Referral Cover Letter

When you are applying for jobs a referral can go a long way. Hiring managers and recruiters are more likely to take a closer look at candidates who were referred by someone they know.  When you mention a referral in your cover letter, be sure to mention the individual who referred you by name and also mention your connection with the person  - how you know them.

Sample:

Sample Cover Letter - Business / Referral
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Your Phone Number
Your Email
Contact Name
Title
Company Name
Address
City, State, Zip Code

Dear Mr./Ms. LastName:
Please accept the attached resume for the position of Technical Business Analyst as recently advertised on Monster.com. I've had the pleasure to review CompanyName's web site, and to speak with Jane Doe, a colleague at CompanyName, and am very enthusiastic about the position advertised. I believe that my combination of technical skills, consulting experience, and business sensibilities would serve CompanyName well in this position.
My foundation is as a developer, in multiple languages, on many platforms. If the situation requires getting code done, I deliver high quality, clean, working code, quickly and correctly. I'm comfortable with structured code, databases, OO programming, and "specialty" languages such as might be found in workflow or business rules systems. I have every confidence that to the extent the position requires actual coding, I can sling code with the best.
To the extent that the position requires analysis of business rules and processes, I have specific experience in two main areas that are closely related. On the analysis side, I was the Product Manager for a large system. In that capacity I was responsible for extracting functional requirements from end users, customers, marketing, etc., and translating those requirements into detailed requirements. On the business rules side, as the Product Architect for a suite of enterprise systems I led the requirements definition and vendor and partner review for a collaboration system that included a business rules engine component. While I was not involved as a developer in these systems, I am quite familiar with this class of products and the salient features that define their value.
On a more general level, I believe I bring the broad "soft" skills you can have confidence in with a candidate that will represent CompanyName to your customers. I trust you would find me to be well-spoken, energetic, confident, and personable, the type of person on whom your customers will rely. I also have a wide breadth of experience of the type that gives you the versatility to place me in a number of contexts with confidence that the level of excellence you expect will be met. In most situations technical decisions must be made within the context of larger business constraints. Throughout my career I have strived to keep business issues in the forefront, be it as a developer implementing a test framework to capture defects as early as possible, or as the Product Manager for an enterprise system, allocating resources and prioritizing enhancements to meet strategic objectives. Focusing on business imperatives is a core value of mine, one that I bring to every project on which I work.
I greatly appreciate you taking the time to review my credentials and experience. CompanyNames' blend of Business Strategy, Market Analysis, and Information Technology is very exciting. I hope that you'll find my experience, interests, and character intriguing enough to warrant a face-to-face meeting, as I am confident that I could provide value to you and your customers as a member of your team.
Sincerely,
FirstName LastName