No matter how often or infrequently supervisor job vacancies are posted, and how well-qualified you are for this position, competition is likely to be expected. An exceptional supervisor cover letter is one of the surest ways to set yourself apart from even the worthiest of other applicants.
In this guide, along with the supervisor cover letter example, we’ll discuss:
- Why it’s essential to include a cover letter with your supervisor job application
- The best format for structuring your supervisor cover letter
- Achieving the desired purpose and full impact of each cover letter section: header, greeting, introduction, body and conclusion (with cover letter sample writing)
- The psychology of persuasion in writing your cover letter
- Advantages of a cover letter when you don’t have supervisory experience
Job seekers in more than 180 other fields can find similar tips and tools in Resume.io’s collection of occupation-specific writing guides with corresponding cover letter examples.
Why you need a cover letter — supervisors and everyone else
Opportunities for supervisors in most occupations and industries are as widely varied and sought after as the reasons job seekers have for pursuing them. Whether you hope to move up or sideways, within or across departments or employers, or make a more radical change to a different field altogether, an outstanding supervisor cover letter is no less essential.
There is the small possibility that your supervisor resume might be discarded or ignored if submitted on its own without a cover letter. Why risk this preventable fate? Yet, failure to include a cover letter, even when stipulated as a requirement, is one of the most common reasons job applications are unsuccessful.
In fact, the only valid reason for not sending a cover letter along with your resume is if the application instructions explicitly tell you not to.
Of course, your resume is meant to function as a stand-alone document showcasing your essential job qualifications and background. But its potential to influence recruiters is greatly diminished without a cover letter.
Since career paths are seldom launched in a supervisor role from square one, job applicants seeking their first such position are not uncommon. Fortunately, a well-crafted cover letter can be your best friend in making this leap from supervised to supervisor. The same is true if you are making a crossover transition from a different occupation or industry, or if it’s an internal job move.
Applying for a supervisor job in your current workplace?
Take nothing for granted, especially that a cover letter could be even more valuable in this situation than it would be for a job search elsewhere.
Former Forbes contributor Lisa Quast cautions employees pursuing a job move within the same organization not to assume they have an inside advantage.
“In fact, most hiring managers are even tougher on internal candidates than external ones. That’s because they know internal candidates have access to more company personnel and a lot more information about the position than an external candidate.”
If you don’t do your homework, Quast concludes, be prepared for poor results.
May we add that there’s no better way to demonstrate that you’ve done your pre-interview homework than in a cover letter.
Best format for a supervisor cover letter
As a supervisor job applicant, you recognize that every worker performs tasks that serve a specific purpose. Individually and collectively, these workflows and processes generally follow a particular order towards desired outcomes.
Think of your supervisor cover letter in the same functional manner. As a resume companion document, it allows for more flexibility and personality in tailoring the self-promotional content to the employer you want to impress. Each of the cover letter’s interrelated elements contributes to the same overall goal — a job interview.
The tried-and-true cover letter format we recommended will work well no matter what type of supervisor position you are seeking. The structure is simple, solid and easy to read, as long as you keep it short — 300 to 450 words maximum, on a single page with enough white space to offset the text-dense sections. Be sure to include these components in the same order:
- Cover letter header
- Cover letter greeting / salutation
- Cover letter introduction
- Cover letter middle paragraphs (body)
- Cover letter ending (conclusion and sign-off).
Here is an adaptable cover letter example for a supervisor that you can customize for your own employer-tailored version:
Dear Mr. Wilkins,
Having worked for five years as a stock supervisor in a grocery retail store, I have managed $4 million in stock takes, optimized warehouse procedures, and most importantly, managed teams of up to 50 permanent and temporary staff.
Controlling the flow of stock into a big box retail store requires an eye for detail, an ability to manage others in a physically demanding role, and ensuring that each of the 15,000 SKUs ends up where it needs to be. Supervisors can’t do the heavy lifting, so getting the most out of man and machine is crucial. I received a 4.9/5 employee satisfaction rating from my team, and my degree in management has proven as useful as my diploma in logistics.
I also worked as the stock and replenishment supervisor for two years, overseeing an RF system rollout that saw gap count reduced by 35% and shrinkage improve by 2 percentage points. We saved an average of $750,000 on annual stock checks, and my team turnover was the most stable in the 15 stores from our region. Working outside of a warehouse setting gave me a different perspective on the store dynamics, which will be particularly important in your role.
