Writing a covering letter

1940sGal

If anyone could help with this i'd be very grateful.

I think one of the biggest factors in my so far unsuccessful job search is that i'm not very good at selling myself or writing a covering letter.

For example, I'm about to write one to apply for a P/T position with Cath Kidston at their new shop in Sheffield.

Should it be a matter of some brown nosing and pointing out my good points?

I'm really pants at this :S

Voyager2002

Take your time, but keep it short.

Firstly, the letter demonstrates that you can write English that is grammatically correct and with correct spelling. It should show that you can pay attention to detail and don't just rely on spell-check to pick up errors.

Secondly, it should explain why you want this particular role with the organisation in question. It should explain why your previous experience is relevant to this particular role, perhaps describing what you were doing in previous jobs and how that enabled you to develop skills that you would use in the new role.

Elvisia

Try to copy what they've said in the advert, so say for example you're excellent at a customer service as you've had a customer facing role for the past ten years, etc. They will be matching up what they want with what you offer, so don't start selling points they haven't asked for as if they wanted that they'd say so. And for your final paragraph do say you are a fan of Cath Kidston, maybe mention which of their shops you like and how you enjoyed such good customer service it really made you want to be part of their team to take the Cath Kidston vision forward.
I have also found that looking at the website of the company and repeating back some of the phrases they use a lot can also make you stand out as the sort of person they want to have in their company.