Instructor Blog #4: Cover Letters
Submitted by tghering on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 15:22.
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After you've written a resume, the next step is to flesh out that information in a cover letter. One of the biggest mistakes people make with the cover letter is just repeating information that can be found on the resume. What's the point of that? They already have that information in an easier to read format (hopefully), so you want to build off that, not repeat it. The cover letter is a great opportunity to flesh out some aspects of your professional experience that aren't easy to convey. So if you did a cool project at work, or have an interesting accomplishment, or if some volunteer experience really applies to the job, this is a good place to discuss it. Find some unique, relevant part of yourself to elaborate on the cover letter.
Remember, the cover letter will be read only if your resume survives one or perhaps several cuts. So the main purpose of the cover letter is to build a bridge between the resume and the job by explaining in more detail how you will serve as an asset to the company. The letter specifically relates how your past experience and personality embodies the qualities the company is seeking, which is why I again remind you to reference the keywords used in the company's job ad. You'll probably want to choose a few of these words and use them to organize your letter explicitly. You can write something in the introduction such as "I believe the communication skills, leadership, and team building ability developed by my past experience will make me an asset to Cogwell's Cogs." Then, in the paragraphs below, demonstrate specific instances of communication, leadership, and team building.
Structurally, the cover letter is fairly formal. It is always one page, 10-12 point professional looking serif or sans-serif font, and 3-4 short, concise paragraphs. I recommend that students use the header from their resume at the top of their cover letter, treating it almost as a letter head for yourself. This makes your documents look uniform and professional, and makes your contact info easy to find. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get a name for the greeting of your letter. If the job ad does not include a name, call the company's HR department to find out if you can get it (you don't have to give your name on the phone.) Including a name is infinitely better than writing "To Whom it May Concern:" Find a person to whom you can address your materials.
The opening paragraph introduces yourself, the job you're applying for, where you heard about it, and establishes the structure for the letter. This needs to be done as concisely as possible, usually within 2-4 sentences, because you don't want to waste half the letter telling us where you heard about the job. You also want to figure out what the angle of your letter is going to be, probably by focusing on 1-3 key terms in the cover letter and elaborating on them. Then, you can structure the paragraphs below around those key terms (so if your first paragraph key terms are computer skills and team player, paragraph two is about computer skills and paragraph three is about being a team player.)
This is also a good place to include some research about the company. One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to research the company before writing your cover letter. It doesn't take long to visit the company website, and it shows your interest and makes you stand apart from the fray. You can include this research in your letter in a number of ways. It could relate to your interest in the job. "Dunder Mifflin's sales position is interesting to me because I have always wanted to work for a company that offers continual sales training." It could relate your experience to the job. "My extensive coursework in particle acceleration makes me an excellent fit with a company that has the second largest particle accelerator in North America." It could also relate your qualities to the job. "Because of my past teaching experience, I respect LuthorCorp's commitment to philanthropy in local schools." Find a way to include a reference to something specific about the company, as long as it doesn't sound like sucking up or sound too much like a benefit for you - i.e. "I've always wanted to work for a company with a foosball machine in the cafeteria."
As you develop the body of your letter, you want to be specific. Don't just tell us you worked somewhere. Tell us what you did, what you accomplished, and how those abilities and accomplishments will serve the company reading the letter. So don't just write "I worked as a computer programmer last summer." Try something like "While working as a computer programmer, I led a 10 person development team which used C++ to create the most advanced educational software ever marketed by Wayne Industries." Here, job title, teamwork, leadership, computer skills, and accomplishments are all conveyed in a sentence. This is both impressive and concise, and conciseness is very, very important in a letter where you don't have much space. In another example, a friend of of a friend applying for a legal clerkship wrote in his letter "Last summer, I was a associate at DLA Piper Rudnick. While there I completed more projects and accumulated more hours than any other summer associate in the California offices. I drafted motions, briefs, pleadings, licenses, and agreements in addition to writing an array of research memorandums." This gives an impressive accomplishment and a thorough description of his duties. It's much stronger than just "I was a clerk this one time at DLA Piper Rudnick."
