How To Make Cover Letter Words Work in Your Favor 

The time to write a killer cover letter that’ll set your career on the right path is here. After putting it off for as long as possible, you start brainstorming, ready to take the world by storm. But words aren’t that easy, aren’t they? Having the right cover letter words at your disposal can help. For one, it’ll stop the procrastination-driven anxiety.

 

Regardless of how well-rounded your cover letter is and how much you made your skills stand out, using certain cover letter words and phrases will take everything to a new level. What are cover letter keywords? Is using action verbs necessary? Can you turn one of Elon Musk’s unhinged tweets into an effective cover letter buzzword? 

 

Let’s get down to business and find out!

 

What Are Cover Letter Action Words?

 

Your cover letter plays a significant role in landing a job interview. Getting it just right can be a nerve-racking experience, especially if you’re a rookie. 

 

Using the right words in a cover letter helps you showcase your skills in the best possible way. They’ll help your letter look better, regardless of your qualifications. Fill your cover letter with keywords that refer to certain skills and competencies that are listed in the job description of the position you’re going for—it will set your letter apart from others, which is especially important when it comes to ATS screening.

 

Source: Cliff Booth

 

The two groups of words that you should have in mind while writing a cover letter are:

 

1. 1. Words that you’ve picked up from the job ad—keywords

1. 1. Power words that work for every occasion—buzzwords

 

What’s the Difference Between Cover Letter Buzzwords and Keywords?

 

Before you start writing your cover letter, you need to understand why buzzwords and keywords aren’t the same. Buzzwords or power words are the words and phrases that everyone tends to include in their cover letter simply because they show that the author has certain skills or achievements under their belt. Some of the buzzwords that make their way into nearly every single cover letter are “team player,” “hard-worker,” and “goal-oriented.” You need to be clever about which and how many of them you include in your document. Overusing buzzwords can make your cover letter too cluttered and filled with fluff. Recruiters have read them so many times that they’ve grown tired of them. 

 

Instead of just listing buzzwords in your cover letter, make sure you also provide them with context and back up your power claim with proof. If you truly are an “excellent communicator,” you’ll have specific examples to mention. Use action words to demonstrate you mean what you say for yourself—introduced, created, handled, produced, executed, etc. all allow you to do it effectively.

 

Keywords are the specific words that you can find in a job description. They can refer to special qualifications, educational background, and experience that is applicable to the role at hand. You can find them dispersed throughout the whole job ad. Using keywords can help your cover letter pass the applicant tracking system (ATS) scan as well as impress the recruiter.

 

The Twofold Role of Cover Letter Keywords

 

By using cover letter keywords, you’re showing a potential employer that you’ve researched their company well and that you’re a great fit for the role. 

 

During the screening process of both cover letters and resumes, employers look for candidates that are suitable for the position they want to fill. Even though you can’t read the employer’s mind—you can read the job ad. The importance of keywords for cover letters is apparent. Using them is far more impactful than using ordinary language.

The two main reasons why your choice of keywords is essential for your cover letter’s success are:

 

1. 1. Passing the applicant tracking system (ATS) screening—The key purpose of cover letter keywords is to help you pass the ATS screening. The presence of the same keywords that are mentioned in the job ad in your cover letter will ensure that the system green-lights you as one of the candidates that fits the requirements

1. 1. Coming off as a suitable applicant—Once your letter passes an ATS and reaches a recruiter, they’ll skim it quickly. Seeing the key phrases while skimming the letter will instantly create a good first impression with the recruiter and likely move your application forward

 

What Are the Best Cover Letter Buzzwords?

 

Cover letter buzzwords are a big deal in the cover letter world—but which are the right ones? There’s a fair share of cover letter action words that you can use to your advantage. Then there are some skill-based words and other phrases that’ll allow you to show off your experience and professional strengths, so you’ll have no trouble articulating what you want. Tailoring them to your needs and implementing them into your cover letter in an original way will help you stand out.

 

Source: Avel Chuklanov

 

Keep in mind that the difference in meaning between the words you should use and the ones you should avoid is really subtle, but choosing the right ones will give a different overall tone to your cover letter. These three groups cover a big percentage of words to use in a cover letter:

 

1. 1. Action verbs

1. 1. Skill-based words

1. 1. Recognition words

 

Action Verbs

 

Action verbs are the most common words to use in a cover letter. You need to find a way to place them strategically throughout your letter. Doing so makes a lot of sense—recruiters are looking for competent candidates that’ll do what they’re hired to do. Action verbs will help you come off as less passive and more enterprising.

