Need to come up with a good covering letter? When it comes to writing a winning cover letter, it’s often the little things that add up to make a big difference. A cover letter is all about making a good first impression and giving your job application the best chance of making progress. A well written one will help encourage a potential employer to read through to your resume and get in touch to find out more or set up an interview.

I have always said that often resumes can be quite clinical and really that is their job (pardon the pun) you’re essentially listing duties and experience that hopefully relates to the role you’re applying for, it’s not supposed to be romanticised reading 😊. In my early career potential employees weren’t necessarily adding a “Profile” which is now commonplace as it is like a summarised version of what essentially is a covering letter.

I’m not saying you should alter that, as some job applications don’t allow for you to download your covering letter so it is a good way to highlight your personality adding a profile, but if given the opportunity to download a covering letter I would recommend you do so.

I have included two examples of covering letters I sourced to show you one that hits the mark, and one that doesn’t quite make it.

Highlights that make this one a little ripper!

1: Contact info is easily accessible-full address optional (I would just put your suburb)
2: Addressed to the actual hiring manager and shows that you have researched the company.
3: References the job title, company, and advertisement.
4: Specific and direct reasons why you should be selected for the role.
5: Highlight the relevant parts of your resume.
6: Match your skills directly to the job you’re applying for.
7: Show that you’ve researched the company and are passionate about what they do.
8: Call to action. What would you like to happen next with this employer?

A few extra tips!

· A good cover letter should be between 200-400 words in length.
· Use your cover letter as an opportunity to highlight key skills relevant to the role.
· Be succinct but original. This is the first thing an employer might look at.

Elements that make this one a little sub-standard

1: Make sure you include all your contact information, including email and contact number.
2: Always address your cover letter using the name of the hiring manager if possible
3: This example doesn’t include the job title or company name, which could suggest its generic, and has been sent to multiple employers unchanged.
4: You need to explain why you are applying for the role.
5: Check your spelling and grammar!
6: Only include information that is relevant to the role.
7: Put forward a compelling case as to why you’re suitable for the role.
8: Only focus on your positives and why you would be a good fit for the role.
9: Never say you don’t know much about the company. Do your research.

This importer is a sales and marketing company of premium beverage brands across Australia, they are both a distributor & importer. Right now, they need additional support in HR to work closely with Employment Hero to ensure they are optimising the platform. This means; updating and writing policies and procedures for new legislative changes as well creating Manager & Team members employee handbooks. Also, you will put together several presentations for instance; one around NES standards to use when training Managers and another around the new sexual harassment legislation for employees.

Congratulations Brooke, your cheerful outlook, strong customer service skills and flexibility are invaluable to both us and our clients. Infact your current manager had this to say about you “Brooke is so deserving of this award! She has worked across two of our major events, she is just absolutely lovely and incredibly professional who is detail orientated and super speedy in everything she does.” Thank you for being an outstanding representative of our Company, and we look forward to continuing our good working relationship with you in the future.

We have pleasure in presenting Louise “Golden Temp of the Year” award for 2022, in recognition of the excellent standard of work you provide as a member of our On-Hire Casual Team (Temp Team).

Your positive attitude, strong customer service skills and flexibility are invaluable. Infact this is what our client had to say about you; “Louise is going to be a fabulous fit, I can leave here after nearly 25 years feeling like I have left the Company in safe hands.”

Thank you for being an outstanding representative of our Company, and we look forward to continuing our good working relationship with you in the future.

Kellie started with us in August and has been ongoing in the same contract this whole time, she is proactive, solution driven with strong interpersonal skills and has in-depth operational experience with cross-functional communication abilities, thank you Kellie for all your hard work, this award is very deserving. Congratulations!

The PP pups Ruby and Murphy are in charge today, we’re closing from midday for our staff Christmas Party. Back on board tomorrow. Happy hump day everyone. Ho Ho Ho!

Nick’s Walk is for blokes and is all about supporting men’s mental health. Do you have any men in your life who would benefit from walking and talking? This is such an inclusive, safe, and supportive group where strangers can turn up and feel included and heard. Nick was an extremely good friend to Peninsula Personnel in particular Leigh & Lisa and supported us over the years taking part in the Pub2Pub fun run with the PP team.

This event was started by Nicks brothers in 2021 after we lost Nick to suicide, he was fifty-one and in the prime of his life. Last year’s inaugural event was an impressive day starting at Spit Bridge and finishing on the top deck of the Watsons Bay Hotel with a BBQ and a few well-earned beverages.

This year is bigger and better with the team partnering with another men’s mental health team @my_mens_team led by @camerondaddo

For more details and to get your tickets visit https://www.spoketoabloke.org/nicks-walk-sydney-2023-register

Registrations for Nick’s Walk Sydney will close this month – December 30^th 2022.

Congratulations Bert our PP temp of the month for November, our client has wonderful things to say about you.

Bert has been with us for over a year now and has become one of my best guys here in logistics and has been a real asset to the company. Not only has he remained one of our most trustworthy team members but is very dependable in every situation and is ready to do whatever it takes to get the work done. Bert is also very much liked by all our site guys and despite the challenges he faced this year, he still showed true dedication day in day out. A well-deserved award!

#5kmADayForBreastCancerResearch day 29 ✅ one more day to go, Lisa & Leigh took part in this fundraising initiative and are proud to announce they raised $1000. “We have really enjoyed hitting the street this November in our PINK”

During Covid-19 many things were forgotten. While there was a brief pause of the BreastScreen Australia program in April 2020, states and territories have resumed services so it’s important for women of all ages to put breast screening back at the top of their to-do-list.

Peninsula Personnel is starting to prepare for Christmas and a fun filled New Year. Please note that like most of you we too will shut down over Christmas, however that doesn’t mean the work stops, we have plenty of people available to work over the Christmas period!

Do you need a temp for holiday cover or in the leadup to your shutdown in the OFFICE or WAREHOUSE? Not only do we have our usual amazing team of temps available but at this time we also have quite a few juniors that are becoming available over their Uni break looking for casual work.

PP’s closing dates are from Friday 23rd December until 10^th January, we are happy to negotiate all your staffing needs now in preparation.