As you write, consider your tone. You want to be cordial and convey your personality while remaining professional. You want to focus on why you will be good for the company. Remember, they don't care about you at all (I know this sounds harsh, but until they get to know you, it's true!), so keep all your focus on them and how you will serve them. And always sound motivated. Never write "While in Engineering 251, I had to give a lot of oral presentations." Write "During my Engineering 251 project which required the construction of a solar powered car in three weeks, I gave 12 presentations to community leaders in order to raise $3,000 for the project." Remember, you are a motivated, excited worker, not someone dragging their feet who must be forced to do things.
In the last paragraph, summarize the reasons you would be an asset for the company before restating your interest, mentioning your hope for an interview, and including your personal contact info. Include both a telephone number and email address for contact in the final paragraph, even though you included it in the letterhead above. Redundancy is a good thing for contact info. You can say that you will call to follow up, but do so politely and make sure you actually do it. Close by thanking the person for their time and consideration. Sign the letter "Respectfully," or "Sincerely," leave some space to sign your name, and then type your name below.
As you are composing, I cannot stress enough that it is important to remember the situation in which the letter is written and read. Are you writing as someone with little experience in the field? A lot of experience? Fresh out of college? Changing careers? Your letter needs to be catered to these circumstances, just like it needs to be catered to the reader. Are you sending the letter in cold? After a job fair conversation? To a friend of a friend? Keep all those details in mind. Also remember to give your letter a logical organization, focus on job keywords, and convey why you are going to be an asset to the company.
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What I never knew about cover letters
Wow, apparently I have had so many misconceptions about a cover letter that I am embarrassed I have previously ever sent one to a potential employer. I would like to explain some of these misconceptions that I previously had. First, I thought that you were supposed to repeat the strong points of your resume in the cover letter. I have come to learn, though, that this is completely wrong and you are not suppose to repeat anything, but you are suppose to elaborate on it and say something that you could not add in your resume. Next, I thought that the cover letter was read before your resume in most cases so that they could know what to focus on when reading the resume. Once again, this is not true as the cover letter is one of the last things to be read and only if your resume makes it through several steps. Another misconception I had was that you don’t really have to do much research on the company until you have found out if you have an interview. It makes perfect sense though that you include facts or other information about the company in the cover letter so they already know you understand at least something, unlike many people, about the company. Other things I was able to learn and think will make a vast difference in my cover letter are: using the keywords that the company would look for, explain how you will help them, always have a person’s name in the greeting, and to include where you learned about the position. I believe that if I can incorporate these items, I will have a much better chance of getting that initial interview.
I agree...
Brett,
It seems I had the same misconceptions about cover letters that you did and I am sure we weren’t the only ones. I also sent out a cover letter for my past internship that I am a bit embarrassed about. I made the same mistake you did, reiterating the major points of my resume. Luckily we’ve learned a bit more about how to make a proper cover letter and hopefully it will help us out in our futures!
Bethony Vernaglia
What's a Cover Letter?
Don't get me wrong of course I have heard of a cover letter and know what it is, but have I ever written one? Nope. I've never really even considered writing one. When I went to the job fair last year in hopes of merely gaining confidence and experience conversing with potential employers I asked a fellow student to help me revise my resume. I had a lot of faith in this person as they had landed multiple internships and was in their last semester of college. I remember working on it together and all the pointers they gave me for interviewing but not once was a cover letter mentioned. This is someone that already was offered a position at a well known company, Kimberly Clark, to be exact, and obviously they didn't have a cover letter with their resume. Writing this cover letter is going to be a big challenge. I've never seen another person's cover letter to even reference. I guess I have some researching to do. I'm really glad we are focusing on a cover letter and hope to gain helpful advice to make it the best I can. I'm also eager to see how the responses to my resume differ at the next job fair after taking this course.
