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Thismodulereviewsastep-by-stepguidetowri7ngacap7va7ngandprofessionalcoverle;er.

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Themaingoalofa cover le;er is to convinceanemployer thatyour skillsandbackgroundmakeyouworthinterviewing.Italsoallowsyoutoexplainwhyyouareinterestedinapar7cularcompany,whichmakesyouamorea;rac7vecandidate.Itisimportanttocustomizeyourle;ersforEACHjob.Differen7a7ngyourcoverle;ersshowsemployersthatyoudidyourhomeworkandmadeaninformeddecisionaboutworkingthere.Yourcoverle;ershould:Demonstrateyourknowledgeaboutthejob,thecompanyandtheindustryShowyourenthusiasmforthejob;andEmphasizehowyourskillsanda;ributesrelatetothejobandbringvaluetotheemployerEmployerswanttohirepeoplewhocanar7culatewhytheywanttoworkforthem-thereforeitiscri7calthatyoudoyourresearch!StudentsoLenask,“DoIreallyneedacoverle;er?Doemployersandrecruitersactuallyreadthem?”Andtheansweristhatabout50%oftheemployerswetalktosayyes–thattheydowantacoverle;er,andmoreimportantly,forthosewhodoitwell,itcanbeaposi7vedifferen7ator.Ontheotherhand,apoorlywri;enle;ercanandwillhurt.Now,forthoseemployerswhodon’taskforacoverle;erintheapplica7on,itisbesttouseacoveremailinstead.Acoveremailservesthesamepurposeasacoverle;eronlyitisashortenedmoreconciseversion.Thebo;omlineisthatawell-wri;encoverle;erisanopportunitytotellyourstorybeyondwhatyourresumeandLinkedInprofilecandoanditisdefinitelyworthinves7ng7mein.Thatsaid,todoitrightyouhavetocustomizeyourle;erforeachjob.Thisprobablysoundslikealotofworkbutwewillofferyousome7psandexamplestogetyoustarted.

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Therearethreekeypiecestotheprocessofwri7nganeffec7vecoverle;er.Thefirststepistoconductcompanyresearchaspartofyourprepara7on.Oneofthebestwaystomakeyourle;erstandoutistoincorporatecompanyinforma7on.Employerslovetohirepeoplewhogenuinelywanttoworkforthemandcandemonstratetheyunderstandthecompany’sneeds.Thisissuchanimportantstepthatwecreatedamodulededicatedtothistopic.CheckoutthemodulecalledResearchingOrganiza2onstohelpyougetstartedbyreviewingsourcesofinforma7onandideasforwhatcontenttoincludeinyourcoverle;er.Next,youmustiden7fyyourrelevantskillsandmatchthemtoyourtargetedposi7ons.Thisisperhapsthemostimportantjobofthecoverle;er.Whenyoucanclearlyandconciselydemonstratehowyoufitandcanaddvaluetothatpar7cularcompany,youincreaseyourchancesofge]ngyourfootinthedoor.Formoreonthistopic,reviewthemodulecalledIden2fyingSkills.ALerreviewingbothofthosemodules,youcanbegintowriteyourcoverle;er.InTHISmodulewewillshare7psandstrategiesforwri7ngeachsec7onofyourcoverle;er–aswellassampletext.

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Startbychoosing3or4qualifica7onsthatbestfityou.Herewelistfourqualifica7onsandexamplesofhowthesemighttranslateintoacoverle;erdraL.Forexample,ifyouhaveresearchskillsandthosearerelevanttothisposi7onyoumightsay,“ThemarketresearchIconductedformyinternshiphelpedtheteamlaunchacompe77veproducton7me.”

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Onceyouhavebrainstormedyourqualifica7onsandexamples,youcanorganizethecontentintothreeorfourparagraphs–thesaluta7on,thebodyorcontentandtheconclusion.We’llreviewsampleshere,butbesuretocheckoutNortheasternCareerDevelopment’scoverle;erguidetoreviewmoreexamples.Youcanfindalinkhereandonthesupplementalresourcessheet.

