It does not really matter whether you are unemployed, just graduated from school/ got your master’s degree, or boast an extensive work experience. Every person possesses certain qualities and skills. We start to acquire them immediately past our birth date – like our first breath and first steps. This process extends throughout our lifetime. Regardless of good and bad events happening to us, we use our skills and abilities to stand up when we fall and to enjoy life when it offers us pleasant surprises.

In my view, when a person starts to earn a living, he is gradually acquiring his work skills and abilities. Some individuals become adept accountants, others turn into excellent surgeons, and still others become skilled computer specialists. In order to prove ourselves on the job spot, we use precisely these qualities and skills, even without realizing it.

I will place our skills into three separate categories:

1. JOB-RELATED/TECHNICAL SKILLS;

2. TRANSFERABLE SKILLS;

3. SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS.

The first group comprises of all professions that deal with:

• People;

• Some kind of data or information;

• The field of ideas;

• Work with things.

I am certain that most of us will fall into one of the four points above. I am also convinced that we manage with one or two things best. These are our strengths. The teacher must be able to communicate with his students. The expert in advertising needs a strong creative thinking. The analyst must be able to collect and analyze the data and information at hand. The technician and the mechanic need to have a feel for the gadgets they repair.

The second type of skills, the transferable skills, gives you the ability you learn and apply your skills to third parties. Basically, this is everything we learn from our experienced colleagues and partners. These are skills such as: ability to lead, train, negotiate, appear in public, maintain and repair technical equipment, eliminate diverse array of problems, and so on.

The last category covers self-management. This category of skills describes one’s personality. They are skills which hint to our attitude toward the work process. In brief, this is our work ethics. This category comprises of skills such as: creativity, perseverance, logic’s and analytical thinking, enthusiasm, adaptability, etc. In my opinion, each person possesses more of these skills because we acquire them not only in the course of our work but also throughout our whole life. I consider that one of the major goals of our cover letter is to highlight qualities in this category which will contribute to the functioning and further growth of the employer’s business.

Now, I am absolutely certain that all of us, if given a pen and a piece of paper, will be able to write down at least four personal qualities and skills. These qualities make each of us a better job candidate than our competition for the particular position.

Are you sure that you cannot write your cover letter on your own?

Picture : Mark Brannan