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Data entry clerks are needed in almost every industry, as organizations always have records and data to maintain, organize, and analyze.
From part-time, contract gigs to full-time positions, in-office jobs to remote work, data entry jobs can be diverse. They can also be a great way to get your foot in the door of an organization you want to work for, whether you want to continue in data entry or not.
When you’re pursuing one of these positions, you’ll need to make sure your resume and cover letter are polished and ready to make an excellent impression.
In this article, you’ll find tips on what you should include in your letter as well as a sample cover letter that you can use as a reference for your own writing.
Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:
The date
The recipient’s information
Salutation
Opening paragraph
Body paragraphs
Closing lines
The opening paragraph of your cover letter is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the hiring manager. It doesn’t need to be long — just a few sentences is sufficient.
Name the particular position you’re applying for, the company that’s offering it, and the top few reasons why you did and should apply for this job.
These may be a mixture of your education, your work experience, and your passions, interests, or goals. Be confident as you write, and set yourself up to expound on these in the rest of your letter.
Here’s an example of how this could look:
I’m writing in regard to the data entry clerk position at Canyon Creek Family Medicine. With my three years of experience in data entry, one of which was at a medical facility, I believe my skills would be an excellent fit for this position.
The body paragraphs are going to take up the majority of your cover letter, as this is where you can lay out your qualifications and how they relate to the position you’re applying for. Here are a few tips for doing this well:
Go through the job description and look for the qualifications you meet. Highlight them throughout your cover letter, providing examples of how you’ve used these skills and gained these experiences in your past work.
If you can, use the same verbiage that the job posting does. This will help readers track which desired skills you have, as well as give your application a better chance of making it through automated Applicant Tracking Systems, programs that screen cover letters and resumes for keywords before they make it to a hiring manager.
Expound on your skills. Often job postings for data entry clerk positions mention qualifications such as “proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite” or “strong communication skills.”
While you can list these on your resume, it’s difficult for hiring managers to discern the differences between your Excel skills and every other candidate’ based on that document alone. This is where your cover letter allows you to flesh out your skillset to help the hiring managers to see who you really are and what you bring to the table.
To do this, start by thinking of examples of how you’ve used those skills to create something of value, and put those stories in your cover letter. Or, if you don’t have any good examples, you can talk about how you gained your skills in Excel and what all you can do with them.
Whatever you choose to write, make sure it’s all serving to further your narrative about why you’re the best person for this job.
Include some heart. Companies want to hire people who care about what they do. This quality makes you a more pleasant person to work with, and it helps you stay motivated to complete your tasks (especially if you’re working remotely).
To incorporate this into your cover letter, talk about what drives you in your work and why you want this job. Even if you aren’t in love with data entry in and of itself, you could share, for example, that you enjoy working behind the scenes to help others succeed or that you want to be a part of this specific organization.
Look up the company’s mission and values — are there any that strike a chord with you? Search the company to see what articles come up, look up your future boss on LinkedIn, or think through which parts of the job you would actually enjoy.
It may take a little effort to come up with something, but do your best to find a reason. It doesn’t have to be much, just enough to add a little personality to your cover letter and to answer the question, “Why are you applying?”
For reference, here’s an example of some body paragraphs of a cover letter:
Over the past three years, I’ve been able to hone my skills so that I accurately and quickly transfer data each time. While at my current position at St. John’s Hospital, I implemented systems into my Excel documents that I used to check my work and ensure everything was accurate. After doing this, my manager found zero errors when she reviewed my work.
At each one of the positions that I’ve held, I entered and organized data from paper records, electronic databases, email and website platforms, and patient paperwork. I compiled all of these into central databases, generated reports as needed, and regularly checked the database for duplicates and other clutter.
In addition to entering and organizing data, I also have experience analyzing data for trends, patterns, and other useful information. When I worked at Margie’s Clothes, I noticed that people were more likely to make larger purchases than usual when we had a sale on shoes than when we had sales in other departments.
