1
Thismodulereviewsastep-by-stepguidetowri7ngacap7va7ngandprofessionalcoverle;er.
2
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.
3
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.
4
Startbychoosing3or4qualifica7onsthatbestfityou.Herewelistfourqualifica7onsandexamplesofhowthesemighttranslateintoacoverle;erdraL.Forexample,ifyouhaveresearchskillsandthosearerelevanttothisposi7onyoumightsay,“ThemarketresearchIconductedformyinternshiphelpedtheteamlaunchacompe77veproducton7me.”
5
Onceyouhavebrainstormedyourqualifica7onsandexamples,youcanorganizethecontentintothreeorfourparagraphs–thesaluta7on,thebodyorcontentandtheconclusion.We’llreviewsampleshere,butbesuretocheckoutNortheasternCareerDevelopment’scoverle;erguidetoreviewmoreexamples.Youcanfindalinkhereandonthesupplementalresourcessheet.
6
Thefirstsec7onisyoursaluta7on.Beginyourle;erwithaprofessionalheading.Listyouraddress,thedateofthele;erandthecontactinforma7onofthepersontowhomyouarewri7ng.Trytofindtheactualnameofthepersonwhoishiringsothatyoumayaddressyourle;erdirectly.Thismayrequireaphonecalltothecompany,aninternetsearchortappingintoyourpersonalnetwork.Ifyoucannotfindthisname,itisacceptabletoaddressyourle;erto“hiringmanager”or“hiringcommi;ee.”Donotaddressyoule;er“towhomitmayconcern”ordearsirormadam”.Yourfirstparagraphshouldanswertheques7on,whydoyouwanttoworkforthiscompany?Thisslideprovideswri7ng7psandanexampleofagoodfirstparagraph.
7
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.
8
TheseparagraphsshouldalsoDemonstrateyourskillswithexamplesinawaythatisdifferentfromyourresume.Thebold,underlinedtextyouseehereareexamplesoftheapplicantdemonstra7nghisstrongestrelevantskillswithconcreteexamples.
9
Finally,theseparagraphsshouldDefinewhyyouareinterestedinthiscompanyandshowyouhavedoneyourresearch.Thebold,underlinedtextyouseehereisanexampleoftheapplicantdefiningwhyheisinterestedinthisspecificcompanybyreferencingthephilosophyandrela7ngittohisexperience.
10
Yourclosingparagraphshouldanswertheques7on,“Whatarethenextsteps?”Thisshouldbenomorethanafewsentences.Seethisslideforsome7psandanexample.Youcanalsocheckoutthesupplementalresourcessheetforacompleteversionofthissamplecoverle;erandmore7psforge]ngstarted.
11
Itisimportantforstudentsseekingjobsoutsideoftheirpastorcurrentindustrytou7lizetheircoverle;erstoemphasizetheirtransferableskills.Coverle;erscanbeausefultoolforthecareerchangertoclearlyconnectthedotsfortheemployerbetweenpastexper7seandfutureresponsibili7es.Takealookathowthiscareerchangeraddressestheissuerightintheopeningparagraph.Sheexplainsthatshewasanentrepreneurwithasciencebackground,buthasusedherrecenteduca7ontoshiLintoacorporatese]ng.
12
Refertothislistofques7onstoevaluateeachcoverle;eryoudraL.Remember,itisimportanttocustomizeyourle;ersforEACHjob.Differen7a7ngyourcover le;ers shows employers that you did your homework andmade an informeddecisionaboutworkingthere.Reviewingthislistofques7onsforeachdraLwillensureyouareprovidingthemostrelevantinforma7ontoyourpoten7alemployer.
13
Afinalstepneededtomakesureyourcoverle;erputsyourbestfootforwardistoproofread.Remembertocarefullyreadtheemployer'sonlineapplica7oninstruc7onsandmakesuretofollowthem.Inyouremail,useaclearandiden7fiablesubjectline,anda;achbothyourcoverle;erandresumeunlesstheyinstructotherwise.
14
Tosummarize,coverle;ershelpyoutoemphasizeyourgreatestskillsanda;ributes,demonstrateyourknowledgeabouttheposi7onandcompany,showcaseyourenthusiasm,andalsoprepareforyourinterview.Ifyouhaveanyques7ons,contactCareerDevelopmentduringwalk-inhours,ormakeanappointment.Youcanalsouseyourfriendsandfamily,professorsandthewri7ngcenter.
15
Top Related