One of the key requirements for the role is experience in the training and development of the stock team. I have managed 200+ people over my career and understand the levers to pull to ensure maximum performance. I have over 40 written recommendations that I would be happy to share.
I hope to have the opportunity for an interview to understand more about your stock KPIs and where the challenges lie.
Sincerely,
Bruce Sixsmith
Now let’s look at each of those cover letter example sections, one at a time.
Cover letter header
Before getting into cover letter wording tips per se, we have some words of advice about how your cover letter looks — literally off the top. The eye-catching advantage you should strive for with an attractive cover letter design starts with the header. The effort you put into this space could count for more than a passing glance at the contents of your cover letter, or having it passed over altogether.
Evolved from what used to be called the letterhead — pre-printed on business stationery or typed when composing personal letter text — the header is where your name, occupation, mailing address, phone number and email appears prominently. Using design elements to create a distinctive and purposeful look can show your regard for detail.
The header’s importance is practical as well as esthetic. It ensures anyone in the hiring manager’s office, department or organization can readily identify where your job application came from and how to reach you easily. This is especially important if more than one person will be seeing your cover letter at different stages of the recruiting process.
Make them match
Aligning the visual styles of your resume and cover letter — notably in the header design — readily identifies the two documents as belonging to you and belonging together. This reinforces the dual purpose and importance of the header as both an informative and good-looking ID label.
It’s not unusual for printed copies of a job application, or even electronic versions submitted online, to be misplaced if more than one hiring decision-maker is involved in the recruiting process. Cover letters can also become inadvertently separated from the same job applicant’s resume. As a precaution, making your cover letter and resume look unmistakably the same, but different from everyone else’s, makes good sense.
It’s also worth the small amount of extra effort to show you’ve put some extra thought into making the two documents look like a matching pair.
Goal of the cover letter header: Stand out from other supervisor job candidates by attracting visual attention and conveying your regard for detail and clarity in delivering consistent results.
Cover letter greeting
Deciding how to address your cover letter is quite simple, but knowing who to address may not be easy.
“Dear Mr. Green” or “Dear Ms. Grey” is always appropriate. Sometimes “Greetings” or “Hello” is fine instead of “Dear,” but only when certain about the casual tone being acceptable. If in doubt, always err on the side of formality. The same goes for using the recipient’s last name. The first-name basis exception would be if you know the recipient personally, which may be the case if you’re applying for a supervisor position with your current employer. You’ll notice that the cover letter example we provide uses the traditional yet slightly formal “Dear Mr. Wilkins” as its salutation.
Always address a specific person by name if possible. Make every attempt to find out who the hiring manager is for the position, or whoever else might be reviewing your application. If the job listing does not specify anyone, check the employer’s website or other online sources, or even call the company to inquire. If no recruiter’s name comes up, research who you would report to if hired as the supervisor and address your cover letter greeting to that person.
Failing these research efforts, the impersonal “To Whom It May Concern” does not have to be your last resort. Any of these workarounds are preferable: “Dear Company Name Hiring Manager,” “Dear Department Name Recruitment Officer” or “Dear Job Title Hiring Team.”
Goal of the cover letter greeting / salutation: Addressing the hiring manager (or other recipient) by name is professionally appropriate while also creating a direct personal connection with the employer.
Cover letter introduction
Here, your supervisor cover letter cuts to the chase with a statement that grabs hold of the reader’s attention. It’s your opportunity to convey what makes this opportunity so attractive to you and what makes you such an ideal candidate.
If you already have experience as a supervisor, emphasize up front how this prospective employer stands to benefit from what you bring to the position. If it’s a step up from working on your own or on a team, focus on the relevant skills and knowledge you’ve acquired and your commitment to excellence in a new oversight capacity. Acknowledge your preparedness for the degree of responsibility and accountability that comes with the supervisory territory.
Consider this strong cover letter example of the introduction and how quickly it grabs attention with facts and focused, energetic language:
“Having worked for five years as a stock supervisor in grocery retail, I have managed $4m stock takes, optimized warehouse procedures and most importantly managed teams of up to 50 permanent and temporary staff.”
Goal of the cover letter introduction: Capture the recruiter’s attention by matching your strongest suit as a supervisor candidate to what the job and the employer require.