By combining that with the observation that we had the most shoppers on Fridays and Saturdays, I suggested that we try having our shoe sales on Fridays instead of Thursdays. My manager agreed to test the idea, and sales for those days nearly doubled.
This experience ignited my passion for using data and technology to improve organizations, and in researching Canyon Creek Family Medicine, I noticed how you work to stay up to date on the latest technological advances to serve your patients better. I respect that and would be honored to be able to use my skills to help further that mission.
Even though you should devote most of your cover letter to the body paragraphs, leave a little room to wrap it up in a closing paragraph.
Share your thanks for the reader’s time and consideration, as well as what you hope the next steps will be. You could mention that you hope you can discuss the position and your qualifications further, and you can even add in a request for them to contact you at their earliest convenience.
Here’s an example of what this section could look like:
I’d love to discuss this position and your organization’s goals with you further. Thank you for your consideration.
Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:
Theodore Browning
8888 E 88th Dr.
Chattanooga, TN 88888
888-999-7777
theobrowning@email.comFebruary 2, 2021
Karen Vickers
Hiring Manager
Canyon Creek Family Medicine
5555 W 55th Pl.
Chattanooga, TN 88888Dear Ms. Vickers,
I’m writing in regard to the Data Entry Clerk position at Canyon Creek Family Medicine. With my three years of experience in data entry, one of which was at a medical facility, I believe my skills would be an excellent fit for this position.
Over the past three years, I’ve been able to hone my skills so that I accurately and quickly transfer data each time. While at my current position at St. John’s Hospital, I implemented systems into my Excel documents that I used to check my work and ensure everything was accurate. After doing this, my manager found zero errors when she reviewed my work.
At each one of the positions that I’ve held, I entered and organized data from paper records, electronic databases, email and website platforms, and patient paperwork. I compiled all of these into central databases, generated reports as needed, and regularly checked the database for duplicates and other clutter.
In addition to entering and organizing data, I also have experience analyzing data for trends, patterns, and other useful information. When I worked at Margie’s Clothes, I noticed that people were more likely to make larger purchases than usual when we had a sale on shoes than when we had sales in other departments.
By combining that with the observation that we had the most shoppers on Fridays and Saturdays, I suggested that we try having our shoe sales on Fridays instead of Thursdays. My manager agreed to test the idea, and sales for those days nearly doubled.
This experience ignited my passion for using data and technology to improve organizations, and in researching Canyon Creek Family Medicine, I noticed how you work to stay up to date on the latest technological advances with the purpose of serving your patients better. I respect that and would be honored to be able to use my skills to help further that mission.
I’d love to discuss this position and your organization’s goals with you further. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Theodore Browning (Handwritten signature)
Theodore Browning
Demonstrate your attention to detail. Your cover letter is more than a story about your work experience and skills. It’s an example of your work.
As a data entry clerk, your employers are going to want to be sure that you pay attention to the little things, and your cover letter is an opportunity to show that you do.
Start by proofreading your letter backward and forwards. (reading it backward can help you catch some errors you otherwise would just skip right over.) Have someone else with strong grammatical skills look over it for you as well, or read it out loud to yourself after you leave it for a few hours to give yourself a fresh perspective.
It’s also important to make sure you have the right spacing, you’re consistent with your fonts, and you organize your letter in an easy-to-follow way. While hiring managers may not look at your letter and think, “Wow, this person really has great formatting skills,” they will notice if you don’t.
Pay attention to the big picture of the job description. While you should definitely try to cover as many individual qualifications listed on the job description as possible in your cover letter, you should make sure your cover letter shows how your experiences relate to the position as a whole as well.
For example, if the position is in a university admissions office and you have experience working at a school, share specifics about how the skills you learned there would carry over into this new position. This will help your application stand out from the crowd.
You should also check to see what other responsibilities a position may come with, since often data entry clerks may have administrative tasks to complete as well.
Talk about any experience you have in this area, whether you regularly covered phones when the receptionist was out, or you took minutes during board meetings. This shows that you’re adaptable and have experience in a wide variety of tasks, so you’ll be able to take on whatever your boss needs you to.