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Thefirstsec7onisyoursaluta7on.Beginyourle;erwithaprofessionalheading.Listyouraddress,thedateofthele;erandthecontactinforma7onofthepersontowhomyouarewri7ng.Trytofindtheactualnameofthepersonwhoishiringsothatyoumayaddressyourle;erdirectly.Thismayrequireaphonecalltothecompany,aninternetsearchortappingintoyourpersonalnetwork.Ifyoucannotfindthisname,itisacceptabletoaddressyourle;erto“hiringmanager”or“hiringcommi;ee.”Donotaddressyoule;er“towhomitmayconcern”ordearsirormadam”.Yourfirstparagraphshouldanswertheques7on,whydoyouwanttoworkforthiscompany?Thisslideprovideswri7ng7psandanexampleofagoodfirstparagraph.

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YourbodyparagraphsshouldDescribe,DemonstrateandDefineyourexperienceandinterest.Let’sstartwithwhatwemeanby“Describe”here.Yourparagraphsshouldanswerwhatitisyoubringtotheposi7onandthecompany.Makesureyoutalkaboutwhatyoucanbring--notwhatyouwanttogetfromthejob.Hereyourgoalistomatch your skills to the position. Also remember that you should only list your strongest and most relevant qualifications, not ALL of your skills. Youcanalsousethisspacetoverybrieflyexplainanyques7onsraisedbyyourresume.Thebold,underlinedtextyouseehereareexamplesoftheapplicantdescribinghisstrongestrelevantskills.

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TheseparagraphsshouldalsoDemonstrateyourskillswithexamplesinawaythatisdifferentfromyourresume.Thebold,underlinedtextyouseehereareexamplesoftheapplicantdemonstra7nghisstrongestrelevantskillswithconcreteexamples.

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Finally,theseparagraphsshouldDefinewhyyouareinterestedinthiscompanyandshowyouhavedoneyourresearch.Thebold,underlinedtextyouseehereisanexampleoftheapplicantdefiningwhyheisinterestedinthisspecificcompanybyreferencingthephilosophyandrela7ngittohisexperience.

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Yourclosingparagraphshouldanswertheques7on,“Whatarethenextsteps?”Thisshouldbenomorethanafewsentences.Seethisslideforsome7psandanexample.Youcanalsocheckoutthesupplementalresourcessheetforacompleteversionofthissamplecoverle;erandmore7psforge]ngstarted.

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Itisimportantforstudentsseekingjobsoutsideoftheirpastorcurrentindustrytou7lizetheircoverle;erstoemphasizetheirtransferableskills.Coverle;erscanbeausefultoolforthecareerchangertoclearlyconnectthedotsfortheemployerbetweenpastexper7seandfutureresponsibili7es.Takealookathowthiscareerchangeraddressestheissuerightintheopeningparagraph.Sheexplainsthatshewasanentrepreneurwithasciencebackground,buthasusedherrecenteduca7ontoshiLintoacorporatese]ng.

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Refertothislistofques7onstoevaluateeachcoverle;eryoudraL.Remember,itisimportanttocustomizeyourle;ersforEACHjob.Differen7a7ngyourcover le;ers shows employers that you did your homework andmade an informeddecisionaboutworkingthere.Reviewingthislistofques7onsforeachdraLwillensureyouareprovidingthemostrelevantinforma7ontoyourpoten7alemployer.

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Afinalstepneededtomakesureyourcoverle;erputsyourbestfootforwardistoproofread.Remembertocarefullyreadtheemployer'sonlineapplica7oninstruc7onsandmakesuretofollowthem.Inyouremail,useaclearandiden7fiablesubjectline,anda;achbothyourcoverle;erandresumeunlesstheyinstructotherwise.

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Tosummarize,coverle;ershelpyoutoemphasizeyourgreatestskillsanda;ributes,demonstrateyourknowledgeabouttheposi7onandcompany,showcaseyourenthusiasm,andalsoprepareforyourinterview.Ifyouhaveanyques7ons,contactCareerDevelopmentduringwalk-inhours,ormakeanappointment.Youcanalsouseyourfriendsandfamily,professorsandthewri7ngcenter.

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