Case managers used to be commonly called “case workers,” although today’s more commonly used term alludes to the overall management they provide in assisting with the well-being of clients and patients in a variety of medical, family-related and social work settings. For case managers in search of employment, this guide will explore why a cover letter is an essential component of a job application, and we’ll detail everything you need to know about how to prepare one.
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This cover letter guide, along with the corresponding cover letter examples will discuss:
- What is a case manager?
- Case manager salary and job outlook
- Why a cover letter is essential for a case manage
- The best format for a case manager cover letter
- How to write a case manager cover letter
- How to handle the visuals of a case manager cover letter
- The psychology of writing a persuasive cover letter
- Common mistakes to avoid.
What does a case manager do?
Case managers coordinate and facilitate wide-ranging approaches to achieving and maintaining well-being for the physically or mentally ill, the elderly, people challenged by substance abuse, clients in the correctional system, families and children, and other clients. They may be social workers, nurses, counselors, physical therapists, speech therapists or specialists in other fields.
Case managers’ work includes:
- Assessing the needs of clients and patients
- Identifying remedies and resources to assist in achieving and maintaining wellness
- Coordinating and facilitating services provided for clients and patients
- Advocating and interceding on behalf of those needing help
- Monitoring the short-term and long-term progress of clients and patients
- Helping to ensure overall and ongoing client well-being
Case manager salary and job outlook
Case managers earn an average hour wage of $17.92 per hour, according to Payscale.com. Another leading source of salary info, Glassdoor.com, says case managers in the U.S. earn an average annual salary of $36,016.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which provides extensive occupational information on both salaries and job outlook, does not rank case managers separately, but it provides useful information on employment expectations for all kinds of social workers. And the outlook is very good.
What is the job outlook for social workers?
Overall employment of social workers of all kinds in the U.S. is expected to grow by 13% from 2019 through 2029 — much higher than the projected average for all occupations, which is 4%.
PROJECTED JOB GROWTH, OCCUPATION 2019-2029
- All social workers 13%
- Child, family and school social workers 12%
- Healthcare social workers 14%
- Mental health/substance abuse social workers 17%
- All other social workers 5%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Why a cover letter is essential for a case manager
In a job application in any field, including for case managers, a cover letter is an essential companion to a resume. If you apply for a case manager job by sending only one document, you’ve sent just 50% of what you needed to send.
Surveys of hiring managers have found that the failure to include a cover letter is among the top 10 reasons job candidates are rejected. Why take the chance?
Some people feel that a two application documents are overkill, since they both address many of the same issues, including work experience, education and job skills. But a resume is basically an impersonal collection of lists (of jobs, schools and skills). It’s not addressed to anyone, it normally doesn’t use the word “I” or “you,” and it doesn’t offer the opportunity to speak to how your contributions could benefit the company or organization you’re targeting.
A cover letter, on the other hand, is a professional but personal approach to a hiring manager — like a handshake, a human greeting, a “hello” from afar. A cover letter enables you to showcase your personality, passion, warmth and likability. A cover letter is a way of establishing a personal connection with an individual whose help you need.
Although in rare cases an employer will request that you refrain from sending more than one document, you should always include a cover letter unless you’re specifically asked not to.
Best format for a case manager cover letter
The best format for a case manager cover letter is one that follows a solid structure and is easy to read. This means the cover letter should be one page only, a maximum of 400 words, and it should be contain the following elements:
- Cover letter header
- Cover letter greeting
- Cover letter introduction
- Cover letter body
- Cover letter conclusion
- Cover letter sign-off
This cover letter format is the tried and tested approach, yet each cover letter is a highly individualized document. So, the goal for each cover letter section or paragraph should be to maximize its effectiveness in showcasing your professionalism and personality.
Let’s take a look at each of these components in detail, along with some cover letter samples of writing to illustrate the points.
Cover letter header
If you check out the attached cover letter example, you’ll see that it contains an attractively designed section at the top that contains the job applicant’s name, occupation, address, phone number and email.
The reasons for this are obvious, so that the employer knows how to reach you if interested. But notice that the header also plays an important design role — it makes the page look more eye-catching, more interesting and more professional.
Give your application documents a matching look
If you inspect your kitchen drawers, you probably have several mismatched forks, knives and spoons you’ve somehow collected over the years. But if you go into a store and buy a brand-new set of flatware, they’ll all match.
