UHCL Cover Letters Spring 21 Malone Advanced Technical Writing

1. Cover Letters
Brian Malone, MA
Adjunct Professor
University of Houston Clear Lake

2. Acknowledgement
Much of the information on these
slides has been modified from a
slideshow prepared by Professor
Karen Thompson, Director of
Professional Writing at the University
of Idaho, with her permission. Thank
you, Professor Thompson.

3. Contents
Part I: Cover Letters, Letters of Interest, Personal Statements
Part II: Content
Part III: Document Design

5. Potential employers may request a cover letter or a letter of application. These are not
the same thing. Letters of application are longer than cover letters and often use each
of the required qualifications from the ad as subheaders. Then, the applicant explains
their experience related to each of these in extremely short paragraphs (1-3 sentences).
Here is a chart comparing cover letters, letters of application, and personal statements.
This information assumes the applicant is applying for an entry-level job in a technical
profession, as these norms vary based on experience and profession:
Purpose Length Use with…
Cover Letter Jobs 1-2 pages Resume
Letter of
Interest/Application
Jobs 2-3 pages Resume
Personal Statement Graduate school
programs
1-2 pages Resume or CV

6. PART II
Cover Letter Content

7. Letter Introduction
• State the position you are applying for and where you learned of
it.
• Doing this is a courtesy and helps the employer know which ads
drew the most qualified candidates.
• Compose a “thesis statement” that serves to interest reader and
forecast what is in the letter.

8. Example
I am writing to apply for the summer internship position posted on
your website. Currently, I am a second-year student at the
University of Houston Clear Lake studying biology with a minor in
health promotion. The work I have done in my STEM classes and
labs and the volunteer positions I have held, where I learned and
applied the standards of hospital care to serve low-income
individuals, have all prepared me well to meet the demands this
internship.

9. Write a targeted letter that shows you did the work necessary to write
specifically for this position.
Connect your skills/qualifications to the business or organization's needs. Don’t
just claim that your experience reflects what they ask for. Instead, show them
through very brief stories and examples that demonstrate the required and
preferred qualifications from the ad.
Use clear topic sentence and do not waste words. On an initial read, potential
employers will spend very little time looking at your letter. You want your
information to be easy to find and stated directly.
In other words, if you know that a reader will likely skim for first and last
sentences, state your best connections between your experience and the
required qualifications there. Make the reader want to read the rest.
Letter Body

10. Example
For a professional writing course, I composed a technical
white paper, marketing brochure, event flyer, press release,
and a public policy report.
[Go into more detail about one of these that would be of
interest to employer. State what you did, how, etc.]
These and other samples of my writing can be viewed on
my website, linked in my header.

11. Example
As part of course work in education, I tutored third grade students
over a span of four months in reading and math.
[describe a specific tutoring session you led].

12. Example
For one of my most recent projects, I created a shell to run in a Linux
environment. This shell supports path, history, and tripwire functions. I
thoroughly researched the strategies necessary to implement the shell,
such as the use of fork() and exec(). The result was a shell that reliably
executes…

13. Example
For my senior design project, my group worked on a
model power system, and we set up the protection scheme
using all SEL hardware. We learned how to use relays,
switches, data concentrators, security gateways, and how
to wire everything together.

14. TIP: Outline your letter! Separate the body of the letter into paragraphs and keep
to one topic per paragraph so that it is easy for employers skimming your letter to
see what you offer. Here is a sample outline, but you should select topics that best
fit your needs. Consider, for example, a paragraph organized around a specific
project that you completed, or around a skill that you think you are especially
strong in.
Topic: Education
• Describe course projects; field research; communication
(writing, presenting, multimedia); collaborations etc.
Topic: Employment History
• Describe relevant employment; internships; paid or unpaid
work.
Topic: Accomplishments
• Describe relevant accomplishments with specifics.

15. Keep the final paragraph brief. Thank the hiring team
and ask them for an interview.
It is not rude or presumptuous to do this. In fact, it is
expected and will make your letter stand out if you ask
for what you want!
Letter Closing

16. Example
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am available for an
interview at your convenience. I welcome the opportunity to discuss my
qualifications for this position further.

17. PART III
Document Design

18. Business Letters
For cover letters and letters of interest, use
business letter format. For personal statements,
formatting conventions are less defined.

19. Standard Salutation (Greeting) and Closing
Use a formal salutation followed by the recipient's full name;
name of business or organization; or position and end with a
colon.
• Dear John Doe:
• Dear Microsoft:
• Dear Hiring Manager:
Use a formal closing followed by a comma.
• Sincerely,
• Best regards,
If sending as an attachment or uploading to an employer web
portal, whether you need to sign and scan or add a digital
signature may or may not be needed. Follow the application
directions.

20. Standard Parts of a Business Letter
Letterhead (of business, organization, or the same main heading a
candidate uses on a resume or CV)
Date
Recipient's
Name
Title if Applicable
Address
Subject
Salutation
Body
Closing
Signature Information

21. Want examples?
See this week’s module for sample cover letters, letters of
interest, and personal statements.

22. Image Credits
• "Writer's Block" by alexkerhead is licensed under CC BY 2.0
• "Writer's Block I" by Drew Coffman is licensed under CC BY 2.0