Do you envision yourself in the corner office or moving to where the elite team works? Companies pay 20% more in onboarding costs for new employees than they will in promoting someone internally. So, if you’ve been plugging along for a few years, and consistently receive top marks on your reviews, it may be time to ask for that promotion.
Apart from showing initiative, and dropping hints that you are interested, presenting yourself as the best choice on paper also needs to happen, through a cover letter. You may be asking how to write a cover letter for a promotion, especially if you’ve never tried to get one before.
Continue reading for some tips on how to write a cover letter that will get you noticed and grant you an interview.
Grammar Matters
A spelling, grammar, or punctuation error might not be noticed when you are on a basic level applying for your first job. However, if you are looking for a promotion when you write a cover letter, it needs to be flawless in these areas. You are up against your fellow employees, all of which are also putting their best leg forward.
You don’t want a simple error to take you out of the running. Put your cover letter through online sites that can help check for spelling and punctuation errors, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a friend run through it as well.
How to Write a Cover Letter for a Promotion: Sell Yourself
When companies seek to promote someone, they are looking for who will benefit the company the most. Now is not the time to be timid or modest. Before they will see you in person, you need to sell yourself on paper.
Did you recently lead a team or make a big sale? Have you been consistent in meeting company goals for a certain amount of time? Don’t assume that your hard work has been noticed or that your list of accomplishments has been written down by someone.
Writing a cover letter is your opportunity to share the best parts of yourself as an employee.
Don’t Dwell On the Past
Since you’ve already worked for your company, they no longer care what you did 5 or 10 years ago when you were in college or your internship. What they really want to know is what you have done recently for them. It may be tempting to put that you were the editor of your college newspaper, or that you won three leadership awards, but those don’t matter for a promotion.
Stick to relevant details from the last two to three years when you write as a company headhunter will be looking for those specific facts.
Time to Rise
By reading through these steps on how to write a cover letter for a promotion, you are one step closer to landing that office with a view. These cover letter writing tips won’t get you hired though, your hard work will do that all on its own.
If you found this article helpful, be sure to check out more like it in our Business section. We have a variety that will help you rise to the top of your corporate game.
