Cover note

 If you got interested in labour offer you probably would react on it. Cover note is a part of your reaction together with CV and other enclosures demanded. You would express your interest in this offer and the reason of your interest. Our advice is not to use one cover note for all answers you would send; each cover note should be unique. The most often this cover note would be like email; short, only few rows.

You should start this cover note with greeting, next row would say where you got information about this offer and when. You can point out your key information from CV showing your experience in offered position or you can add your characteristic. At the end of this letter state contact to you, which enclosures you are sending and that more information they can find in your CV.

Motivation letter

Significantly bigger thing is to write motivation letter. But when you put little effort on it you will be successful. Beside cover note it offers you the possibility to present your experience and skills. The aim of this letter is to convince the potential employer that just you are the right person for this position. It should be well-arranged, individual, polite and addressing a concrete person. Its size should be about page A4. We write it when it is demanded together with CV.

What is the aim of motivation letter?

It is informing when you got know about the labour offer (in newspaper etc.).

It supports the information that you know the company well (its position on the market, company culture, products etc.).

It shows your good orientation in given topic.

It points out why you are interested in this position and what suppositions you have (e.g. analytic thinking, creation, organization skill etc.). It convinces about you being the right person for this position.

It represents your wish to meet the company representative (e.g. HR person). 

What the structure of motivation letter should be?

Your contact data: name, surname, residential address, phone number, email address

The address of receiver: name of the company, department, contact person, address of place of business

Place of issue, date of issue (Brno, 1st September 2009 etc.)

Subject (Reaction to advertisement...., Interest in position... etc. - it is not necessary)

Addressing (Dear Mr. XY ..., Dear Mrs. XY ..., the best thing is to address concrete person)

Concrete content (why you write, what you know, what you can offer to company, your expectations etc.)

Closing sentence (Your faithfully, I am looking forward to meeting you ...)

Signature

List of enclosures (CV, diplomas, certificates ...)

Avoid grammar mistakes, mentioning your weaknesses, cliché and certainly do not say your salary idea.

Hopefully these above mentioned information would help you to write attractive motivation letter and you would be step further in interview.