1. Purdue University Writing Lab
Cover Letters
A presentation brought
to you by the Purdue
University Writing Lab
2. Purdue University Writing Lab
What Is a Cover Letter?
A cover letter
expresses your
interest in and
qualifications for a
position to a
prospective employer.
3. Purdue University Writing Lab
What Should My Cover Letter
Accomplish?
Your cover letter should
introduce the main
points of your resume.
It should also help you to
“sell” your qualifications
to the prospective
employer.
4. Purdue University Writing Lab
Header
Emma Markley
Human Resources Director
St. Luke's Medical Center
729 S. Paulina
Chicago, IL 60612
Dear Ms. Markley:
Address your letter to a
specific person, ideally
to the person who will
interview you.
Look for the person’s
name in company
publications, or phone
the organization and
ask for the person’s
name or for the
personnel manager.
5. Purdue University Writing Lab
Preliminary Research
Find out
* General job
information
* Desired qualifications
and skills
* Key values and words
Check with
* Placement office files
* WWW
* Trade journals,
magazines, and
newsletters
* Directories
* Professors
* Company literature
6. Purdue University Writing Lab
Introductory Paragraph
Your first paragraph should:
Get the reader’s attention, stimulate interest,
and be appropriate for the job you are seeking.
Make your goal clear to readers.
Preview the rest of your letter. Highlight the
qualifications you will discuss throughout the
letter.
7. Purdue University Writing Lab
Solicited Application Letters
Solicited application
letters are letters written
in response to an
advertised job opening.
It is appropriate to
mention where you
learned of the opening in
the first paragraph.
I believe that my knowledge
of public relations and my
proven communication and
leadership skills make me a
strong candidate for the
position of Media Relations
Coordinator that was posted
by the Delta Airlines Job
Opportunities Program.
8. Purdue University Writing Lab
Unsolicited Application Letters
Unsolicited application
letters are written to
companies that have not
posted a job opening.
It is important to gain the
reader’s attention and
persuade them that you
can contribute to the
company’s goals.
As a member of one of the
fastest growing publishing
houses in the world, do you
have an opening in your
acquisitions department for
a recent college graduate
with a major in English and
publishing and editing
experience?
9. Purdue University Writing Lab
Goals of the Body Paragraphs
Highlight your strongest
qualifications for the
position for which you
are applying.
Demonstrate how these
qualifications will benefit
the employer.
Refer employers to your
enclosed resume.
10. Purdue University Writing Lab
Detailing Your Experience
Show (don’t tell)
employers your
qualifications
Include specific, credible
examples of your
qualifications for the
position.
Use numbers, names of
equipment you've used,
or features of a project
that may apply to the job
you want.
As a banking
representative at Bank
One, I provided quality
customer service while
promoting the sale of
products to customers.
I also handled upwards
of $20,000 a day and
was responsible for
balancing the bank’s
ATM machine.
11. Purdue University Writing Lab
Using Active Language—Don’ts
Don’t be vague in your
descriptions.
Don’t use weak verbs
such as endeavored,
tried, hoped, and
attempted.
Don’t use sexist
language such as
chairman and
manpower.
Vague: I worked as a ramp
agent at Comair.
Weak: I attempted to
attract customers.
12. Purdue University Writing Lab
Using Active Language—Do’s
Use concrete words to
describe your experience.
Use present tense to
discuss current activities
and past tense for
previous job duties or
accomplishments.
Be as specific as possible
in descriptions; list dollar
amounts and figures when
you can.
Vague: I worked as a ramp agent
for COMAIR.
Specific: As a ramp agent, I
assisted in loading baggage,
oversaw fueling the aircraft, and
stocked commissary items on
the aircraft.
Weak: I attempted to attract
customers.
Strong: I initiated a program to
attract customers to Pizza Hut,
which resulted in a 5% increase
in sales for the month of June.
13. Purdue University Writing Lab
Organizing Your Letter
In general, cover letters should be no longer than
one typed page.
Organize your body paragraphs to emphasize your
strongest and most relevant qualifications. Only
include the two or three strongest qualifications
from your resume.
Make it easy for readers to scan your letter by
beginning each paragraph with a topic sentence.
14. Purdue University Writing Lab
Concluding Your Letter
I would welcome the
opportunity to discuss
these and other
qualifications with you. If
you are interested, please
contact me at (317) 555-
0118 any morning before
11:00 a.m., or feel free to
leave a message.
Conclude by asking for a
personal interview.
Be flexible regarding a
date and time for the
interview.
Be specific about how
the interviewer should
contact you.
Include a thank you.
15. Purdue University Writing Lab
Mailing Your Letter With Your
Resume
Coordinate the design of
your letter with the
design of your resume.
Be sure to send both to
prospective employers;
they both reveal different
kinds of information
about you.
16. Purdue University Writing Lab
Key Points to Remember
Appeal to company values,
attitudes, goals, projects, etc.
Elaborate on the information
in your resume.
Provide evidence of your
qualifications.
