Applying for a job in any field can be really daunting, but if you want to make a good impression, you should include a CNA cover letter with your resume to tell the potential employer a few things about yourself. The problem that many people find when they sit down with pen and paper to write their cover letter is that they’re not quite sure what to say. Should they talk about their background or their future? Should they include personal details about themselves or keep the letter formal? These considerations often get lumped together and the cover letter that ensues is a mess. Help is at hand for those who need it. There is a format you can use when writing your cover letter to ensure it looks goods and reads even better.
If you are wondering why you should even bother with a cover letter, consider this:
- Your cover letter is your first point of contact with a potential employer and gives them some insight into how you work and what you are like. If your cover letter is laced with spelling errors, their immediate assumption will be that you don’t pay attention to detail, and this could keep them from hiring you. If your letter is too personal, they may feel that you do not know how to draw the line between work and your home life. However, if your letter is excellent and engaging, they will feel that you too are excellent, and will usually request an interview.
- The cover letter is a way for you to give your potential employer a quick view of what you do well. By listing some of your skills and the training you have had, your potential employer can make a quick decision about whether you are right for the job, without have to even read your resume.
- Your cover letter is all about the impression your give. Make a good impression, and it lasts forever.
- Your cover letter is your advertisement of yourself. If you advertise yourself well, you will get a job. If you focus on your weaknesses and make apologies, you probably won’t even be asked for an interview.
Now that you understand why a CNA cover letter is so important, consider how you should be writing it.
How To Write A CNA Cover Letter
Before you even put pen to paper, you need to consider why you are writing the cover letter. Besides the reasons given above, you need to be sure that you are using it to apply for a job you really want.
Start your cover letter by greeting the reader. The greeting should be formal and if you know their name, include it. Next, give an introduction. This should detail the position you are applying for and why you think you qualify for that position. This doesn’t have to be long, usually about two or three lines that give a general feel for you and your skills.
Next, explain a bit about your background but only in relation to the position being advertised. Your potential employer doesn’t want to know about your life in high school or what your family is like. They want to know about your training and education and the other important factors that qualify you for the job. This includes any experience you have had that may contribute to the position, even if it is not as a CNA.
In your conclusion, give the interviewer a way to contact you. Furnish them with your contact details and thank them for the opportunity to apply. This makes the letter sound more formal. The traditional salutation is ‘Sincerely’ so end with that and your name.
Once you are done with the letter, proofread it to ensure your grammar and punctuation are correct. If you spot any errors, correct them, since this will make an impression on the potential employer. When you have done this, ask someone else to read your letter and given their impression. A parent or teacher is always a good person to ask because they will know about you and will be able to determine whether you have brought yourself across well in your letter. Remember the letter should be short, definitely no longer than a page, and if typing the letter, use an 11 or 12 font size.
Writing a CNA cover letter is important because the field is so competitive. So when you think about your cover letter, consider the following factors:
- What distinguishes you from everyone else? If your education and experience don’t separate you from the pack, then think about how your cover letter can. You may find that through language and through your passionate descriptions of why you want the job, you will stand out from the pack. Remember that standing out does not mean using a silly font or making wild claims. It is about presenting yourself in a way that makes you seem like the ideal candidate for the job.
- Be honest. There is nothing worse than reading a letter in which the author has clearly made up a lot of what they are saying. Be honest in your experience, be honest in your education, and above all, be honest about why you want the job. There are ways of saying things without actually stating them bluntly, so if you want the job because you enjoy money, or the sense of recognition, say that you want the position because it indicates growth and because you enjoy helping people. These are both true, but just a different way of saying what you mean.
- Also important is the skills you have to do the job, and this is not just the training and education that you have had, but also the soft skills. Becoming a CNA requires a certain type of personality, so when applying for a job, state in your CNA cover letter why you feel you have these skills. This can include patience, tenacity, intelligence and the like. If you want to endorse this, ask a teacher or friend to write you a reference, proving that you do have these skills.
- Keep it short and simple. People assume that when you write a cover letter, it has to be filled with fancy words and all manner of wild ideas, but remember that this is a reflection of who you are. If you don’t usually use big words when you speak, don’t use them in your letter, because they give a false impression of who you are. Instead, write out the letter in the way you would speak, using simple language and being honest. Don’t go over a page because the reader doesn’t have time to read the cover letters of forty to fifty applicants if they are all two or three pages. Introduce yourself, say what you want to say, and then conclude.
- Back it up. Remember that anything you say in your cover letter should be reflected in your resume, so if you mention something in your cover letter that doesn’t come up in your resume, the interviewer will be confused. For example, if you talk about your training in a private hospital, but this does not appear in your resume, the interviewer will be confused and may think that you are making it up.
The best piece of advice you can get when writing your CNA cover letter is to be yourself. People assume that when they write cover letters, they need to pretend to be better than they actually are. What ends up happening, unfortunately, is that they make a big mess and don’t even get asked for an interview.
You don’t need to be someone else to make a good impression in your cover letter. You just need to be the best version of yourself. This means being honest about what you have done, where you have been and why you want the job. It also means being honest with yourself about why you want this job. If you don’t know why, then perhaps this is not the right job for you.
When you are asked to attend an interview, make sure you know everything there is to know about what you wrote in your cover letter and resume, so prepare yourself by reading everything you wrote. In this way, if the interviewer asks any questions, you will be well prepared to answer them. Also ensure that everything you have put in your cover letter is true. There is nothing more embarrassing than being caught out in a lie in an interview and this could ruin your entire career.
As previously mentioned, be yourself. The interviewer is not expecting you to be perfect, nor are they expecting you to be someone else. If you are asked to come in for an interview, it is because the interviewer has seen something in your cover letter that they like. Your cover letter is like a mirror that reflects who you are, and if you are honest about your skills, your personality and your aspirations, you will be asked to attend more interviews than you can handle.