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Cover Letters (Purdue)
The document provides an overview of how to write an effective cover letter, including preliminary research on the position and company, formatting, content, and language. It recommends tailoring the letter to the specific role by highlighting relevant qualifications and experience, emphasizing how the applicant's skills align with the employer's needs, and requesting next steps such as an interview in the conclusion. Key elements include an attention-grabbing introduction, evidence-based examples in the middle paragraphs, and a call to action to discuss qualifications further.
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Cover Letters (Purdue)
- 1. Cover Letter WorkshopA presentation brought to you by the Purdue University Writing Lab
- 2. Agenda Cover LetterBasics Preliminary Research Header First Paragraph Middle Conclusion Language Extra Tips
- 3. Cover Letter BasicsA cover letter expresses interest and qualifications for a particular position Personal but professional Tailored to position/company Explains how you fit with organization and how you will help them Expands main points from your resume “ Sells” qualifications to the prospective employer
- 4. Ultimate goal: To get an interview!
- 5. Preliminary Research Makesure you know: General job information Desired qualifications and skills Key values and words Research helps you tailor your cover letter Look for mission statements, organization “vision,” goals, etc.
- 6. Stacy Lolkus 222Harrison Dr Apartment 5 West Lafayette, IN 47906 765-450-7583 slo@purdue.edu October 16, 2006 Jenny Lock Uline — HR Recruiting Center 2105 S. Lakeside Drive Waukegan, IL 60085 Dear Ms. Lockridge: After speaking with Emily Richards about her past summer in the internship program, I am very interested in your Human Resources Summer Internship position. I worked with employee benefits this past summer and became very interested in the human resources aspect. I have obtained many leadership opportunities while working as a Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator at Purdue’s Writing Lab that would be valuable in a career at Uline. As Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator at Purdue’s Writing Lab, my primary role is to help train new tutors for the Writing Lab. I work directly with the Business Writing Coordinator teaching classes and participating in mock tutorials to allow students to obtain hands-on experience tutoring business documents. I also organize educational workshops to refresh the skills of current Business Writing Consultants. My position as a Boiler Gold Rush Team Leader also challenged me to use my enthusiastic personality to motivate incoming freshmen to be involved in campus activities. As a Human Resources Intern at Uline, I could use all of these leadership skills while learning more about recruiting and hiring practices. Thank you for considering me for this position. I would love to discuss these and other qualifications with you. If you have any questions, please call me at 765-450-7583 or e-mail me at slo@purdue.edu. Sincerely Stacy Lolkus , Stacy Lolkus Enclosure: Résumé Student Address Date Salutation Middle Paragraph Employer Address First Paragraph Conclusion Closing
- 7. Header Make sureyou address the letter to a specific person if possible (preferably the interviewer) Your Name Your Street Address City, State, Zip Code Date Name of Contact Person Title Organization Street Address City, State, Zip Code Dear Ms., Mr., Dr., (etc):
- 8. More Examples DateName of Contact Person Title Organization Street Address City, State, Zip Code Dear Ms., Mr., Dr. (etc): October 4, 2006 Stacy Lo CEO Lo Labs 300 State St. Chicago, IL, 60611 Dear Ms. Lo:
- 9. First Paragraph Purpose:Get the reader’s attention Introduce yourself Explain purpose of letter Explain why interested in the position or the company Culture? Approach? Explain how you will help the organization Preview the rest of the letter
- 10. After speaking withEmily Richards about her past summer in the internship program, I am interested in your Human Resources Summer Internship position. I worked with employee benefits this summer and became interested in the human resources aspect of the position. In addition to the leadership opportunities I obtained while working as a Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator for Purdue’s Writing Lab, I have also developed my communication skills during my summer internship. I believe my skills will help your Human Resources department maintain its excellent track record.
- 11. Middle Paragraphs Highlightskills and benefits to the company Emphasize interest in the company Provide concrete evidence Show don’t tell (use information from resume) Include specific, credible examples of qualifications for the position Begin paragraphs with topic sentences
- 12. As a bankingrepresentative at Chase, I provided quality customer service while promoting the sale of products to customers. I also handled close to $20,000 each day and was responsible for balancing the bank’s ATM machine. My experience with customer relations and money management can help your accounting firm expand its Middle East division located in Dubai.
- 13. Conclusion Conclude withnext step Provide contact information I would like to discuss these and other qualifications with you to further explain how I can contribute to your Middle East operations. I look forward to meeting you soon. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-555-5555 or e-mail me at abcd@purdue.edu.
- 14. Closing Formats Sincerely,Simon Smith Enclosure: Resume Sincerely, Simon Smith 5886 Tunbridge Crossing Fort Wayne, IN 46815 [email_address] Enclosure: Resume
- 15. Look for: Language: Weak Language : I worked as a ramp agent at Comair. Strong Language : As a ramp agent, I assisted in loading baggage, oversaw fueling the aircraft, and stocked commissary items on the aircraft.
