Morning Guys n Gals,
Just putting my CV together, but wondering what other sorts of information should i be including in the covering letter, for instance “although i passed C and C+E last year i have no commercial driving experience” 
doesnt really sound like the sort of thing to write, but also dont want to tell any untruths. Any advice would be really appreciated 
Hi,
I don’t know how much use this will be, but I run a small electrical contractors, and often get letters & CVs sent through to me. The few tips I can give you from that perspective are as follows:
Don’t repeat information in the letter which you already have in the CV (qualifications etc).
Tell me why you’re writing to ME, make the letter relevant to me, rather than copy’n’paste the same letter you’ve sent to everybody else. If you already know something about the sort of works & areas that I deal with, I’m going to read on.
Spell check, and check grammar - My personal hate is when I read ‘could of’, would of’ instead of ‘could have’ etc. Letters like that will usually get binned sadly.
Don’t use coloured or smelly paper - sounds obvious, but I’ve had some of both, and hate it!
Some people will disagree with some of my points, they are personal opinions of an electrician rather than a TM, but will hopefully give you some pointers!
Thanks
Gary
scaniason:
Hi,I don’t know how much use this will be, but I run a small electrical contractors, and often get letters & CVs sent through to me. The few tips I can give you from that perspective are as follows:
Don’t repeat information in the letter which you already have in the CV (qualifications etc).
Tell me why you’re writing to ME, make the letter relevant to me, rather than copy’n’paste the same letter you’ve sent to everybody else. If you already know something about the sort of works & areas that I deal with, I’m going to read on.
Spell check, and check grammar - My personal hate is when I read ‘could of’, would of’ instead of ‘could have’ etc. Letters like that will usually get binned sadly.
Don’t use coloured or smelly paper - sounds obvious, but I’ve had some of both, and hate it!
Some people will disagree with some of my points, they are personal opinions of an electrician rather than a TM, but will hopefully give you some pointers!
Thanks
Gary
Sorry, but I think that’s absolutely ridiculous. What if I have a disability like dyslexia or something and all because of a silly error like that you completely bin something that I went to the effort to write or type up and then print out for you.
Because if you are sending me a letter out of the blue, and want me to read it and maybe go on to employ you, you should at least take the time to spell check it & grammar check it. I understand that people have dyslexia and other learning difficulties, but to get a letter checked over is not asking much, if you then want me to invest many thousands of pounds in taking you on. If you can’t make the effort with a letter, why would I want to go on to make the effort of taking you on, when there are lots of other people looking for work?
Basically, the covering letter with the CV is what gets you an invite to see the person doing the hiring & firing; if you want them to talk to you, give yourself as much chance as you can. It’s a horrible thing to say, but at the moment it’s very much an employer’s market
Dsylexia, is common however no excuse to not use spell check, IMO, you ca put things such as I passed my test on said date and very noviced at the trade your telling them your new without saying never driven before etc.
Look at the company your applying for research them all managers like you to knwo about the product as Gary says… again repeatin make it personal, make it more of a story get the manager interested in you sell your good points but not bad (I have not had m licence long and I am desperate to drive) … say I am new, recently passed able to be trained to your company standards etc.
Wish you luck
Disco
discoman:
however no excuse to not use spell check, IMO, you ca put things such as I passed my test on said date and very noviced at the trade your telling them your new without saying never driven before etc.
lol
LGVTrainer:
discoman:
however no excuse to not use spell check, IMO, you ca put things such as I passed my test on said date and very noviced at the trade your telling them your new without saying never driven before etc.lol
Hey, been a long day it is 1am here, in Australia and tired lol, but there you go proves my point to use spell check!! lol
As far as I’m aware, Spell Checker doesn’t pick up on things like “would of” and suggests “would have”.
Anyway, just because one may not be able to write a sentence to your, ‘standards’, doesn’t mean he can’t do the job in hand.