How did this happen, and why didn’t the designers of your gleaming new silverware throw in a few white plastic sporks for variety? Because they were making a matching set! And you need to do the same when designing a cover letter.
You want to use the same fonts, font sizes, formatting styles and header styles in your resume and cover letter, like they were made to go together. This shows your attention to detail and your understanding of the importance of coherent design.
Cover letter greeting
“Dear Mr. XXX:” or “Dear Ms. ZZZ:” are the traditional and time-honored ways of writing a business letter greeting, also known as a salutation. And there’s no need to reinvent the wheel here, because this approach is never wrong.
If you happen to know the person you’re writing to, it may be acceptable to use a first name or a more informal greeting, like “Hello Henry,” or “Greetings Maria.” But beware of being too casual in a letter where you’re asking for a job.
Often you will find yourself responding to a job listing that doesn’t tell you the name of the hiring manager. In such cases, it’s best to do whatever you can to find out who the appropriate person is. If your online sleuthing can’t answer this question, it’s always an option to simply call the company and ask.
People like to read their own names, and they’re more likely to respond to an email that addresses them by name rather than one addressed to an entire company or department. It also shows your professionalism, attention to detail and interest in this company if you’ve gone to the trouble of finding out who’s processing the job applications.
But if you’re told to simply address your job application to the Humans Relations Dept., you might have no choice but to go with something like “Dear Human Relations Team.”
Cover letter introduction
The opening paragraph of your case manager cover letter should make an attention-getting opening statement about the job you’re seeking and about why you would make an excellent candidate.
If you have 10 years of experience as a working case manager, you’re golden — just say so. “After 10 years of experience as a case manager for the Illinois Department of Human Services, advising and serving some of the neediest people in the state, I’d like to offer Northwestern Memorial my expertise in filling a similar role for your patients.”
Here’s another possibility, from the attached cover letter sample:
As a licensed clinical social worker and case manager, I have worked in both residential and care home settings, with a deep understanding of the needs of patients with dementia and have worked with nursing teams to coordinate 200+ personal treatment plans.
Cover letter middle part (body)
Your central two to four paragraphs, the middle part of your cover letter, should make a slam-dunk case that you are the right person for this job.
Again, experience is king, so if you’re an experienced case manager, lead with that. In addition to naming some of the places you’ve worked, be specific about what you actually did at those jobs, using facts and figures wherever possible.
Consider telling a story. Use an anecdote or two to recount a challenge you once faced, the action you took to resolve it, and the satisfactory result you achieved.
You may have no experience as a case manager — perhaps you’re just finishing college, you’re changing careers or you’re looking to move up from a related field. If so, identify the experience that best qualifies you for the job, whether it’s your pending degree or your work in a similar field.
Try to say something about the company you’re targeting. Mention it by name and say something about why you want to work there, or about how you believe you could resolve challenges that you know it’s facing. This shows that you’re not just sending out cover letters at random to 50 employers, but you’re really interested in this specific employer.
Here’s an example of the middle paragraphs of a case manager cover letter:
While my bachelor’s degree in healthcare and Certified Case Manager certification were achieved ten years ago, I still draw on many of the fundamentals of healthcare management when helping those under my care. The simplest wisdom is often the most effective choice when it comes to making someone with dementia feel comfortable. A predictable routine, warm kindness and limitless patience go a long way.
In my previous roles, I have coordinated care in homes from 15-70 residents and dealt with countless health priorities alongside the less pleasant considerations of end-of-life care. Dementia is a debilitating illness, and I am used to handling communication with friends and relatives with compassion and attentiveness.
Communication skills are paramount in charting a course through the disease, and it has often fallen to me to guide both patients and loved ones through the early stages in a residential home setting. I am a scholar of the latest treatment options and I am a passionate believer in patient advocacy instead of rigid loyalty to an impersonal process.
How to end a case manager cover letter (conclusion and CTA)
You can conclude your cover letter with a summary and a thank-you, but it should also contain some kind of call to action (CTA). For example, you might say you’re always reachable at the contact info provided and you’re looking forward to a reply. You might say that you’re available anytime for a formal interview or even a quick phone call.
The idea is to plant the thought in the reader’s head that s/he should take some action as a result of your letter and not just lay it aside.
After my previous employer was forced to close their home due to budget restrictions, I collected over fifty patient and staff referrals to share with a prospective employer and would be glad to take you through some of the highlights at an interview.
