A well-written business and management cover letter leverages your best and puts you in line for the job. Recruiters are on the lookout for candidates who can show their business acumen and how they will add value to the companies for which they want to work.
You may dismiss the cover letter as secondary to your resume, and that may or may not be true, but rest assured that if your resume is impressive, your cover letter will be read. This is the document that may distinguish you from other qualified candidates.
So how do you increase your capital in the eyes of recruiters? Read on.
Our business and management cover letter examples coupled with this guide will detail following topics to help you design the best cover letter possible:
- How to choose the best cover letter format and what paragraphs the cover letter should include
- How to maximize the effect of each cover letter paragraph (header, greeting, intro, body and conclusion)
- What approach to take when writing your cover letter
- What mistakes to avoid when writing your business and management cover letter.
The guide below will analyze the details and give you ideas on how to make the most of this one-page addition to your application. (You can also check out our library of 125+ cover letter examples).
Best format for a business and management cover letter
Before you start listing metrix, you need to understand the structure of your document. Every business and management cover letter should include the following elements:
- The cover letter header
- The greeting / salutation
- The cover letter intro
- The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
- The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)
What are you trying to convey within this structure and what is the best way to do it? Maintain a consistent tone and make sure all the points you make relate directly to your main message.
For a general idea of how to go about writing an application, the comprehensive cover letter guide is a great read, but this text offers a focused approach to each section of business and management cover letter.
The business and management cover letter example below gives an overview of how to create your own application:
Dear Mr. Lopez,
It is with great enthusiasm that I hope to be considered as a candidate for the Business Director position currently seeking fulfillment at the Foley Group. I bring forth experience, education, and the necessary skills to effectively carry out this role, drive new business, and resolve business challenges. In the last decade I have worked as a Director for Gradient and Action Force, where I worked hard to achieve business objectives. I am hoping to bring the same passion and energy to the Foley Group as a dedicated Business Director.
I understand that you are looking for someone who specializes in strategy and solutions, and I can assure you that I have continuously provided my former places of employment with both. I am highly adept in creating risk assessments for new initiatives that outline business risk and operational impacts. As a Business Director for the Foley Group I will work tirelessly to evaluate business and operational impacts and design high level solutions.
Is there a time we can set aside to further discuss the value I can bring to the Foley Group as a Business Director? Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Most Sincerely,
Davina Matthews
If you’re looking for additional inspiration for cover letter writing, you can check out our related business and management cover letter samples:
- Manager cover letter sample
- Business Analyst cover letter sample
- Executive cover letter sample
- Project Manager cover letter sample
- Product Manager cover letter sample
- Consulting cover letter sample
- Project Coordinator cover letter sample
- Executive Assistant cover letter sample
- Supervisor cover letter sample
- Assistant Manager cover letter sample
- Program Coordinator cover letter sample
- Brand Manager cover letter sample
- McKinsey cover letter sample
- CEO cover letter sample
- Store Manager cover letter sample
- Quality Assurance (QA) cover letter sample
- Business Development Manager cover letter sample
Cover letter header
While it may be true that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, that doesn’t mean that human nature allows us to discount our first visual impression. That’s what makes the header so important. You need to present a professional, organized and analytic image. When you design the header of your cover letter, take that into account.
The main point of this section is to get your contact information in front of the recruiter. By that we mean your name, email and best phone number. No need to list your address unless it is pertinent to the job. If you want the job, you will make sure it’s easy to reach you by making sure this information is legible and accessible.
Aim for consistency
When you apply for a job, you’re making a presentation, so use the same principles you use then. Choose a consistent theme for both your resume and cover letter. This approach makes for a more polished application and ensures that your documents will be seen as a unit.
The aim of this section: Present a businesslike image and get your contact information before the eyes of the recruiter.
Cover letter greeting
The greeting of your business and management cover letter sets the tone for the user experience. Recruiters are people, too, and they like to be addressed politely and by name.
Therefore, we recommend “Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms. Surname.”
This standard, but friendly, start will show that you did some homework before sitting down to compile your application and it will engage the reader who you addressed correctly. Remember to triple check that you have the spelling and honorific correct. There’s no quicker way to lose points than to misspell someone’s name or get their gender wrong.
