Customizing Your Cover Letter
Potential churches will most likely see your cover letter even before they view your resume. That’s why it’s vitally important to get it right! We’ll show you a few tips and tricks that will help your cover letter shine!
Key Takeaways
After you watch the video above, read through these key takeaways that will help guide and reinforce the main points you just viewed…
Remember this: The purpose of the cover letter is to get the reader to actually open your resume.
That's it.
If your cover letter results in a resume 'open' you win.
Since most of your first communication with a potential church will happen first via email, we consider the body of your initial email to the church to be your 'cover letter'.
You can still also do more of a traditional cover letter to send to the church along with your resume.
Just know... the very first thing a church will read from you (even before your resume) is what you write them in the email. Make your text enticing. The purpose of the Cover Letter is to get them to open your resume!
- Show the church that you've done your research. You know who they are and are not mass-marketing your resume to them.
- Give some context. Make a connection.
- What is it about this church that makes you interested in the role?
- Never start with "Dear Search Committee" or "To Whom This May Concern"
- Use their language as much as possible.
- Make it seem like you've been 'reading their mail'! (This is EXACTLY the type of person that we're looking for!)
- Personalization will get you EVERYWHERE. You have a great advantage in that very few people take time to customize their cover letter.
We're Here to Help... Ask Us Anything!
We are here to help you with any questions during your search. Ask us anything. Where are you stuck? What clarifications do you need? How is your hiring situation unique? We’d love to hear how your search is going and try to answer any questions that you might have!
Your Presenters
Todd Rhoades
Matt Steen
Need Additional Help With Your Search?
Check out these additional resources from our partners at ChurchResumes.com
Our video critique will take a look at your current resume and give specific recommendations to make drastic improvements. We’ll critique your resume based on our 20 resume benchmarks:
Ministry Stability | Ministry Experience | Current Employment | Employment Consistency | Education Level | Ministry Sustainability | Employment Timeline | Stage of Life | Family Dynamics | Online Presence | Picture Quality | Humbleness Quotient | Resume Presentation | Cover Letter | Video/Work Sample | Grammar and Spelling | Font Treatment | Contact Effectiveness | Resume File Format
We’ll go over your Resume Self-Assessment step-by-step in our one-hour call together. We’ll discuss each of our 20 resume benchmarks along with specific recommendations to make your resume better. After you make the suggested edits to your resume, we’ll provided video feedback with any follow-up items
Should I Say or Go? | Rediscovering/Clarifying Your Calling | Determining Your Best Fit | Resume Advice | Interview Preparation | Salary Negotiation
On-Site Visit Preparation | Family Health and Relationships | Literally Anything Transition-Related!