Cover letters are great for adding a personal touch to a job application. They can help candidates tell their potential employer a little bit more about themselves, and show knowledge of the business they’re applying for. Essentially, a good cover letter is a little bit of self PR for the candidate.
The best candidates include superb cover letters with their senior job applications, but what exactly should you look for in these cover letters?
For senior roles such as Finance Director, you want only the best candidates. A cover letter for a finance director position can help you identify who the best candidates might be.
What to Look for in your Finance Cover Letter
It’s Personal
Perhaps the most important factor in a quality finance cover letter is how tailored it is to your role and to your business. It’s not uncommon for candidates to write a ‘catch-all’ cover letter and reuse it for multiple roles, changing small details. But doesn’t this defeat the purpose of a cover letter in the first place?
Your potential Finance Directors should have tailored their cover letters to your business and role. This shows a level of care and consideration in their application, which is always a great quality to look for in Finance Director applicants.
Try to spot evidence of reuse in your candidate’s cover letters. Look for over-generalisation or infrequent mention of the role/business. If your candidate is cutting corners on their cover letter, where else might they cut corners?
This also applies to cover letter templates found online. Though there’s nothing wrong with using templates to get an idea of finance cover letter structure and content, you should keep an eye out for cover letters that are simply copies of templates.
It’s Concise
For roles of all levels and industries, cover letters shouldn’t be too long. This is particularly important for Finance Directors. Quality Finance Directors should have no problem keeping their cover letters brief yet informative, as financial reports often feature the same qualities; short and understandable, but packed with information.
Your time is valuable, and candidates should respect that. That’s why it’s important that your candidates keep their cover letters clear and concise. Look for cover letters that manage to highlight the most important bits of information and present them to you in a brief manner.
Look for cover letters that pique your interest and make you want to delve further into their CV. Ideal Finance Director cover letters are no longer than a few paragraphs. These are the candidates that understand the importance of clear, concise communication. This indicates good communication and presentation skills, both essential features in Finance Director candidates.
It’s Informative
Look for candidate cover letters that are truly informative. The best candidates make excellent use of their cover letter by utilising it to supply you with useful information that isn’t found in the CV.
Too many cover letters only exist as a formality, providing no real value other than being there because they’re expected to be. Well thought-out cover letters that have purpose and value are a sign of quality in the candidate. They’re an indicator that the candidate employs attention to detail and care in their work, which is a vital feature of quality Finance Directors.
It Doesn’t Just Repeat The CV
Nobody wants to read a cover letter, only to find that all the information has been repeated in the CV itself.
The best cover letters are unique.
That’s not to say you should outright avoid any cover letters that repeat anything. Ideal cover letters aren’t always entirely unique, but they only repeat information of great importance. For example, candidates with strong self-awareness highlight their main skills in their cover letter and work this into how this is ideal for your role. The best Finance Director candidates don’t just regurgitate everything into their cover letter.
It Shows Knowledge of Business & Care Put Into Research
One of the main things you should look for in your finance Director cover letters is evidence that the candidate has knowledge of your business. This tells you that the candidate has actually taken the time to do their research on your business and your role, and has tailored their application to this.
This goes beyond simply stating the business name and the specific role in the cover letter. The best candidates’ cover letters go further, and show you that they actually know about your business. They understand your needs and the specific purpose of this role. As such, they can tell you through their cover letter exactly how they’re the answer to these needs.
Essentially, your ideal candidate’s cover letter should tell you “I’m the perfect candidate for your opportunity and here’s why”.
It Has A Key Selling Point – Relevant To Business
Your ideal candidate cover letter should be centred around a key selling point. There can be a multitude of reasons why a candidate might be ideal for your opportunity, but their cover letter should highlight the most important factor. Ideal candidates use their cover letter to single out the needs of your business, and present their key selling point in relation to these needs.
By the time you’ve finished reading their cover letter, you should know the key reason why they’re perfect for your role.
It Shows Their Most Relevant Key Achievement
Much like the key selling point, the best cover letters for Finance Director positions highlight the main achievements that are relevant to your role.
You should expect your Finance Director candidates to have many impressive achievements through their experience in senior finance roles. Their cover letters should briefly outline only the most relevant achievements. They should tie them into how these achievements fit into the role being offered.
It Outlines Their Current Business, Role, & Its Significance
Top Finance Director candidates are able to briefly outline their current employment situation and its significance.
It’s important to understand where your candidates are at the time of recruitment. What are they doing right now? Why are they ready to move on? Why is your opportunity the ideal next step in their Finance Director career?
Look for quality candidates who can create a clear, strong link between their current role and their suitability for your opportunity.
The Best Senior Cover Letters Demonstrate Personality
One of the key benefits of cover letters is that they allow you to get an impression of your candidate’s personality before you meet them. Are they a big spender? Anxious in their investments? Are they risk averse or a financial daredevil? The candidate’s cover letter should give you a bit of an impression of this.
Senior CVs can often feel overly professional and bland. Sure, they give a good impression of the candidate’s skills and experience, but they offer very little personal touch. This is where cover letters are highly useful in the recruitment process.
Top Finance Directors use their cover letters as an opportunity to reach out to you personally and show you a bit of themselves whilst remaining professional.
As we’ve discussed previously, culture fit and personal fit are vital to senior roles. As such, personality is something that should be considered by both parties. Candidates can add a personal touch to their cover letters to show you how they might fit your business culturally and personality wise. Pay close attention to the tone of your candidate’s cover letter and the type of personality they convey.
It’s Fully Proofread
This should go without saying, but it’s vital to a quality cover letter. Your candidates’ cover letters should be fully proofread with no mistakes.
Quality proofreading shows attention to detail from the candidate, as well as quality assurance. It shows that they haven’t rushed their cover letter, that they understand its importance.
Senior finance professionals understand that language is often just as important as numbers. A fully proofread CV shows that they understand the core skills that are necessary to succeed in senior positions.
Remember; The Finance Cover Letter Isn’t Everything, It’s An Indicator
It’s always important to remember, however, that cover letters aren’t the be all and end all of quality recruitment. Though cover letters are a good indication of candidate quality, they aren’t absolute.
You shouldn’t ignore candidates with less impressive cover letters, and you shouldn’t assume that all candidates with quality cover letters are ideal.
That being said, cover letters are a great indicator of CV quality, and knowing what to look for in quality cover letters can help streamline your candidate search. 