Sam Millar:
As far as I’m aware, Spell Checker doesn’t pick up on things like “would of” and suggests “would have”.
Correct, it doesn’t, it’s spelling only.
OK, not a problem. I just typed a sentence using ‘could of’, in Word, ran a check and it asked me to correct it to ‘could have’. But if my ‘standards’ offend you, then I suppose I won’t be receiving a letter from you! Don’t forget, nobody owes anybody a living, the only way you’ll get a job is if the person doing the hiring thinks you can do the job. When I recruit electricians, I want people who I can be confident will fill in a test certificate correctly, which is why at the least I expect them to be able to write a letter using English Grammar. You have a different opinion, you’re entitled to it.
Gary
Can I just say, to be fair I do agree with Gary in as much as it is an employers market (especially atm) and it is a very sad fact of life I’m afraid that every single person who is in charge of recruitment within their company will ‘judge’ people initially on that letter that accompanies the cv even though as Sam says that person might be a fantastic worker who is very capable and willing. It’s just a fact that if you don’t perfect everything in your application then I’m afraid it will more than likely end up in the bin, as there is probably another pile to look at next to it! You have to put yourself in that recruiters position.
My advice to anyone who is looking to put together a cv with a covering letter who feels their spelling and/or grammar isn’t how they would like it, then simply ask a family member or friend to check over a rough copy, then do a fresh copy that will be correct. Basically, you do not want to give any potential employer the slightest opportunity to not look further into your application. Also, as Gary says, I would advise them to stear clear of ‘quirky’ ideas they might have to try and stand out from the crowd like smelly or coloured paper!
Oh and bandit12, if I were you I would not say that you haven’t been doing any driving since aquiring your licence. Simply point out how long you have held them for. That isn’t lying, and will hopefully get you to an interview where you could then explain that you have simply been doing other things since then as that was all that was offered to you at the time, but now you are more keen than ever to get going with your driving career. I really do believe that a good and positive attitude can do wonders in an interview (if you get to that stage) so don’t let it worry you. I got my cat C licence back in 2004 but I have not been driving LGV’s all that time since then. Anyway, Good Luck mate! 
Thank You. Regards! 
I have just re done my CV as not had 1 in a long time I have had at least 3 people read it & give me advice about it I also had a copy of my Father in Law CV ( which has just gained him a new job ) so based mine on that
Yes I am dyslexic I do use a spell check but be warned it may be american as you will have to set to English also a spell check wont pick up on when there is more than 1 spelling of the word
But agree that it can be sorted as I done ask for help simple
Thanks to all of you for your time, have now got a better idea of what i,ll put in the letter and then be starting the job hunt
I have also reduced my CV to 1 page ( as if they need to know any more it can be talked about at an interview ) makes it much easier to read
I will be using cream paper as I think it is easier on the eye to read but my opinion as sometimes black print on brilliant white paper can be harder
Most word processing programmes have a spell checker AND a grammar checker. It is worth understanding how these work, and YES change the default to English, I can not bear those pesky z’s cluttering up my native language.
I understand that Jobcentres will check over a CV for you, or at least point you towards someone that will review it for free - avoid those that ask you to pay for the privilege of putting a full stop at the end of every sentence.
I will always remember getting a CV from a soldier, who unfortunately wrote that he was a solder in the Army Yes I know, a spell checker would miss that!!!
Good luck
You cannot beat knocking on doors in person but that’s not what your asking so…
Don’t put what you can’t or havn’t done,put what you can and will do.
Iwill get the job done with the minimum of fuss
Iwill be on time
Iamreliable
and also tell them ‘If you find yourself in trouble at short notice then give me a call’,this say’s that you are flexible and helpful,the greatest asset you can offer. Of course,you have to be available at short notice for this to work.
A mate of mine went for a job and said to the bloke ‘If in a months time you think I’m no good,sack me.’
It made him look twice and he took him on.
Good luck.
Offer to do a months trial in covering letter, paid of course 