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career-services/
Cover Letter Writing Guide
Getting Started
A cover letter is an important component of your application package. The purpose of a cover letter is to
highlight your accomplishments, projects, or skills that align with the requirements of the position. Writing a
cover letter is an opportunity to convey special information that is not on your resume, but which may be of
particular interest to the employer. While a resume includes your professional “facts,” a cover letter is a
chance to tell a story, to weave together how your experiences, mostly professional but can also include
personal, uniquely qualify you for a job. A cover letter should reflect your personality, convey enthusiasm,
and showcase your writing ability, however, it should not deviate widely from conventional business formats.
Analyze the Job Description and Review Your Experiences
Read through the employer’s listing carefully to identify the required qualifications and the job’s
responsibilities. Also, do some homework about the employer – look at the website and speak to professionals
who may know of the employer and its reputation and achievements. If there is no job description available
or the one posted is unclear, research similar jobs at other organizations to get an idea of what skills and
background are likely to be associated with the position. You may also contact the organization to request
specific details. After identifying the desired qualifications, review and analyze how your abilities, experiences,
and skills are relevant to the responsibilities for the job. Incorporate as many keywords from the job posting
into your cover letter as you can. Remember that the hiring manager wants to know what you can do for
them.
Things to Keep in Mind
Each letter should be tailored to a specific position and addressed, when possible, to a specific individual
such as the hiring manager or the head of the department, division, or organization.
Emphasize your skills and experiences as they relate to the position. Tell a story, provide context, not
merely repeat content on your resume.
Demonstrate to the employer that you’ve done your research by connecting the position to your skills
and experience. Tie the bullet points to the job description.
Proofread your letter carefully for typos and errors. Don’t rely on spell-check.
Look at your sentence openings to make sure they vary—don’t start them all with “I”.
If you’re emailing your materials, include the title of the position you’re applying for in the subject line.
Recruiters and hiring managers vary in their preferences for receiving cover letters. Some prefer Word
documents or PDFs attached to an email, while others like the letter to be in the body of an email.
When sending resume and cover letter via email, combine them together into a single document.