Cover Letter Tutorial

Cover Letter Tutorial

• Employers receive thousands of resumes and cover letters in response to openings
• The cover letter can be thought of as a sales pitch.
• Keep it brief - ex: 3 or 4 short paragraphs.
• the writing must be concise.

General Tips

• Emphasize the 2 or 3 strongest reasons why you are the best candidate.
• Do not restate your resume.
• Draw parallels with previous work experience.
• Demonstrate interest or knowledge about the firm or industry.

Paragraph Construction

• Never begin a paragraph with "I".
• No sentence should be longer than 12 words.
• Use proper English and avoid slang or abbreviations.
• Use action verbs such as "designed" or "implemented"
• Use the active voice whenever possible.
• Personalize each letter.

Before you begin writing

• Answer the question "Why should I hire you?"
• Respond to the need of the company and the person who is hiring for the position.
• Answer the following questions
  • How do I get my message across?
  • What do I want to communicate to the reader?
• construct a "grabber" at the beginning and a "closer" at the end.
• Be honest and factual.
• Do not make your problems someone else's problems.

Writing the Cover Letter

• Place at the top and center of the letter.
• Include name, address, and phone number.
• Work number, fax or email are optional.

Example: Chris Smith
178 Green Street
New York, NY 09998

Date

• The date should appear two lines below and to the right of your header.
• Do not abbreviate the date.

Example: March 4, 1995

The Addressee

• Confirm the spelling of the person's name and company to whom you are addressing the letter
• List addressee two lines beneath the date on the left-hand side of the letter.
• Be sure to include full name starting with Ms. or Mr.
• Then write in the person's title, company name and address.

Example:
Ms. Joan Jones
Vice-President of Marketing
Norville Software, Inc.
335 Winding Block Road
Suite 500
New York, NY 09998

Salutation

• Should be typed two lines beneath the company's address.
• Use a colon instead of a comma at the end of the salutation.
• Always use "Dear Mr." or "Dear Ms." unless the individual is a friend or relative.

Example: Dear Ms. Jones:

First Paragraph

• State your interest and purpose for writing to the company.
• State why you feel you are the best candidate for the position.
• Reference the name of the publication if you are responding to a classified ad.

Example:
Seeking a new challenge, I was pleased to notice your advertisement for a Senior Product Manager in the May 17th New York Times. Over the last four years, I have consistently delivered new and innovative products to market.

Second Paragraph

• Use accomplishment statements and link them to the employer's needs.
• Detail how you can contribute to this company.
• Demonstrate your qualifications.
• use terms that the employer uses in the advertisement or that are industry specific.

Example:
As a product manager for Allied Software, I managed three product launches within 12 months. This included organizing and implementing a direct mail campaign, a product tour, and trade show presentations before industry analysts. As a result of these marketing efforts, revenues exceeded goals by 35%.

Third paragraph

• Focus on the company. Show your interest in their products or services.
• Display enthusiasm for the industry.

Example:
Your company recently announced plans to move into networking software linking desktop personal computers to mainframe computers. With my success in bringing this type of software to market, I am confident that I can help Norville become a market leader in this fast-growing (about 65% annually) market.

Final paragraph

• Go for the close by stating your intent to call for an appointment.
• Take the initiative and state when you will follow up this letter with a phone call.
• If you are responding to an advertisement which asks for salary requirements, give a range instead of a specific number.

Example:
Recognizing that your schedule must be quite hectic, I will call you on Thursday to see if we can arrange a time to meet. Thank you for your interest in my request.

Closing

• Place closing two lines beneath the body of the letter right-aligned.
• Use "Sincerely" as a salutation.
• Four lines underneath the salutation, type out your full name with middle initial.
• Sign your name in black ink.
• Be sure to type "Enc: resume" as your enclosure line.

Formatting

• Body text should be in a standard font. (Example: Times New Roman 12 point).
• Headers should use a sans serif font (Example; Helvetica 12 point).
• Use italics only to highlight.
• Do not underline and bold the same text.

Example:
You Require _______ I offer

Paper and Envelopes

• 20 weight bond is acceptable for most letters.
• Paper and envelopes should match resume.
• Color should be conservative such as white or ivory.

Printers

• Laser printing provides high quality output as high as 1200 dpi (dots per inch).
• Inkjet is an inexpensive solution which provides near laser quality (300dpi).
• Dot matrix is dated and does not provide adequate quality for a resume.

Editing Tips

• When printing copies, check print quality for bleed, jagged or crooked edges and overall readability.
• After running a spell checker, visually edit the cover letter.
• Then give it to three friends or family members to review and edit.
• If possible, have a hiring manager who works in your area of interest to review the cover letter for content and structure.

Cover Letter Summary

• Always mail a cover letter with a resume.
• The cover letter is a sales pitch.
• One page maximum.
• Proof! Proof! Proof!