my readers. Read this post.


Investment Banking Cover Letter

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

A reader ask me what kind of roles are good for him to start a banking career. Well, it all depend on the person, such as interests and skill sets.

I have a link from the RBC. You simply answer three questions and it will help to find a right fit for you.

• RBC one of the "Best Workplaces in Canada"
• RBC among Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures
• RBC recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2009
  

Anna Maria D'Souza's Thought Of The Day

Before you start any banking job search, ask yourself these questions. Do you really know what an ibanker does? Do you know how the life of an ibanker is? It would be good to speak to more people in the business. Get more insights before writing your investment banking resume.

Hire an IBanker to Write Your Resume

Investment Banking Career

Ken Griffin Video

A reader left me a comment and suggested this interesting video about Ken Griffin.

Ken founded Citadel at the age of 22 with $4.2m. He started two funds from his dorm room at Harvard, and he claims that in between classes he would make trades. His first 'seeder' was Frank Meyer of Glenwood Capital who was amazed at Ken's success and his ROI. Frank provided $1m for Ken to invest while Ken was only 19, and the result exceeded his expectation.

Here is a video on Opalesque.tv in which Frank Meyer describes the keys of seeding new managers, as he did with Ken.

Anna's thought of the day:

It doesn't matter how old you are, as far as you are
good at investment and good at making money for yourself and others.

Download FREE eBook "The Complete Guide To Day Trading"
Ken Griffin started day trading when he was at Harvard. Obviously he started early and be successful early. If you want to start now, download this free ebook and become the trader you want to be.

Investment Banking Career