How to Write a Winning Cover Letter To Recruitment Agency for a Job.

To know the art of writing a winning cover letter to recruitment agency for a job has become more important these days because of the present tight job market. The format of your cover letter plays a crucial role in selling yourself to the prospective employer and to induce him to read your CV and grant you an interview putting you above the rest. You may be wasting your chances and facing disappointments from potential employers by writing unbecoming cover letter for recruitment consultant to send your resume with the job application.

I have spent a lot of time to research every aspect of the subject on writing an effective job application cover letter to recruitment agency, during my tenure as the head of HR of a big organization. By virtue of my position as HR Head I had the opportunity to interact with several recruitment consultants and head-hunters that specialize in recruiting personnel for companies in various industries. Out of my professional interest I inquired from many of these placement agencies about the basis of their choice of candidates for their clients. While there were some exceptions, it was revealed that no matter whatever the position or the type of the company, there were some noticeable unanimity in their replies. The most predominant reason all the recruiters expressed for choosing candidates for their clients was that all the successful applicants knew the art of writing an effective cover letter accompanying their job applications, which was found expressive and concise. This post reveals the actual secrets about writing an impressive job application cover letter for recruitment agency and guides you very deeply about constructing a smart letter which would eventually help you to get pre-selected for the job.

The cover letter to recruitment agency is as important as sending the job application directly to the prospective employer. Recruitment consultants typically ask for a cover letter from a job applicant in order to get a better idea of the applicant's experiences and career goals, and to convey pertinent personal information to potential employers. Your resume may be otherwise attractive, but it is entirely possible that if your cover letter enclosing the resume is weakly constructed or if it is apparent that you didn't expend much time and effort on it, the trust of the recruitment agency on you will fall and your resume will never get read. After all the first impression is lasting impression. If you do it correctly, your resume will be read and you may get a call for interview. But if you do it wrong your resume will simply be passed over. The cover letter you attach to your resume must, therefore, make the very best impression possible.

Here are 8 tips for writing a winning cover letter for recruitment consultant which would create a significant first impression on your potential employer. I am confident that your resume would get more attention and will be pre-selected among many job applicants provided you simply follow these tips which are essentials of cover letter requirements for recruitment agencies:

1. The rules for writing cover letter meant for direct recruiters against advertised jobs and that for writing letter to the employment agents or consultants are totally different;
2. While the focal point of the cover letter meant for a direct employer should be specific to the advertised job, the same for the recruiting consultants need to establish the value your skills and experience for the job would bring to the employers, which the employment recruiters can sell to their clients;
3. While cover letters to the employers against advertised jobs should be short and concise, you need to provide detail information highlighting your marketable skills and experiences over and above what is in your resume to impress the employment agents/head-hunters from the point of view of selling potential of the same to their clients. Try to avoid using over-used words/phrases in your covering letter like 'problem solver', 'proactive team player', 'proven track record', 'dynamic', 'motivator, 'entrepreneurial' etc. These words/phrases may appear empty to the potential clients of the employment agencies for finding them as boring and repetitive.
4. As some of the staffing agencies deal with recruitment for a particular category of industry only, it is advisable to search for recruiters who specialize in your industry. Many search firms post on their websites specific jobs they are conducting searches for. Write to more than one recruitment agency to enhance your chance of finding employment;
5. Effective cover letter for recruitment consultant or agency should invariably contain one brief introductory paragraph about yourself stating your details, why you are writing to them, which particular industries or jobs you are interested in, the suggested job titles you are qualified for in your field, how your skills, talents and experience would be a value addition to the recruiters' clients, your present location, time required to attend an interview and the notice period required to join a new job;
6. While writing to employment agents the cover letter should also include a separate paragraph giving details of your salary history and your salary expectations from the prospective employers. When mentioning about your salary requirements the same should be given as a range and not as a consolidated amount. While indicating the desired salary range you need to ensure that the bottom of the range takes into consideration the cost of living in the new job area apart from the cost of relocation. It is advisable to make request in the letter to the recruiters to maintain confidentiality from your present employer about your job application and the salary requirements;
7. Do not forget to submit the links to any of your publications in the web or to enclose print outs of the hard copies of the articles written by you, if any, in your cover letter to the employment agent/head-hunter;
8. Another most important tip for writing an effective cover letter to recruitment agency is that it should end with a conclusion requesting a meeting for an interview in person with the recruiting agent. Writing to recruitment consultants with such conclusion in the cover letter goes a long way to convey about your sincere desire for the job.

In a nutshell, a job application cover letter is not an application for job but it is the most personal part of your application package which needs to be considered as a complement to your resume or CV. To be successful in the job market it is vital that you know the art of writing an impressive cover letter for recruitment consultant, so that your resume gets critical first impression of the agency among many applicants. It should highlight how potential employers will benefit from hiring you and why you are an ideal candidate. The objectives of your cover letter to recruitment agency should be to,

i. Introduce yourself to the placement agency stating your details;

ii. Highlight your skill areas as selling points to the recruiters;

iii. Entice the employment agents/placement agency to know more about you from your resume;

iv. Request a meeting for interview with the employment agents/head-hunters;