Start of main content

Covering letters

The code to covering letters

  • Address your covering letter to the relevant person in the organisation, If you don’t know their name, call the company to find out.
  • Put the job title, reference number, publication title and date in the heading. If you found the vacancy online, put the name of the website, reference number and the date it was posted.
  • If someone referred you to the organisation, include this in your opening paragraph.
  • Mention what you’re enclosing or attaching.
  • Be clear about why you’re applying for that particular role at that particular company.
  • Give examples of your abilities as per the requirements in the job spec.
  • Keep your covering letter to three or four paragraphs and one side of an A4 page.
  • Don’t be over-familiar.
  • Mention when you’re available for interview.
  • Triple check your grammar and spelling and avoid repetition.
  • Don’t use jargon, abbreviations or acronyms.
  • Limit your use of ‘I’ because it gives the employer the impression that you haven’t considered them.
  • Use the same font that you used on your CV.

 

We’re upgrading our contact centre to make it quicker and easier for you to speak to the right member of our team.

From Thursday, 30 to  Friday, 31 October, our phone lines will be temporarily unavailable while we upgrade our systems. For any urgent enquiries during this time, please email membership@theiet.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

From Monday, 3 November, we’re moving to one central phone number for all enquiries - which will be 0333 049 9123. This change will make it easier to reach the right team quickly and improve your experience. 

Thank you for your patience as we improve how we connect with you.

Close this message