Sign-off/signature line
Let’s not overthink this one.
Sincerely,
Sydney Banks
That’s all you need. You can choose a sign-off other than “Sincerely” if you like, as long as it’s appropriate for a business letter.
In a printed cover letter that you intend to mail or hand-deliver, an actual signature is needed above your name, but this is not necessary in electronic communication.
Design, layout and visuals of your cover letter
You could scribble the perfect case manager cover letter on a napkin and just mail that in. But we wouldn’t recommend it.
As any good chef will tell you, presentation matters. Your letter needs to look as good as it reads. And that means following some basic design and formatting rules:
- Fonts: The font you choose should be easy to read, nothing that looks weird or calls attention to itself. Take a moment to read our advice on the best fonts to use in cover letters.
- Font size: No smaller than 10 points and no larger than 12 is a good rule of thumb. Resist the urge to force your wordy letter onto one page by using a microscopic font size. Try trimming your text instead.
- Margins: Use a margin of at least 1 inch on the top, bottom, left and right of your cover letter.
- Text alignment: Text should be aligned left, not justified from margin to margin, to provide a little extra space at the end of each line.
- Paragraphs: Leave a space between them, don’t indent, and don’t make them too long. Nobody wants to read a paragraph that takes up half a page.
- Save as PDF: The PDF file format will preserve the formatting of your letter so that it looks the same on the recipient’s device as it does on yours. However, if you’re submitting your case manager cover letter through an online system - make sure to check whether it has any file format requirements (some application systems online accept Word files).
- Use a template: Avoid design errors by using a professionally designed cover letter template that takes care of these issues for you.
How to write a persuasive case manager cover letter
Case managers for needy people tend to have a long suit in empathy. And while it’s not exactly the same thing, you need to tap your ability to get inside someone else’s skin when writing your cover letter.
Put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re writing to. What does s/he care about? The hiring managers you’re writing to are primarily concerned about their organizations and their clients’ needs. They are not primarily concerned about your needs.
Always remember that you’re not trying to convince recruiters that you deserve a job. You’re trying to convince them that you can make their organization stronger, streamline their processes, reduce their costs and achieve better outcomes for their clients.
Take a close look at the tone you use in your cover letter. It should showcase confidence and competence, highlighting your empathy for the clients you want to serve. It should never sound arrogant or presumptuous, as if you’re the best case manager ever since the dinosaurs walked the earth, and they’d be fools not to hire you.
Strike a personal tone with the person you’re writing to — friendly but professional, upstanding, employable. Remember that nobody wants to hire somebody they don’t like. Be warm and personable, yet also find a way to humbly emphasize the excellent skills you bring to the job.
Cover letter mistakes you don’t want to make
People who write cover letters often make common errors. And people who receive cover letters have seen them all.
- Typos and other writing mistakes: All you have to write is one page. And nothing can sink your chances faster than a page that contains typos, misspellings or bad grammar.
- Lazy language: Many cover letters are riddled with clichés that recruiters see all the time, as well as “fluff,” which is language that sounds fancy but says nothing. Use fresh, meaningful language that will surprise your reader with its originality.
- One size fits all: Every cover letter should be a unique document, targeted to a specific employer and discussing its needs.
- Irrelevant info: Remember, you have one page. Fill it with information about your qualifications for this job, not about your interest in jogging or reading murder mysteries.
Key takeaways
- Case managers are in-demand professionals who provide a broad range of support for needy clients, and your cover letter needs to make you stand out from the crowd of applicants.
- A cover letter is a crucial way of establishing a personal connection to a hiring manager, showcasing your passion, personality and empathy.
- Pay attention to the proper structure for a cover letter to make sure you’ve included everything you need and nothing you don’t.
- Save time by using cover letter examples and our online tools (that way you can focus on what’s important without additional stress)!
- Send a well-designed letter that looks as good as it reads.
- Put yourself in the recruiter’s mindset to write the letter that person would want to receive.
Here are some other medical cover letter examples from the fields of social work and health care:
- Social Worker cover letter example
- Nursing cover letter sample
- Physical Therapist cover letter example
- Medical Assistant cover letter sample
Resume.io provides one-stop shopping for cover letter examples, templates and occupation-specific advice on how to prepare these documents. Put your best foot forward by building on a proven foundation!
