A good cover letter is another opportunity to differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other people chasing the same positions as you. This holds true even in this age of electronic communications, and in the venture capital industry.
A cover letter (whether it’s attached or sent as your covering e-mail with your resume) gives you a chance to highlight 1-2 unique skills or achievements front and center. It also demonstrates your professionalism, maturity, ability to communicate (a key venture capital skill) and attention to detail. But you must follow a few simple rules.
As with private equity cover letters (see previous blog post), your cover letter must be brief (one page), concise (3-4 paragraphs at most, with no paragraph more than 4 sentences), and structured properly.
The first paragraph is simply an introduction, why you are writing, and why you are interested in a particular position.
The second paragraph is the crucial one. This is where you match your particular skills and experience with the organization’s needs, and make the case for why they should hire you. You must highlight your 2-3 most relevant qualifications or achievements and link them with what the firm is looking for. In venture capital, this should include your experience with start-ups, businesses you’ve started, your passion for a particular industry or the entrepreneurial culture and spirit (with proof points).
Your final paragraph mentions that you’ve enclosed your resume, and asks for an interview. This is also where you inject some additional enthusiasm for the opportunity. You might even mention that you will follow up in a few days, and thank them for reviewing your resume.
What makes a venture capital job cover letter effective? In a word, relevance. Here’s how one candidate led off the key second paragraph of his letter:
“I believe my unique combination of professional experiences, including founding my own company, conducting merger and acquisition consulting, and rolling up my sleeves in early stage venture capital investing, prepare me to excel as an Associate at ABC Ventures.”
You should aim for “fact density.” In other words, packing 2-3 highly relevant resume points into one action-packed sentence. You can see how this applicant used active verbs and three very relevant examples.
References:
www.bestcoverletters.com
Are resume cover letters still relevant in today’s electronic world? Many experts think so. In fact, a memorable cover letter can boost the chances that your resume gets noticed and gets singled out from the pile that crosses a private equity executive’s desk.
Think of your cover letter as a “billboard” for your resume. It should offer something creative and relevant to capture the reader’s attention. Your cover letter can pull out key experience from your resume. It can explain things your resume can’t. For example, if you have large gaps in your work experience, or are changing career directions. Your cover letter can put a positive spin on these circumstances.
Whatever you do, keep the letter short, no more than four paragraphs on one page. Keep your descriptions concise. Here’s a step-by-step format to follow:
Your first paragraph should introduce yourself and state your reason for writing. If you are responding to a particular job posting, say so. If you are following up on a chance encounter with a person or being referred by someone else, by all means mention their name. Then mention, in one sentence, what attracts you to this position or company. Be sure to keep your first paragraph short; no more than 2-3 sentences.
Your second paragraph describes what you are doing now, 2-3 key elements of your background, and why they should be interested in you. In other words, what you bring to their firm and why they should hire you.
As with your resume, your cover letter should focus on your investment banking experience that is most relevant to a private equity job. This includes the number of deals you’ve worked on, the type of deals (M&A, IPOs, Convertibles, etc.), and the key skills you gained working on these deals (such as modeling, valuation, and others).
Your final paragraph mentions that you’ve enclosed your resume, and describes what action will happen next. You might be proactive and say that you’ll follow up with a call within 10 days. Or mention that you look forward to hearing from them soon, and thank them for taking the time to look over your resume.
Some other tips include letting others sing your praises. If you have a one-sentence quotation or recommendation from someone else (especially someone from a well-known firm), you might want to include that. You can also use research to differentiate yourself, by including a fact about their organization that ties in with your experience.
Above all, always keep the interests of your prospective employer in mind. Try to slant your letter towards what they want and need. What’s in it for them and what you can bring to their organization.
Next time, we’ll look at the importance of cover letters for venture capital jobs
References:
www.mediarecruiter.com
While an Ivy League MBA will open doors in private equity and investment banking, in venture capital, experience in a particular industry that relates to the venture capital firm’s area of focus may be even more valuable.
Your venture capital job resume should emphasize your relevant experience and successful track record, if possible, with early stage businesses. Business failures can be included as well, if you point out the valuable learning experiences gleaned from them.
For financial experience, you might emphasize any experience in creating financial models for transactions such as LBOs, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and venture investments.
For specific venture experience, you might talk about whether you have experience with due diligence and deal structuring for investments or acquisitions within the venture capital space or corporate M&A.
Perhaps you can demonstrate your entrepreneurial experience by describing business plans you’ve developed for start-up companies, or proposals for early stage financing of a small business. You may not have started a business yourself but you should at least show a passion or deep interest in the entrepreneurial world or perhaps the tech community. Having started any successful organization, even a club at your school or volunteer organization, adds strength to your commitment to the venture space.
In other areas of your resume, you might want to emphasize operational experience, whether you’ve run a small business, worked in operations, supervised a team of employees or been a manager. As you may know, very often the associate level and VP level executives within a venture capital firm take a major role in the operations of portfolio companies, sometimes serving on their board of directors or overseeing operations.
You’ll need to show great communications skills. Mention presentations you’ve done and to whom. You might even be a little offbeat in this area, describing acting training or performances.
Finally, if you have sales experience of any kind, it might be worth elaborating on this. As famed venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki once noted, a strong sales background can be even more valuable than an MBA. That’s because aside from funding, start-ups need sales to bring revenue in the door and get to the next stage of development.
Remember, your goal with your resume is to grab their attention in the first 10 to 20 seconds, get them to read further and perhaps put you on that coveted list of candidates who snag an interview.
References:
www.lbo-advisors.com
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
http://www.zli.bus.umich.edu/
www.adventurista.com