The greeting and introduction from our supervisor cover letter sample appear below. Consider how quickly it grabs attention with facts and focused, energetic language:
Dear Mr. Wilkins,
Having worked for five years as a stock supervisor in a grocery retail store, I have managed $4 million in stock takes, optimized warehouse procedures, and most importantly, managed teams of up to 50 permanent and temporary staff.
Cover letter middle part (body)
The meaty middle section of your supervisor cover letter — up to four paragraphs — provides evidence to back up your introductory pitch.
Without rehashing your resume content in any shape or form, extract some of the most pertinent work history highlights and adapt for your cover letter body. Quantify any cost, efficiency or productivity gains by your past employers in a way that resonates with your future employer. Share stories that might hit home with the hiring manager. Try using the STAR snapshot method of summarizing a specific Situation, Task, Action and Result that illustrate your effectiveness as a supervisor. This can be a great way to illustrate concrete tasks that were solved, at the same time injecting some personal perspective into the narrative.
Keep in mind that a persuasive cover letter example is not about your wants and needs, but about what this prospective employer needs that you could deliver. Your understanding of those needs reflects either firsthand knowledge — if you already work for this employer — or research you’ve done as an earnest job applicant.
Refer to the employer you are targeting by name in the body of your cover letter. Affirm your motivation for wanting to work there and how you might contribute. This shows you are a proactive, strategic and energetic problem-solver who cares enough about this job opportunity to customize your cover letter accordingly.
Progressing from team member to manager is about constantly learning new things, by reading and through trial and error, says Todd Cherches, CEO and co-founder of executive coaching firm BigBlueGumball. “It’s not all about you anymore, it’s about getting the most and best out of other people,” he advises in a blog outlining 6 skills you must master before moving up to management.
Awareness that these skills are important could be conveyed in a supervisor cover letter, even for someone with limited or no management experience.
- Know your strengths and weaknesses.
- Be a strong decision maker.
- Conquer time management .
- Know how to delegate.
- Develop strong written and oral communication.
- Manage up as well as down.
Goal of the cover letter middle paragraphs: Substantiate why you are an outstanding candidate for this supervisor position.
Our supervisor cover letter sample illustrates what you might include in the middle part.
Controlling the flow of stock into a big box retail store requires an eye for detail, an ability to manage others in a physically demanding role, and ensuring that each of the 15,000 SKUs ends up where it needs to be. Supervisors can’t do the heavy lifting, so getting the most out of man and machine is crucial. I received a 4.9/5 employee satisfaction rating from my team, and my degree in management has proven as useful as my diploma in logistics.
I also worked as the stock and replenishment supervisor for two years, overseeing an RF system rollout that saw gap count reduced by 35% and shrinkage improve by 2 percentage points. We saved an average of $750,000 on annual stock checks, and my team turnover was the most stable in the 15 stores from our region. Working outside of a warehouse setting gave me a different perspective on the store dynamics, which will be particularly important in your role.
One of the key requirements for the role is experience in the training and development of the stock team. I have managed 200+ people over my career and understand the levers to pull to ensure maximum performance. I have over 40 written recommendations that I would be happy to share.
How to close a cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
In addition to a closing summary and words of thanks, be sure your cover letter ends with a call to action. The expectation of hearing back from the employer should be suggested, if not implied, but not blatantly demanded. Stating that you would welcome an interview invitation, or some other conversation opportunity, is not too bold. You might even ask the recruiter if it’s OK to follow up with a phone call within a specified time period. A lower-key variation is to merely indicate you look forward to a reply.
None of these approaches will guarantee you’ll get the job, or an interview. or even an acknowledgement of your application. But they could make a difference in getting noticed and being remembered by a recruiter who is less likely to set your cover letter aside after reading.
Signing off your cover letter is the easiest part. The closing salutation should be as simple, courteous and professional as the greeting. As our cover letter example illustrates (Sincerely, Bruce Sixsmith), you can’t go wrong with the traditional “Sincerely”, but these are also acceptable: “Best regards,” or just “Best”.
Goal of the cover letter closing: End on a note of confidence that the hiring manager is interested and will be in touch soon.
Below is the closing section of our supervisor cover letter.
I hope to have the opportunity for an interview to understand more about your stock KPIs and where the challenges lie.
Sincerely,
Bruce Sixsmith
Psychology of cover letter writing
A persuasive cover letter will project your best self for viewing through the hiring manager’s lens. Your understanding of the employer’s core values, as well as the job requirements and responsibilities, can be a basis for sharing personal insights and success motivators that can’t always come across in a resume. You can check out the writing geared towards these goals in the cover letter example provided above.
