how to write a cover letter for your current employer

How to Write a Cover Letter When You're Currently Working

While it's smart to keep your current job until you find a replacement, this situation does put you in a position of job hunting while you're currently employed. To be professional, as well as fair to your current employer, work on your resume, cover letter and phone interviews on your own time, not while you're logging hours at work.

Set Aside Research Time

Schedule time into your day for job search activities. Before work, after work, lunch hours and weekends are all good times to focus on putting together things like your cover letter. Consider drafting a generic version of your cover letter that you can customize when you find specific employers you want to send it to.

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Resist the urge to surf job web sites or use company equipment to email or print documents like resumes or cover letters. If you get caught, at best you'll be seen as unprofessional; at worst, you could lose your job.

Be Upfront With Employers

Don't shy away from the fact that you're currently employed while searching for better opportunities. Your cover letter can highlight your current role and responsibilities, and you can use it to explain why you're in the market for a new position.

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I am currently a department manager at Wave Water Company. While I have learned a significant amount in this job, particularly as it pertains to providing high-quality customer service, I'm ready for a new challenge. Unfortunately, there's little room for advancement with my current employer, and I feel I have a great deal to contribute to a larger organization that offers room for growth.

Outline Your Availability

In crafting your cover letter, tell your potential employers when you are available for a phone conversation or an in-person job interview. Simply saying, "_call me anytime"_ indicates you don't have much loyalty to your current company and are indifferent to conducting personal business on work time.

In an effort to be fair to my current employer, I am available for phone interviews most days from noon- to 1:00 p.m. or any time after 5 p.m. I'm also happy to meet before business hours or on weekends, if necessary.

If the cover letter results in an interview and job offer, let the new employer know you'll need to give two weeks notice to wrap up projects and transition your old role to someone else.

Always use caution when talking to potential new employers about your current role. Even if you're unhappy, unfulfilled or frustrated, don't badmouth your boss, company or colleagues. To do so will paint you in a poor light with would-be employers. Also avoid talking about your job search via social media or with friends – it could get back to your current boss.

• CIO: 10 Tips for Job Hunting While You're Still Employed
• The Ladders: 6 Tips for Job Hunting While You're Still Employed
• Stay clear of blind ads during a confidential job search if you're worried about sending your qualifications to an unknown advertiser.
• Refrain from using your work time and your employer's resources to conduct your job search.
• Never use your work email address for receiving personal correspondence, especially correspondence about your job search.

Lisa McQuerrey has been a business writer since 1987. In 1994, she launched a full-service marketing and communications firm. McQuerrey's work has garnered awards from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the International Association of Business Communicators and the Associated Press. She is also the author of several nonfiction trade publications, and, in 2012, had her first young-adult novel published by Glass Page Books.