Learning something new everyday!
As Brett said in his comment, I also thought that the cover letter simply repeated the same things that are in the resume! It makes more sense, though, that it wouldn’t, and instead serves as a tie between the resume and the specific job.
I think the hardest part of writing a cover letter for me will be to include personality while still being concise and professional. I think it will be very hard to convey my positive, energetic, attitude in a letter without including too! many! exclamation points!!!
I really like the advice given on how to include research that you have done on the company in the cover letter. In past cover letters and interviews, I have found it hard to include this information without it sounding completely out of place. This cover letter practice will be very beneficial!
Response to Instructor Blog # 4
After reading Instructor Blog # 4, Cover Letter, questions that I had were cleared up. I knew what a cover letter was, and what material belongs in a cover letter. This reading gave me a closer look at what to include and what not to include in a cover letter. It is important to add new information that is worthwhile and focused on that specific job. Writing a cover letter seems to be pretty straight forward: one page, 3-4 paragraphs, header, etc. As anyone writes a letter, e-mail, cover letter, or anything for a company they need to consider their tone. As we remember from past readings, Mr. Patterson’s tone was harsh. Our tone can be viewed differently by every person that reads our cover letters. This is the same with all the different views of what makes up is a good resume.
Cover Letter Response
I always thought that I knew what a cover letter was but I have never written one. I used to think that a cover just introduced yourself but it actually does a lot more than that. A cover letter, while introducing yourself, highlights some of your best qualities and skills that need to be reinforced in the resume. A cover letter is an opportunity for you to go into detail about something that you feel stands out above other applicants. Just putting skills and work experience on a resume might not be enough get your point across on how you closed a million dollar deal. I have no experience with cover letters but I believe I now have enough knowledge of them to begin writing my own.
Response
Ashley M. Rooney
I am little confused first off because one of our previous articles about the HR resume reader said specifically not to include a cover letter and that they never get read. Of course it my just have been that HR representative. I guess it is better to be over prepared than unprepared. Also, some readers may simply check to see its there. For the. most part I always include a cover letter unless the job ad asks only for a resume. I usually use it as an opportunity to introduce myself and express interest in the company. It is usually very short, but at least shows the effort. In the future I'll try to incorporate skills I wasn't able to elaborate on in the resume and show some company knowledge. From other responses I am surprised most people don't know about or write cover letters.
Cover Letter Misconceptions
This excerpt cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had about cover letters. My previous cover letters have never been very detailed. In the past, I have always simply reiterated the information on my resume that I wished to emphasize. I now know that I need to discuss the information about myself that I couldn’t exactly cover in depth in my resume, such as specific, interesting experiences I may have had. For example, my most recent cover letter stated, “throughout the course of my internship, I worked with the visual team in order to advance my knowledge and experiences in the field of visuals.” This blog has encouraged me to change this statement to make it more specific about the experiences I gained. It makes perfect sense that the cover letter is the ideal place to discuss the unique aspects a person possesses that are relevant to the job position. Also, I have always tailored my cover letters to the job I am applying for; I have just never included specific information about that company. By including your research in your cover letter, you are demonstrating that you are serious about the position you are applying for. I believe by making these changes I have just discussed, my next cover letter will be a significant improvement that will hopefully better my chances of getting the position of my choice.
Writing a Great Cover Letter
I always knew a cover letter should accompany a resume. However, what I did not know was that the cover letter was not read first. I always thought that the cover letter would help the employer decide if they wanted to continue looking at my resume or put it in the "not interested pile". I also learned from this blog that researching the company before sending the cover letter and using their terminology would be beneficial to me. I did know that I should check out the company prior to an interview. It makes good sense to do the research before submitting the resume. I appreciate the fact that you shared with us the format for the cover letter - the opening paragraph and what the following paragraphs should include. I have not yet sent a cover letter or resume to potential employers and I really feel that this information will beneficial when the time comes.
