Tips for writing a good cover letter for a trustee or NED (or any!) role
Your CV does not tell your story, your cover letter or statement does.
This is true of all job roles, but especially so for non-executive director or trustee positions where your passion and personal connection to a sector, an organisation or a cause is as important as your professional background.
Getting it right isn’t easy, but there are some bits of advice we share with candidates which can help you stand out from the crowd.
Never ignore it
It might seem obvious, but our biggest piece of advice is to treat the cover letter with the same care and attention you’d give the rest of your application.
It’s easy to overlook the cover letter when you’re bringing together all the other information involved in an application for a role, and then it ends up as an afterthought.
It’s a crucial part of what gets you in the door and can secure you an interview, so decide early on the story you’re telling and make sure it runs through your whole application.
Research and personalise
Every role is different, and every person is different, so every cover letter should be different too.
You need to adapt and tailor how you’re presenting yourself based on the role you’re applying for, and that starts by doing your research and knowing the recruiting organisation as well as you can.
Talk about how you fit with their stated aims and values, how you’ll align with their culture, and what place you see for yourself in the organisation’s future success.
Tell your story
A CV is a statement of facts. It’s employer names, dates, job roles and responsibilities. It’s your qualifications, volunteer roles and professional affiliations.
What it isn’t is the story of you.
You might get a bit of a sense of a person from reading their CV, but you won’t get the full picture.
Use your cover letter to explain what motivates you in your work, and what you really value and thrive on in a role.
It’s also an opportunity to pre-empt any questions recruiters might raise by explaining shorter stints in role, and any gaps in employment or big shifts in career path.
Highlight your strengths
The expected length of a CV is getting shorter, and many recruiting organisations are doing away with them altogether in favour of online portals where you enter your information.
That makes it harder to get across all the information you might want to about past positions and the related experience and skills.
The cover letter provides an opportunity for you to do just that.
Are there times you’ve dealt with adversity? Helped establish a new team or service offering? Have you been a cool head in an organisation in crisis? Or a steady hand in one going through change?
Using a role description as a reference point, you can also pull out your relevant experience and highlight how it aligns with the responsibilities of the role you’re applying for.
Convey your passion
In non-executive director and trustee roles your experience and your knowledge is important, but it’s nothing compared to you passion.
Recruiting organisations are looking for individuals who not only get their sector, but who are driven to help them achieve their goals.
This might be through personal experience, or just through an affinity with the organisation and its aims.
Either way, it’s important to convey that passion in your cover letter and explain why you’re a good fit for the role and why it would be important to you to land it and play a role in the recruiting organisation’s future success.
Good luck!
Finding a rewarding non-executive or trustee role is about finding the right match for you.
That role will complement your existing professional skills, align with your persona goals and beliefs, and it will be a challenging by ultimately rewarding experience.
When the right role comes along, there’s no one better suited to it than you, so make sure your cover letter let’s everyone know that.
Castle Peak provide executive search driven by diversity. To discuss your needs, please get in touch.