Conveying what makes you tick on and off the job could set you apart from other supervisor candidates, even if they have more directly relevant work experience. Find common ground in the work ethic and integrity underpinning every task you perform yourself and those you would oversee others undertaking if hired.
Pretend you’ve landed the interview
- Adopt a conversational tone in your cover letter, as if scripting a job interview with this recruiter.
- Be enthusiastic while you are at it! This can be harder to display in a relatively impersonal and more performance-driven resume.
- Single out two or three accomplishments from your work history — even if not in supervisory roles — that a mix of hard and soft skills enabled you to pull off. Emphasize lessons learned, along with dollar, efficiency or productivity gains, that enhance your value to future employers.
- Since interview questions inevitably try to pinpoint “weaknesses” as well as strengths, consider mentioning at least one instance in your cover letter of a challenge you overcame and the traits or skills you brought to bear.
- For a slight twist on the key strengths angle, name one or two of your favorite things — what you love best, or find most satisfying, about being a supervisor — and how this new job opportunity would fuel that passion.
Supervisor cover letter with no experience
Can you apply for a supervisor position with no experience? And can you write a supervisor cover letter on your first attempt to boost your career? Not every employee is cut out to be a supervisor, but it’s a safe bet most supervisors have a working knowledge of the job duties they oversee. This is often by virtue of their own experience being supervised by someone else.
Again, a cover letter is perfectly up to the task — where your resume alone falls short — of spotlighting the strong suits you have yet to wear as a supervisor. Obviously, it’s the place to emphasize the hands-on job knowledge and skills you have already learned and mastered in a “done-it” capacity.
But your motivation for stepping into a first-time people management role is likely more than a boss-wannabe whim. It implies you’ve unpeeled deeper self-insight layers to confront untapped supervisory potential — particularly soft skills and attitude shifts — that won’t necessarily come across in your resume.
The somewhat tricky part of crafting a cover letter with no supervisory experience is affirming everything you already know about what you need and what to know more about — given the opportunity. Express eagerness to embrace that chance to learn, practice and master the required management skills by becoming an excellent supervisor.
As career advice writer Kate Ashford notes, “Moving into management isn’t just about landing the promotion. (Although that’s also a crucial step.) It’s also about making sure you can handle the role and responsibilities, which are frequently quite different from what you’ve been doing. People aren’t born with management skills and leadership skills — they must be learned.”
Also be sure not to overlook or downplay the personal attributes that have served you well outside the workplace, perhaps in volunteer community service roles such as coaching, mentoring, fundraising or project-related tasks.
Looks matter!
Your supervisor cover letter should look as good as it sounds. Visual presentation significantly influences how hiring managers perceives your application. Appropriate layout, design and formatting elements send a message that you are a professional candidate who understands the company’s image and needs. From fonts to spacing, legibility should guide every design choice. You can never go wrong with an overall appearance that's clean, streamlined and uncluttered.
If you lack the expertise, confidence or time to fuss over these visual details, Resume.io has got you covered. Take a look at our expert-designed cover letter templates, available in four style categories. Download one you like, and it's a snap to customize with your own replacement text using our builder tool.
Key takeaways
- An effective supervisor cover letter is one of the surest ways to set yourself apart from other worthy applicants in a typically competitive job market. It can be even more crucial to your success in attaining a first-time supervisory position.
- Researching each specific job opening and workplace will enable you to write from the employer’s perspective. Aim to readily persuade hiring managers that your attributes and qualifications would make you an asset to the organization.
- Apply our recommendations for organizing, writing and formatting each section of your cover letter for optimal impact.
- Display personality, enthusiasm and authenticity in your cover letter to an extent that resumes don’t allow, while adding relevant context to help influence hiring decisions.
- Ensure your cover letter reads well and looks good by using Resume.io’s recruiter-approved cover letter templates templates to model and fine-tune your own application document.
For additional inspiration and ideas, we invite you to browse through these related business & management cover letter examples:
- Manager cover letter sample
- Executive cover letter sample
- Project manager cover letter example
- Product manager cover letter sample
- Assistant manager cover letter sample
- Business and management cover letter sample
We hope you found this guide useful and wish you success in landing a great supervisor job!