A Better Understanding of Cover Letters
After reading this blog entry I have a much better understanding of what a cover letter is and the necessary components needed to make a cover letter effective. Don’t get me wrong, I have heard of cover letters before and I actually made one for my last internship, but I obviously did not fully understand what one was. I had always assumed that these letters were read prior to the resume not after several cuts (I found it interesting how one article said not to even include a cover letter). I also thought that cover letters simply restated the main points of your resume and went a bit more into depth about why you qualify for the job. I am glad that this blog was posted; I would say it has been the most beneficial to me so far. It has given me a better understanding of what I need to include in my next cover letter, hopefully improving my chances to obtain a key interview in the future!
Bethony Vernaglia
Response to Instructor Blog #4: Cover Letters
I really feel informed after reading this post. In my search for an internship in the fall, I have already sent out multiple resumes and cover letters. I was dissappointed to only get one response back. First off, I like how Instructor Ghering mentioned contacting the company to get a name to associate with the position. Previously, I had just been writing "To Whom It May Concern." Although, I do remember writing the employer's name on the cover letter I sent out that received a response. Another thing is that I like the concept of uniformity. I think this is important and one thing I never realized before. It looks more organized and professional to have all the headings the same (on the resume and cover letter). The final thing I did not know about before was to mention in the last paragraph that you will be contacting the employer soon to follow up. I think this is actually the best advice I ever heard in regards to landing a position. If you do this it shows your interested and eager to work for the company. This also gives you a chance to talk one on one to your potential employer. Just these three things alone will drastically improve my cover letter.
Cover What?
I had a complete misconception about what a cover letter is and what its purpose is. This information is great and I am sure I'll be referencing it word for word when I write my own. I payed close to attention to the very last paragraph about who we are writing to. I feel that I overlook this a lot. I never really pause to think about who my audience is specifically. Like I will say to my self this is for a teacher, or an adult, but I should really make sure that what I'm writing caters to my audience specifically. I can't assume because they are an adult or a hiring manager that they know more than me about the things I am writing to them. I'm sure there have been times in the past where I should have gone back and asked myself, "will this person know what I am talking about?", and for this project and future resumes I am going to make sure to pay particular attention to that.
Cover letter
About a year and a half ago, I composed a cover letter that I thought was flawless. It had the right tone, and it said the right things and everything! Boy was I wrong.
My cover letter at the time was a basic template where I would change the name of the company and the person Im sending it to each time I would apply to a company. I felt it was simple enough and people would like it after they read my cover letter.
I now know I must be a little more personable with my e-mail, listing qualities and qualifications that I have in order to fully make my cover letter stand out.
I also feel that researching a company is something that is vital to your cover letter because it shows the reader you have done your homework about their company that you actually care about the position you are applying for. Before hand, my personal cover letter had nothing about the company or the organization I was applying for, and to be honest, looking back on my old cover letter I can really tell its plain and used to send out to multiple companies.
Lastly, I think cover letters are very important. I really think they give employers a sense of who you are and what kind of skill sets you have based on what you say in your cover letter. Therefore, I believe cover letters are just as important as the resumes you hand out to employers
Cover Letter Response
This blog clarified the information necessary in a cover letter. I knew to keep it fairly short and simple but I also think referencing key words, researching the company, and performing a follow up call are all positive things to do. Referencing key words used in the company’s job ad seems like a great idea. It can show that you possess the characteristics that the company is looking for in an applicant. Furthermore, I think researching the company is a good idea. Not only will it give you things to talk about in your cover letter, but it can also help you if you make it to an interview. In past classes I’ve taken, professors urged us to research the company so that we could ask intelligent questions if we went to an interview. Lastly, I think following up on a job shows the company you’re really interested. I think it’s a great way to set yourself apart from others who may not call but just hope the company calls them.