Proofread carefully for
grammatical and
typographical errors. The
letter should be error-free.
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress that a cover letter is highly personalized. There is no one correct way to write a cover letter, and writers should never simply copy another cover letter. Job applicants should think about what makes them qualified for the position they are seeking, and they should stress these qualifications throughout their letters.
Key Concept: The cover letter should give the employer a sense of what makes an applicant unique and how their experiences and skills have prepared them for the job they are seeking. Applicants should demonstrate their knowledge of the company in the cover letter, and they should write persuasively, using solid facts and figures to support their claims.
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress that the key is to get the cover letter into the correct person’s hand with as few extra steps as possible. Sending the cover letter and resume to the person who is actually interviewing and/or hiring for a specific position will reduce the possibility of the letter “falling through the cracks” and being misplaced or lost.
If an applicant does not know to whom they should address their letter, then they probably have not done enough research on the company to which they are applying. Visiting a company’s web page or consulting a reference librarian is the most minimal amount of research that an applicant should expect to do, and this research should yield the name of the person who should be addressed.
In some cases, companies will post “blind ads” and will not reveal the name of the person interviewing. In this case, it is acceptable to address the “Personnel Manager” or the title listed in the job ad.
Key Concept: Doing preliminary research helps a writer to tailor their cover letter for the job they are applying for, and writers should do as much preliminary research as possible about the companies to which they are writing and the jobs for which they are applying. Applicants should conduct research whenever possible, especially for top choices.
Job applicants should look at the vocabulary of job ads, especially the vocabulary of the ad to which they are responding. There are many job bank sites on the World Wide Web and browsing through some of the postings at these sites will help applicants understand how to discuss their experiences and skills in their cover letter.
Activity: To browse job bank sites on the Internet, researchers can enter “jobs” as the key word in a search request. This will produce thousands of potential sites to look through, some of which will not be at all relevant to the researcher’s job search. Monster.com is a particularly helpful source of information on jobs and can be accessed at http://monster.com.
Some directories researchers might consult for career related information are Barron’s, Ward’s, and Thomas’ Register.
For more information on conducting preliminary research, check out Bryan Kopp’s Job Search Workshop, available at Purdue’s Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/JobsearchW/index2.html.
Key Concept: It is important for applicants to write persuasive opening paragraphs. Writers can capture their reader’s attention best by demonstrating their knowledge of the job or company. If the job an applicant was advertised, applicants might tell where they learned of the opening. If applicants are writing to find out if a job is available, they might mention a product or project on which they are interested in working. In either case, applicants should work to tie their qualifications in with the job they are seeking.
The approach writers take will be guided in large part by whether they are writing a solicited application letter or an unsolicited application letter.
Example: The facilitator might point out that in the above example the applicant specifically names the position for which they are applying and where they learned of that position. They also start off by demonstrating what they can do for the company and how their qualifications have prepared them for the job.
Example: The facilitator might point out that in the above example the applicant demonstrates their familiarity with the company and its departments, and emphasizes their qualifications for the position they are seeking, but does not mention a specific position by title since one has not been advertised.
Key Concept: It isn’t necessary for writers to summarize their resumes in the cover letter. Rather, writers should focus on the few most significant things that qualify them for the position. Even one relevant experience is enough to discuss in the cover letter. Writers should also take the opportunity to refer employers to their resume.
Key Concept: Writers should not simply restate descriptions from their resume in discussing specific experiences. They should be anecdotal instead, helping the employer to picture the writer working on the job.
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress that writers want their readers to get a clear sense of what they have done and are capable of doing from their cover letters. The writer’s language should help, and not hinder, the employer’s understanding. Using language that is unprofessional, offensive, or vague creates obstacles in the reader’s understanding and therefore considerably weakens the cover letter and the writer’s chances of success.
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Examples: The facilitator might point out that when the vague and weak sentences are rewritten, they become much longer. This is due to the additional information added to convey meaning more clearly. If applicants find themselves writing very short sentences throughout the letter, it may be one sign that they are not including enough detail.
Click mouse to reveal each example.
Key Concept: Writers should consider the needs of their audience as they organize the information in their cover letter. Prospective employers will most likely scan the cover letter before they read it to decide whether to read or discard it. Therefore, writers should make the cover letter easy to scan by including only their most relevant qualifications and by devoting a short paragraph to each of these qualifications.
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress the importance of politely asking for an interview in the conclusion of the letter. Writers should not assume that because they are writing a cover letter it is obvious and doesn’t need saying that they want an interview. Writers should also give specific instructions on how to be contacted. For those in transition, it is a good idea to include a phone number they will always have access to or where someone will always know how to reach them.
Key Concept: It is best for writers to be consistent in their use of font, paper, and page layout for both the cover letter and the resume. This conveys an attitude of professionalism to the employer and demonstrates that the applicant has spent time customizing both.
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress the importance of proofreading the cover letter before mailing it and of having a critical reader proofread the cover letter as well. A critical reader will often pick up on typographical errors or vague wording that the writer may overlook due to familiarity with the content.
