Writing winning cover letters for HR and talent management jobs

No other professionals in the world are more aware of cover letter standards than in the field of Human Resources and Talent Management. If you are applying for a job vacancy in this industry through job portals or advertised recruitment drives, then you need to put together a cover letter that will get you closer to your dream career.

Know your role

The success of any company lies in the trusted hands of the HR and talent management team. They provide assistance for hiring good people, developing strategic training plans, dealing with employee relations and drawing up policies. Not only that, HR and talent management personnel also need to deal with conflict and understand the job seekers' market for better hiring processes, hence your cover letter should express your sensitivity and people skills. This is where writing a cover letter for HR and talent management jobs differ from applying for IT sales jobs, engineering jobs or customer service jobs in Singapore.

What's your motivation?

Apart from technical skills, employers will look for your underlying motivations in joining them. Your motivation will let them know that you're up for the challenges of your future job and that you would be a great addition to the company.

Bring on the highlights

Did you initiate or develop policies that made a positive impact to your previous company or organisation? Were you involved in any cost-cutting schemes that enhanced efficiency? Did you retain employees and members in a satisfactory manner? Did you give additional training to new staff? These are points that should take centre stage in your cover letter.

If you had a prior designation like HR executive, HR manager, HR Specialist, Staffing manager, Recruiter, HRIS analyst or Personnel supervisor, be sure to include them into your cover letter to provide better insight into your skills and experience.

If you are a fresh graduate, harp upon your qualifications and any management roles that you have played in your co-curricular activities. Describe how your personal qualities are suited for the HR/Talent Management role in the company.

Now that you've got all your main points in order, you can start putting them together into a cover letter:

The introduction

This section will contain the details on how you've stumbled upon the job vacancy. Describe this briefly and end the paragraph explaining why you are sending your application. Here's an example:

[box] I have read on a jobs portal that you are in need of an HR executive. With my excellent communication and relationship management skills, plus my five-year experience in compensation and benefit management of a regional IT company, I believe I am an excellent candidate for the vacant position.[/box]

Body

Spell out your accomplishments, knowledge, skills and experience in the next one or two paragraphs and mention how they can be applied in the job you're signing up for. This is where you elaborate on your unique value points to persuade your prospective employer of your suitability.

[box] My skills and capabilities are strongly in line with the requirements stated in your job description. For instance, when I started off as an HR assistant, the compensation policies, processes and procedures I developed were integral to the company - we had 100% employee retention that year. Later on, I was able to reduce their annual benefit costs by 10% after intensive reevaluation, record keeping and consistent monitoring. With these accomplishments, the management acknowledged my analytic and strategic skills, two attributes I'd like to share with your company. Moreover, I take pride in my ability to handle co-workers well. Since my years as a Student Council Leader in University, I have always been regarded as a responsible member who can tap upon the potential of people and guide them towards goals. My ability to handle conflict in times of crises became the reason for many strong personal appraisals in my previous places of work. I possess effective communication skills, both in written and verbal forms. Also, I value teamwork, honesty and good personal relations. I respect diversity of characteristics, ideas and preferences in the workplace.[/box]

Closing

The closing paragraph is where you should be succinct and thank the reader. Don't forget to refer the reader to your attached resume or any other accompanying documents.

[box] I have enclosed my resume for your perusal. I look forward to having an interview with you soon. I can be reached at (your contact number) or (your email address).Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to being part of your company.[/box]

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