Creating Effectiving Cover Letters

Now that we have done a good bit of career research, each student should have a lot of information about the career they delved into. As part of the research students where asked to find and copy two actual job postings.Our task at hand now is to learn how to write an effective business letter.

Know: Well written communications, such as a business letter, can increase your chances of getting your foot in the door in an industry that you are interested in.

Understand: The people who will hopefully be reading your letter(s) get many similar letters each day. You need to write an error-free letter that is concise, communicative and effective.

Do: We will review the parts of a business letter. We will gain an understanding of how a written (hard) copy is different from an email. We will also look at how you tailor your letter depending on where the job information came from. Finally, we will use make sure the letter is error free.

Let's begin by looking at what is in a cover letter by examining the following links:

Articles that offer good advice about how to write a business letter:
How To Write a Cover Letter
Maximize Your Cover Letter's Power

How to Write a Business Letter that Gets Results

Articles that have sample letters:
Business Letter Writing: Writing a Cover Letter when Applying for a Job
Business Letter Writing: Writing a Cover Letter when Applying for a Job (posted in an advertisement)
Business Letter Writing: Writing a Cover Letter when Applying for a Job (in response to an opening)

Great Samples and Tips:
Cover letters: types and samples

Articles about Avoiding Errors:
Five Common Cover Letter Mistakes

Your Assignment: How to Write a Cover Letter

Now that you have researched a career I want you to select two of your job postings and write covers letter for them. One will be written as if it was a hard copy. The other will be a soft/electronic copy. Use the notes we took in class to help you remember how the formats are different. If you missed those notes, use the links above to find out how they differ. Label each letter as "hard copy" and "soft copy" before you turn them in.

In order for this to work well you will need to pretend that you already have a college degree and a little bit of work experience.

Your assignment is to create a cover letter that is properly formatted and written. You can access information about formatting from the presentation I did in class. You can also access formatting information by following the appropriate links on the website for this class. Here’s what is in the paper:

Research the company you are applying to.
Visit their website and check them out. Consider finding out the following kinds of information:

• What is the employer’s mission?
o How are they different from their competitors?

• What kind of person is their customer/ target audience

• What do they value? (Good Service, Cutting Edge Technology, Diversity, Predictability, flexibility?)

• What kind of news is featured on their website?

• What do you know about the company’s history?

• Any other information you can learn from their website that might be useful?

The more you know about the company, the better your letter and interview will be. Doing this research will help you discover whether the company might be a good fit for you.

Analyze the Job Posting Carefully:
• What skills are they looking for?

• What kind of education/license/certificate are they looking for?

• What kind of experience are they looking for?
•
Find out who the manager or Human Resources office will be reading your letter. (A personalized letter is more likely to be read than one addressed to “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam”. It may also show that you do not care enough about getting the job to call the company and ask for the name of the hiring officer.)

• Make a list of the qualifications you have that match up with those listed in the job posting. (For the purpose of this activity you can pretend that you have a reasonable set of qualifications and work experience.)

Write the first paragraph.

• Find a powerful way to start your letter.

• Tell the reader specifically why you are writing to them.
o This may include what specific job you are interested in or how you came to find their job posting.

• If you found the job posting on a website, make sure you mention which one. Many of them also assign a job ID number. Include that if you have it.


Write the second paragraph.
Take a second look at the job posting specifics and your personal qualifications list. The goal of the second paragraph is to persuade the reader that you are the best person for the job.
• Be sure to address as many points from the job posting as possible;
• Explain how you meet or exceed the job qualifications;
(Avoid telling them what you needs are at this point.)
• Explain why the company would benefit from having you as an employee.
(How can you help them meet their goal(s), solve a problem or attract a new kind of customer?)
• Highlight some of your specific accomplishments in relation to the job descriptions, the company’s focus, goals, etc.

Write the Third Paragraph: Be Bold & Brave.
• The third paragraph is where you take the action into your hands and ask for what you want.

• Be sure to thank the reader for taking time to consider your letter;

• Tell the reader what you want them to do. Be sure to do it in a polite way;

• You may want to indicate when you will call or email next.

• If you have included a resume or any other item with the letter make sure to refer to it. This could improve the chance that it will be actually looked at.

• Be sure to include your contact information, such as email address, cell phone number and a website, if you have one.