Tutorial 4 - Ali Jatoi

1. COMM 202Tutorial 4: Cover Letter Peer Edit
LAPTOPS & PHONES AWAY! NAME TENTS OUT!
T15 + T17

2. AGENDA For today
Course Timeline
Peer Editing
Action Items

3. Course Timeline
Week 9Week 6 Week 8Week 7
• Cover letter
peer review
• Cover letter
drafts due
• Skills matrix
due Friday,
October 14th
@ 2:00PM
• LinkedIn /
networking
• Event
networking /
informational
interviews
• Cover letter &
resume due
Tuesday,
November 1st
@ 2:00PM
• Networking
event on
November 3rd
• Resume peer
review
• Resume drafts
due
Resume Draft Due Next Friday!

4. Time to
Peer edit

5. The room setup
Ali

6. Instructions
• Write your table number on ALL documents
• Put all cover letters in a pile in the middle of the table
• Get out your marking utensils!
EACH NEW SLIDE SECTION:
PASS cover letter TO THE RIGHT

7. Let’s learn about
FORMATTING

8. Formatting
• Left aligned (NOT justified)
• No indents on paragraphs
• Bullet points vs. paragraphs
• 2-3 relevant skills
• consistent font size (min. size 11)
• appropriate font
• margin sizes
• spacing between paragraphs
• white space

9. Addressing the cover letter
Date
Contact Name
Title
Company
Address 1
City, Province Postal Code
Re: Position Title (reference number if given)
Dear [first name Last name],
or Dear Hiring Manager/Committee,

10. Here are some examples
specific person
(assume known marital status)
unknown person

11. SIGNING OFF THE RIGHT WAY
Sincerely, / Regards, / Best,
(Written signature if you want)
Your name
Bcom Candidate 20XX
Sauder School of Business
Enclosed vs. Attached: Resume

12. Let’s look at
The Opening

13. The opening
• Expresses very keen genuine interest and/or passion for
position
• Makes a clear expression of the skills/experience matching
the job description
• Integrates genuine and unique primary or secondary
research indicating interest in firm
• Name Drop (when applicable)
• HOOK

14. Moving onto
Skills Matching

15. Skills Matching
• Describes specific skills that are clearly matched to the job description,
referencing specific examples that leverage experiences and qualifications
• Experiences highlighted are specific and concise linking past experiences
through transferable skills
• Results show success or strength in past experiences
• STARL FORMAT (EMPHASIZING ACTION… LINK WHERE APPLICABLE)
• TEAM EXPERIENCES – EMPHASIZING INDIVIDUAL VS. TEAM ACTIONS
• SHOW ME, DON’T TELL ME

16. And now
The closing

17. Closing Effectively
• Very clear reference to specific skills
• Interest and request for meeting
Aka “call to action”
• Graciously thanks the employer for their consideration
• TIE BACK TO HOOK/INTRO

18. Look for the
Unique Brand

19. BRANDING
•Provides strong, insightful research that
demonstrates knowledge and interest in the
industry or organization
•Clearly illustrates how the candidate will “fit”
into the industry or organization

20. So…
Who got the interview?

21. Tips to help you get that
“A”

22. TIP #1

23. TIP #2

24. TIP #3

25. HOW TO GET AN ‘A’
• Ask friend’s for feedback!
• Sign-up and show up to Office Hours!
• Work on your cover letter everyday for
20 minutes!

26. One last
thing

27. Action items
1. Skills Matrix today @ 2PM on TURNITIN
2. SIGN UP FOR OFFICE HOURS
3. Access resume resources on the blog
4. Bring 2 hard copies of resume draft
and job posting to tutorial next week!
5. Have an awesome weekend