Our cover letter samples typically use this style, but if you cannot get the name of a person, “to whom it may concern” is a fine alternative. If you are sure that a company has a casual culture, you can use “Dear _______ team,” or wording to that effect.
The aim of the cover letter greeting: Use the hiring manager’s name to set the tone for a friendly but professional letter.
Dear Mr. Lopez,
Cover letter introduction
Think of your introduction as your elevator pitch. You have to pique the interest of the hiring manager quickly or they won’t read on. That means presenting your business philosophy or management style and following it up with your career highlight all within the first paragraph.
Jump right in with your core competency and offer an overview of your career. Show confidence that you are the right person for the job (and make sure you tell the recruiter exactly why). This is not a self performance review or time for reflecting on your errors. If you want the job, you need to make sure you show off your best.
Give recruiters an idea of what it’s like to work with you or for you and tease what’s coming up in your body paragraphs. Keep your tone professional, but confident.
The aim of the cover letter intro: State your business plan with confidence and show why you will exceed expectations while getting the job done.
It is with great enthusiasm that I hope to be considered as a candidate for the Business Director position currently seeking fulfillment at the Foley Group. I bring forth experience, education, and the necessary skills to effectively carry out this role, drive new business, and resolve business challenges. In the last decade I have worked as a Director for Gradient and Action Force, where I worked hard to achieve business objectives. I am hoping to bring the same passion and energy to the Foley Group as a dedicated Business Director.
Cover letter middle part (body)
Great managers engage their employees, value their talents and make room for their ideas. They motivate and reward excellence. (For the top 8 behaviors of great managers, check out this Gallup research.) The middle part of your business and management cover letter gives you the space to show how you do these things or, if you are not in a management role, how you respond to your manager’s style and take your work to the next level.
Choose the top two or three achievements of your career. You are trying to show that you can step into your new position with an understanding of what it takes to do a great job, so make sure your examples illustrate how you will solve a pain point in your new role. Use examples of your people skills and your business and technical knowledge.
Focus the recruiter’s eye on your biggest successes by using bullets, which also serves to break up big blocks of type. Use strong action words to begin each item. Data and details will make your point stronger.
The aim of the body of your cover letter: Show exactly how you will use your skill to add value to the company you are applying to work at.
I understand that you are looking for someone who specializes in strategy and solutions, and I can assure you that I have continuously provided my former places of employment with both. I am highly adept in creating risk assessments for new initiatives that outline business risk and operational impacts. As a Business Director for the Foley Group I will work tirelessly to evaluate business and operational impacts and design high level solutions.
How to close a business and management cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
It’s time to close the deal. You have one final paragraph and recruiters are waiting for your big finish, so give it to them!
Start by restating why you are the candidate for the job. Then, relate a story that gives this some weight. Maybe you had a great mentor and now you want to be one. Perhaps you pride yourself on your amazing spreadsheets or your financial modeling. Maybe you have an origin story for your great marketing campaign. This is the place to show those off. These items add a personal touch to your conclusion and may entice the recruiter to follow up during an interview.
Finally, you need a call to action. Don’t be shy to politely request an interview. Our business and management cover letter example offers one way to accomplish that. Sign off with “Sincerely” or “Best regards.”
Is there a time we can set aside to further discuss the value I can bring to the Foley Group as a Business Director? Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Most Sincerely,
Davina Matthews
Avoiding basic mistakes in a business and management application letter
- Spell check, grammar check, proofread! We can’t say this enough. If you show you don’t have great attention to detail in your application, how will you do on the job?
- Use natural language. Keep the business jargon to a minimum. Your main goal is to get your message across clearly, so avoid confusing language or language that may mean different things to different people.
- Keep your anecdotes to one or two sentences. If a story needs too much explanation, it’s best saved for the interview.
Key takeaways for a business and management cover letter
- You need soft skills as well as a strong business sense and technical competence, so make sure you vary your examples to show you are well-rounded.
- Use a confident tone to explain why you are an outstanding candidate for the job.
- Define what it is like to work with your and/or for you.
- Show off the biggest career success you have that will translate to a win in your new job.
With Resume.io’s help, writing your cover letter is easy. After carefully planning out your strategy, click on one of our ready-made and carefully market-researched cover letter templates and start writing.
