Cutting Through the Competition: A Video Editor’s Guide to the Perfect Cover Letter

Sharing is caring!

There’s a quote attributed to many different people that goes “I’m sorry I’m writing you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.”

As this quote suggests, writing a short letter is often more difficult than writing something long and rambling.

A cover letter has to be short and to the point, but in order to achieve that, you have to give what you’re going to write a lot of thought ahead of time.

In the post below, we’ll give you tips on how to write a cover letter to land a job as a video editor.

Planning your cover letter for a video editor job

Good planning is the key to writing an effective cover letter for a video editor job.

You will need to have certain skills in order to land a job like this. In this respect, it is a little bit different from writing a letter for an entry-level position.

For example, if you are writing a cover letter for a bank job with no experience, you would need to think about how to demonstrate your capabilities as a result of other types of experience.

So your first step for a video editor job is to think about the main skills and experience that you want to highlight.

Look over your resume or CV. What things are you particularly proud of that will make you stand out to a hiring manager?

You don’t have to include everything. Think of this as a kind of highlight reel that will “sell” you to whoever is reading the letter.

In addition to skills or education, you might want to include any specific job-related accomplishments that you are particularly proud of.

The other main thing to consider here is whether there are any special circumstances that you need to explain, such as a big gap between jobs.

You can elaborate on this during an interview, but a cover letter is a good place to quickly acknowledge and explain anything unusual that might otherwise be seen as a negative.

All of this is the meat of your cover letter, but there are a few other components that you should include as well, which we will discuss below.

A cover letter should never be more than a page long, and at best, it should only be three or four short paragraphs long.

The salutation of your cover letter for a video editor job

First, you need to know how to property start formal letters.

It is better to find out the name of the person that you are writing to and use that, but if you aren’t sure, it’s better to use something generic, such as “Dear Hiring Manager,” than to write to the wrong person.

Although it can sound a little stilted, you can also use “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam.”

All of the above are perfectly acceptable options that won’t make a poor first impression.

The introductory paragraph of your cover letter for a video editor job

Before you get into all the details of your background, there are a couple of topics you need to cover in the introduction.

First, you should say how you found about the job.

This can be particularly helpful if you have a referral from someone else who works at the company or who knows the person in charge of hiring in another capacity.

For example, if you both know Bob Smith, you might write, “A former colleague of mine, Bob Smith, recommended that I apply.”

You can also briefly state why you think you are right for this position. Remember that this should be focused on what you can bring to the company and not the other way around.

The body of your cover letter for a video editor position

This is the most challenging part of your letter to write because you need to quickly convey important information.

That’s why it’s important to think carefully about what you want to include here before you start writing it.

This is where you’ll highlight your most important skills and experience and explain any unusual circumstances. Stick to one or two paragraphs of just a few sentences each here if you can.
 

The conclusion of your cover letter for a video editor position

For your conclusion, you need to know how to end an email professionally. If you are sending this off as a good old-fashioned hard copy letter, the conventions are just about the same with a couple of exceptions.

Basically, what you need to do here is create a call to action and thank the recipient for their time.

Your “call to action” here involves prompting them to take the next step. For example, you might write “I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

You then should thank them and sign off professionally. Words and phrases such as “Sincerely,” “Best regards” and “Best” are all good ways to end your cover letter.

A hard copy letter should have a space above your name where you will sign it.

The other major difference in an email and a hard copy letter is that in an email, contact information usually comes at the end. In a hard copy letter, this information is usually part of the letterhead.

Editing your cover letter for a video editor job

Once you have finished writing your letter, it’s a good idea to set it aside for a day or so and then come back to it.

First, take a look at the content.

Did you leave out anything important? Were you too wordy anywhere?

Then, proofread it. Make sure you have spelled words correctly and not left any words out.

If you have a friend or a family member who can read over the letter for you as well, it is always helpful to have another set of eyes look over it before you send it.

Example one of a cover letter for a video editor job

Example two of a cover letter for a video editor job

Marcel Iseli

Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.