When you are applying to some law jobs in Manchester or other cities you may be asked to provide a covering letter with your application. This may be a covering letter to accompany your CV or resume or it may be as part of the firm's own application form.

It is important to put a lot of thought into such a letter as this is going to be the first impression a potential employer is going to get of you. This is not to be thought of something that is just an add on to the main application but as part of the application as a whole.

One of the key things to use the covering letter is to tell the firm why you want that job out of all the law jobs in Manchester or elsewhere. This will mean that you need to spend plenty of time in advance doing some research into the firm and thinking through your reasons for wanting a job with that firm.

Resources you can use for this research as the firm's own brochure and website. However, rather than just quoting back to them their own words you should also research any news about the firm in the local and legal press. You can also do research on individual people at the firm who you might be working with should you get the job.

The more you can understand the firm and its employees the better you will be able to articulate why you want to work there.

Once you have told then firm why you want a job with them you should then move on to tell them what it is about you that makes you a great fit for their firm. Why should they employ you? Here you should identify key skills and attributes that you have that fit the job you are applying for and would be of benefit to the firm.

When you talk of your skills and attributes always make sure you use examples to demonstrate where you have used or developed these. This will set you apart from others who are using the same legal recruitment agency in Manchester or elsewhere.

A final tip would be to not let the letter become a repeat of your CV or resume. It may reference one or two things as examples but really it should serve a different purpose in telling the firm why them and why you.