- 16. Extra Tips Unprofessionallanguage Length Letter should only be one page Strongest and most relevant qualifications should be highlighted Limit to a few qualifications Easy to read Begin with topic sentences
- 17. Extra Tips Appealto company values, attitudes, goals, projects, etc. Explain how you will help organization Elaborate on the information in your resume Provide evidence of your qualifications Proofread carefully for grammatical and typographical errors
- 18. Where can yougo to find extra help with your cover letter? Purdue University Writing Lab Heavilon 226 Grammar Hotline (765) 494-3723 Check our website http://owl.english.purdue.edu Email brief questions [email_address]
Editor's Notes
- #2 Rationale: Welcome to “Tutoring Cover Letters.” This presentation is designed to help students with their cover letters. Directions: Each slide is activated by a single mouse click, unless otherwise noted in bold at the bottom of each notes page. Writers and Designers: Stacy Lolkus and Allen Brizee, 2007. Developed with resources courtesy of the Purdue University Writing Lab.
- #3 Key Concept: The facilitator should stress the fact that if the tutor doesn’t understand the reason the student is creating the cover letter, he or she could waste time worrying about the wrong parts. The facilitator should stress again and again that it is very important that the tutor is first concerned with the student’s questions. At Purdue’s Writing Lab, tutors only have a 30 minute session to help the student, which should be primarily concerned with the student’s needs.
- #4 Key Concept: The facilitator should emphasize that a cover letter should make a student stand out from the rest of the applicants. Each cover letter will be different according to experiences, jobs, and applicants. Remind the tutors that although students may seem hesitant to make more than one cover letter, each cover letter should be tailored to a particular job or assignment to be most effective. The tutor should also remind students that although a cover letter should highlight points from their resumes, they don’t need to put every single activity or skill in their cover letter. They should concentrate on “selling” the main points to the prospective employer.
- #5 Key Concept: Like a resume, the main goal of a cover letter is to get an interview. Keeping this in mind, the facilitator should remind tutors that students can talk more in the actual interview, their life stories don’t need to be condensed into one letter.
- #6 Key Concept : The facilitator should emphasize that sometimes the tutor will have to help a student find information about a job position or company. Most students don’t realize they need to do preliminary research before writing a cover letter. Tutors should stress the impact that knowledge about a company can have on the effectiveness of a cover letter. Activity: If the tutors have access to computers, the facilitator could have tutors take some time to explore looking up company and job information. A couple tutors could then share what they found with the rest of the tutors.
- #7 Key Concept : A sample of a cover letter with the sections indicated.
- #8 Key Concept: The “Header” should include: Student’s address Date Employer’s address Salutation. The facilitator should express that many students will try to use “To Whom it may Concern” or other informal salutations. The tutor should tell the student that a cover letter will be more likely to get to the right place if written to a specific person. Students can find who to address the cover letter on company websites, job descriptions, etc. Activity: The facilitator can demonstrate how to find the names of people on a company website.
- #9 Key Concepts: Another example of how to start the letter. In this example, the student’s address could go at the end of the letter, after the signature.
- #10 Key Concept: The facilitator should explain that a lot of times this is where the tutors are really going to have to work to find out why a student is interested in working for a company. Sometimes the student may have to do some further research to have a better reason than “I just need a job.” The first paragraph provides the thesis for the rest of the cover letter.
- #11 Key Concept: This is an example of a standard beginning paragraph.
- #12 Key Concept: The facilitator should remind the tutor that the student should pick no more than two or three skills or benefits. Some students get in the habit of listing qualities, which tells the employer absolutely nothing. 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
- #13 Key Concept: This is an example of an effective middle paragraph.
- #14 Key Concept: This paragraph brings the entire cover letter together and expresses what the student will do, or the student’s expectations.
- #15 Key Concept: These are two examples of very common closing formats.
- #16 Key Concept: If the tutor has time and notices any weak language, he or she can help the student change these sentences to better describe the student’s experiences.
- #17 Key Concept: If the tutor notices any sexist or informal language in the letter, he or she should remind the student that although it may seem appropriate, the student has no way of knowing who will read the letter. Sometimes students may argue that they know the person who will be receiving the letter. That person may see the letter, but may also want to share the student’s cover letter with others. Therefore, the language should be appropriate for all audiences.
- #18 Key Concept: The facilitator should remind the tutors that some of the work experiences students have had may not seem to be relevant, but still usually has some aspect of the job that was. Tutors should also not try to take over the tutorial. If a student doesn’t want help with a part that a tutor thinks needs tweaking, the tutor should refrain from interfering. Students may seem down about some of their work experiences or lack of work experiences. Sometimes, tutors just need to encourage them and help them realize that they have valuable skills even if they don’t think they do.