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Aspects of a Writer Project: The Writing Life Plan

The Cover Letter

What Is a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is a letter of introduction, usually 3–4 paragraphs in length, that you attach to your résumé. It’s a way of introducing yourself to a potential employer and explaining why you are suited for a position. Employers may look for individualized and thoughtfully written cover letters as an initial method of screening out applicants who may who lack necessary basic skills, or who may not be sufficiently interested in the position.

Characteristics of an Effective Cover Letter

Cover letters should accomplish the following:

Get the attention of the prospective employer
Set you apart from any possible competition
Identify the position you are interested in
Specify how you learned about the position or company
Present highlights of your skills and accomplishments
Reflect your genuine interest
Please the eye and ear

Your cover letter serves as an introduction to your future employer and should complement your résumé to create a shining first impression. It is incredibly challenging to sit in front of a blank screen trying to find a good starting point, which means you should look at the job posting and organization’s Web site for ideas about what to include.

Generally, these job postings provide a set of hard skills (such as proficiency with certain technology) and soft skills (such as public speaking, teamwork, or working in a flexible environment) required and desired for the posted position. This information provides you a list of what should be explained in your cover letter. Demonstrating your hard skills is a simple enough task by using examples or stating certifications, but describing your soft skills may require a little more thought. These soft skills can be exhibited by discussing specific examples of past experiences in previous jobs you’ve held, volunteer work, or work you’ve done in college classes.

After you have crafted your cover letter, you should send it to a few people you trust for their opinion and overall proofreading along with the job posting for their reference. It’s obvious that your cover letter should be free of spelling and grammar errors, but these trustworthy individuals will also be able to provide helpful insight about the examples you’ve used to display your soft skills.

Project: Writing a Cover Letter

Objectives:

Using a CV/resume and a job description, assess what information would be best suited to be included in a cover letter.
Create a first draft of your professional cover letter.

Directions:

Using your CV/resume and a job description of a position you would potentially like to have in the future, think critically about what experiences and skills you possess that match the job description and would catch the attention of a potential employer
Draft your opening, describing who you are and the position you are interested in
Using examples, showcase your hard and soft skills that make you a good fit for the position and stand out among the competition
Keep in mind the various resources at your disposable for examples and advice on what to include and how to format the letter
Save your document as a PDF file with your name included in the filename. ex: JonesCoverletter

Content by Anna Leahy

This assignment is re-mixed and built off of "Chapter 8: Résumés and Cover Letters" of Career Planning and Personal Exploration by Joanna Campos-Robledo and Thu Nguyen under a (CC BY 4.0) license.

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