 

Here are some great action verbs as well as their counterparts that you should avoid:

Action Verbs That You Should Use	Words That You Should Avoid
Organized Supervised Negotiated	Attended Watched Agreed to

 

Skill-Based Words

 

Skill-based words are a group of particular words that show whether your skills fit the company’s needs. They also reveal how competent you are and how well you’ve handled professional situations in the past. 

 

These are some good skill-based words and others that you shouldn’t use:

Skill-Based Words That You Should Use	Ordinary Words That You Should Avoid
Adaptable Flexible Willing to learn	Tolerant Agreeable Eager to work

Recognition Words

 

Recognition words are used to showcase the times your accomplishments were recognized and rewarded. 

 

The table below shows which words you should and shouldn’t use to highlight what you’ve done in the past:

Recognition Words That You Should Use	Passive Words That You Should Avoid
Honored for Chosen for Credited with	Been given Been accepted Received

What Are Some Additional Elements You Can Incorporate To Make the Cover Letter Work?

 

Knowing which cover letter words to incorporate isn’t the same as knowing how to do it. 

 

You should have an outline that contains the four necessary parts—heading, introduction, body, and closing paragraph. Although the keywords you use in these sections will make your cover letter pass the ATS scan, it also needs to make sense and be optimized for the human eye. 

 

Source: Glenn Carstens-Peters

 

Here are steps that’ll help you make your cover letter recruiter-friendly:

 

1. 1. Research what’s expected of you—Read through the job description thoroughly and write down all the words that sound significant. Once you’ve done that, go through this list to check off every word until you’ve used them all in your cover letter

1. 1. Include a mix of different buzzword types—Even though action verbs are the most frequently used words in a job ad, make sure to add other words to the mix as well. You don’t want a cover letter that is unnaturally packed with verbs—it will come off as monotonous and repetitive

1. 1. Think about formatting—No matter how well you’ve incorporated the keywords into your cover letter, it’ll all mean nothing if you don’t format the letter well. You need to stick to standard fonts, align your text to the left, use the right line spacing, and add one-inch margins

1. 1. Proofread the entire letter—Before you send the letter in, make sure that you’ve spell-checked everything, especially the cover letter keywords. Check if they’re all there and whether the text makes sense on the whole

 

How Do You Avoid Overusing Buzzwords?

 

Is there such a thing as overusing keywords? The short answer is—yes. You should focus on quality instead of quantity and choose your words carefully.

 

One great power word is way more effective than ten of them clumped together without any context. The recruiter wants an informative cover letter that’s also easy to read. Incorporate as many buzzwords as it makes sense, but don’t push it to the point where they sound unnatural and make your letter too long. No matter how much you’ve analyzed, planned, researched, created, built, organized, managed, succeeded, contributed, or achieved, you’ll sound crazy if you throw it all in. Choose only a few of them and support them with examples instead.

 

You should also be mindful of using big words. Are you certain you know what assiduous or erudite means? By using overly complex words, you risk misusing some of them. It can also make it sound like you’re bragging. Use straightforward, positive words to showcase your successes and stick to the words that are incorporated in the job description. If you cluster random buzzwords together or use the over-the-top ones, you won’t make a good impression.

 

You’ve Used Cover Letter Keywords to Your Advantage—What’s Next?

 

Regardless of how many keywords you’ve used or how well your cover letter is written, your chances of getting an interview are slim—2%, to be exact. 

 

The hiring process is too long, and the competition doesn’t help. 87% of both active and passive candidates are open to new opportunities, which means that you’re also competing with those that already have a job. 

 

Avoid dwelling on and frustrating over the neverending job hunt. Go with a different approach—use Lensa!

 

Lensa is an AI-driven platform that has paired up with multiple job boards to bring job ads to one place for your convenience. Better yet—the job ads you’ll be presented with are customized according to your personal and professional needs. 

 

Here are some of the benefits you’ll get by signing up for Lensa:

 

• • A chance to receive the search results that are customized according to your needs—based on salary, location, or company culture preferences

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Let’s Get To Work—Register for Lensa!

 

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Featured image source: GaudiLab