Cover Letters

A cover letter is an accompanying letter with your resume that serves to introduce yourself and provide additional information about your skills and experience. They explain why you are sending a resume, tell specifically how you learned about the position or organization of application, and convince the reader to look at your resume. It will be read first!

Tips

• Customizing a cover letter
  • Review the criteria for the position before the writing process
  • Consider what skills/qualifications they are seeking
  • Know the company and why you want to work for them instead of their competitors
• Meeting their needs
  • Keep employer’s needs in mind
  • Explain what you can contribute
  • Focus on relevant strengths
  • Don’t recap your resume
• Be genuine
  • Don’t directly copy a template or use someone else’s words
  • Show your personality and passion
  • Make it professional and conversational

Cover Letter: Anatomy

• Letterhead—SAME AS RESUME (just copy and paste on top)
  • Name should be largest font on page
  • Recommended: Include LinkedIn address in contact info
  • Try to limit contact info to 3-4 lines maximum
  • Include 2 addresses if necessary
• Address and salutation
  • Follow example:
    DATE (ex: December 01, 2022)NAME OF PERSON/PROGRAM APPLYING TO
    COMPANY/ORGANIZATION NAME
    ADDRESS
    CITY, STATE ZIP CODEDear CONTACT:
• If location is not listed on the job description, use Google to find a street address for the local office.
• If position description does not include a contact name, consider using “Internship/Job Coordinator:,”
  “Dear hiring team:,” or something similar.
• Paragraph #1: What are you applying for and why? (Grab their attention!)
  • Grab their attention with the first sentence: What’s compelling/unique about you?
  • Name-drop if applicable
  • Why are you writing?
  • Why do you want to work for them?
• Paragraph #2: Why should they hire you?
  • What can you do for them?
  • Do NOT focus on what they can do for you but what you have to offer them.
• Paragraph #3: Closing
  • Thank them for their time.
  • Request a personal meeting; let them know your availability.
  • Do NOT repeat your contact info
  • Ex: “Thank you for taking the time to review my resume. I look forward to the potential opportunity to meet for an interview and will follow up on my application in a few days. I am available…[specific days and times].”
• Signature
  • Follow example:
    Sincerely,
    SIGNATURE
    TYPED NAME
  • On pdfs, there may be an option to add a personalized signature; if submitting a print-out, may write it in

Parting Thoughts

• Target both resume and cover letter to job description
  • Ex: How can you make a previous server position apply to a retail position application? (customer service, maintaining sociability, working with difficult customers/co-workers, working efficiently under pressure)
• NO TYPOS!
• Stay positive; omit negative information
• Make it easy to read; avoid highly stylized fonts

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