How to craft an eye-catching consulting cover letter

Consultants are crucial team members to all sorts of businesses. Providing in-depth analyses, expert opinions, and business recommendations are among the many essential responsibilities consultants hold. To earn a position as a consultant, you will need a cover letter that encapsulates your professional drive and dedication to the job.

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about writing a cover letter as a consultant. Keep reading to learn the following 5 key steps:

Craft a well-formatted consultant cover letter header & headline
Create a personalized greeting for your consultant cover letter
Write an engaging & eye-catching consultant cover letter introduction
Show your professional value as a consultant with accomplishments
End your consultant cover letter with a powerful closing statement

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1. Write a well-formatted consultant cover letter header & headline

The first two components to craft on your cover letter are your header and headline.

A cover letter header is a short block of text found most commonly in the upper left corner of the document that includes all the necessary applicant and company information. As for the cover letter headline, this is a brief title statement that helps to lead into the rest of the letter.

To better demonstrate how to format each of these elements, below are more in-depth explanations and examples of each:

Formatting the header

Your cover letter header can vary in format, style, and order of information. Some applicants will choose to include their name in larger font at the very top of the header, while others will create a more letter-style address in the header.

Regardless of what format you opt for, your header should always include:

The name of the company (& department, when applicable) you are applying for
Your name and professional title
Your contact information (phone number, email address, etc.)

Here is an example of a letter-style header on a consultant’s cover letter

To: Carhill Business Partners, Consulting Department
From: Joe King, Business Consultant
(123) 456-7890 | joeking@email.com | linkedin.com/in/joe-king

Writing the headline

When writing the headline for your consultant cover letter, you should consider how journalists use headlines and article titles to grab the attention of readers. Your headline should be eye-catching, while also offering an accurate preview of the information to come.

In your headline, you should always use a keyword related to the position, an eye-catching number or trigger word, a powerful adjective or verb, and a promise.

Here is an example of an effective headline from a consultant’s cover letter

My 3 Negotiation Abilities that Make Me the Perfect Consultant for Your Company

Trigger Word/Number: My 3 Negotiation Abilities
Keyword: Consultant
Adjective: Perfect
Promise: For Your Company – this addition at the end of the headline indicates to the employer that you will go beyond simply describing your skills by also relating them to the specific needs of the employer’s business.

2. Create a personalized greeting for your consultant cover letter

Whenever you write a greeting on a consultant cover letter, it is crucially important to create a personalized greeting that addresses a specific person or department within the company.

By doing so, you show the employer that you not only have excellent attention to detail but also that you have taken the time to thoroughly research their company beforehand.

In the event that you are unable to uncover a specific person or department that will be reviewing your application, try out one of the following alternatives:

To the [Company Name] Team

To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager

3. Build an engaging consultant cover letter introduction

By the time an employer reaches the introductory paragraph of your cover letter, you should have already hooked their attention with the headline and greeting. To keep this attention intact, include the following details in your introduction:

A brief overview of your professional history and goals
A statement on why you are enthusiastic about applying to this company
A mutual acquaintance (when possible)

Here is an example to help demonstrate how to write a consultant cover letter introduction

To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager,

I am writing to you today to apply for the open Consultant position after receiving a recommendation to do so by your company’s VP, Jane Doe. As a Consultant with over 6 years of experience in the financial industry, I am certain I will bring a high level of professionalism and excellence to this role and your company.

4. Show your professional value as a consultant with accomplishments

Once the introduction of your consultant cover letter is squared away, it’s time to provide a more in-depth look into your qualifications in the body paragraphs of your letter. A strong cover letter will typically contain between 2 to 4 body paragraphs that answer the following questions:

What excites you about working at this company?
What do you hope to learn from working at this company?
What accomplishments or qualifications make you stand out as an applicant?
What key skills do you possess that are relevant to the position?

Providing quantifiable accomplishments is particularly effective in a cover letter, as this gives the employer real-life examples of the value you can provide to their business.

Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a consultant cover letter

As the Digital Transformation Consultant for [Former Employer], I assisted more than 50 companies in the development and implementation of strategies to improve their digital infrastructure and online presence. In turn, these partnerships increased annual sales by an average of 30% annually for my former employer.

5. End your consultant cover letter with a powerful closing statement

The conclusion of your consultant cover letter should be just as compelling as the introduction. To create a powerful closing statement, you should include:

An enthusiastic sentence saying you are looking forward to hearing from them
An additional sentence stating you will follow up, including how you will contact them or how they can contact you
A formal sign-off

Here is an example of a strong closing statement from a consultant cover letter

Thank you for taking the time to read my cover letter and consider my application. As your new Consultant, I am certain I can elevate your business partnerships and increase your sales according to your company’s high standards of quality. To best reach me, call (123) 456-7890 any weekday during normal business hours.

If I do not hear from you within a week, I will reach out to touch base regarding my application.

Appreciatively,

[Applicant Name]

Follow this cover letter outline for maximum success.

Published on March 28, 2022

Milan Šaržík, CPRW

Certified Professional Résumé Writer

Milan’s work-life has been centered around job search for the past three years. He is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW™) as well as an active member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers & Careers Coaches (PARWCC™). Milan holds a record for creating the most career document samples for our help center – until today, he has written more than 500 resumes and cover letters for positions across various industries. On top of that, Milan has completed studies at multiple well-known institutions, including Harvard University, University of Glasgow, and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.