Jon Markee's Response to Instructor Blog #4
Wow, I can honestly say that I am looking forward to writing a cover letter. I was in the same boat of misunderstanding as Jacob before reading this article. Just like him, I thought cover letters were just a chance to introduce yourself and I never realized what a great vehicle they provide to connect with your employer. Now I realize that a cover letter is a great way to show you have a specific interest in a company or job. It's also good way to do some explaining about your resume. Plus, you can really tie things together by incorporating your own personality in the writing. I can imagine future employers narrowing down their applicants to two resumes and trying to differentiate them. I see how things would end up if one of them had a cover letter that showed how connected and interested the candidate was in that specific company. The employer might even choose a less qualified candidate just because of a well written cover letter that shows great interest and connection in the company. Thank you for clearing up this misunderstanding I had about cover letters. Honestly, I never saw them like that before now.
Cover Letters
Through my personal experience of job searching, I have never encountered a situation in which a cover letter has been required. I have attended many job fairs for my major and also have had many interviews, and never once was a cover letter recommended or asked for. The cover letter project that will be due on monday will be very interesting for me considering I have never had the experience of already writing one. I'm sure for many people that after reading the cover letter blog, many of their questions were cleared up. Even though I have never encountered a cover letter situation, I found this blog to be very informative. I think the hardest part of a cover letter would be trying not to repeat the information that is already included in the resume. I can imagine that a lot of time is spent on writing cover letters, especially since much time is spent on resumes and the cover letter won't usually contain the same information.
Cover Letter Response
I have already encountered a leadership position in which I had to produce a cover letter, and I must say I wish I had had this information beforehand. It is really nice to have someone pretty much spell out what you put in each section of a professional paper. I liked your advice on what kind of tone to use. A motivated attitude will surely get more response from a future employer than one as you said, “who must be forced to do things.” I also liked your recommendation to stress how your skills will benefit the company. It makes sense that they would be impressed to read how you can use your previous experiences to fulfil and surpass the criteria of the job in question.
I never knew about any of this
I really never knew what a cover letter really consisted of. I really never knew it was supposed to convey so much. This reading was definitely one of the more important one that I've read so far, because it was really helpful information. Because I was basically clueless when it came to writing a cover letter, and now because I have all this information I really don't even know where to start. Now that I do I'm going to have to do a lot more research. I think that writing this cover letter is going to be one of the harder assignments so far. But I don't think that just the cover letter for this assignment is going to be hard, I think that every cover letter from here on out is going to be definitely one of the more difficult part of applying for a job.
Response to Instructor Blog #4
“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get a name for the greeting of your letter. If the job ad does not include a name, call the company's HR department to find out if you can get it (you don't have to give your name on the phone.) Including a name is infinitely better than writing "To Whom It May Concern:" Find a person to whom you can address your materials.” All these times, I feel really bad about just writing “To Whom It May Concern:” in the name greeting section of my cover letter. It seems like I did not put enough effort to find out the name of the contact person for this particular job. My problem is usually because the phone number is not provided or because the company is just too big that they have separate HR departments and sometimes they’re not able to direct me to the right person. I’m also wondering since there are a lot of recruiters or managers, which name should I put in the cover letter. I’m just afraid that when I just put any name the HR people might say, I would put in a wrong name.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make with the cover letter is just repeating information that can be found on the resume… The cover letter is a great opportunity to flesh out some aspects of your professional experience that aren't easy to convey.” When I applied for my Disney internship, I mentioned in my cover letter how I really love the company and the fact that I have been collecting Disney merchandises since about 10 years ago and currently have almost 3,000 items. I also included a copy of a picture of me and my collection on the second page of my cover letter. It turned out the HR person who interviewed was “wowed” by this and she said “wow, you must really love the company!” The interview went really smoothly and quick and I finally landed this job (of course also with the help of some networking activities).