Cover letters can sound really daunting to write, especially when it’s your first cover letter! The first impression that you make to employers is usually through your cover letter. You have like a page to convince someone that you are a worthwhile candidate for a job.
That’s a lot of pressure!
I have written my fair share of cover letters over the past few years. I’ve applied to countless internships and jobs that I have an entire folder on my Google Drive full of cover letters. A lot of my early cover letters were… not great. I didn’t use clear language, and I was only listing accomplishments already listed on my resume.
I learned a lot about cover letters over the past few years, and I’m going to share what I learned in this blog post!
This blog post will walk you through exactly what you need to include in a great cover letter!
Here is a quick overview of what to include, and then I will go into more detail:
- Name & Contact Info
2. Greeting
3. Paragraph 1 (expressing interest)
4. Paragraph 2 / 3 (explaining why you are qualified)
5. Closing (reiterating interest & why)
6. Signature
Keep Your Cover Letter to One Page
Typically, cover letters are only one page. It may feel like a lot to try and smush into one page, but I promise it’s possible!
To save space, most cover letters are single-spaced. You’ll be surprised how much you can fit onto a single-spaced document, lol!
Name and Contact Info
The first thing that should appear on any cover letter you make is your name and contact information. This information should be at the top of your cover letter on the left side of the page. You should include your full name, email address, home address, and phone number. This is necessary so that the person you are sending the cover letter to knows how to get in contact with you!
Greeting
After your name and contact information, you should greet the person you are sending the letter to, just like any other form of communication. Generally, it is best to say “Dear Name” instead of “Hi” or “Hello.” “Dear” is just more formal, so it is primarily used on cover letters.
You always want to address your cover letter to a specific person. Although it might be tempting, you should never just write “To whom it may concern.” That is informal and not personal at all!
It can be tricky to figure out who you are actually sending the cover letter to! What I usually do is address the letter to whoever posted the job. So on LinkedIn, you can usually see who posted the job, and I will address the cover letter to that person. Or, if you’re applying for a position with a specific person, you can address the cover letter to them.
Finding who posted the job may vary by platform and job posting. You just have to look around and do some digging to figure out who to address your cover letter to. If all else fails, you can use a “To whom it may concern,” but TRY to find a real name first!
First paragraph
Okay, so now that we’ve covered who to address your cover letter to, it’s time to start actually writing! This is the scary part because you want to ensure that what you write in your cover letter is an accurate and professional portrayal of yourself and your accomplishments!
The primary purpose of the first paragraph of your cover letter is to explain what role you are applying for. In this paragraph, you should include the job title and the company/organization/team the job is with. This information can be found in the job posting that you are applying to. You can also briefly mention why you are interested or suited for the role.
For example, if I was a psychology student applying for a mental health internship, my first paragraph would sound something like this:
“I am writing to express my interest and excitement about the ____ position with ______. I have a passion for psychology that has been cultivated through classes such as _____ and ____.”
Or
“I am writing to express my interest and excitement about the ____ position with _____. I recently graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and cultivated a strong interest in mental health.”
Keep in mind that you don’t want to go into too much detail in the first paragraph. You just want to tell the reader what role you are applying for and a quick explanation of why!
Body Paragraph(s)
The following paragraph explains your background and experiences that are relevant to the position you are applying for. This section of your cover letter may be one or two paragraphs depending on your background and how long your other paragraphs are! Remember, you want to keep your cover letter to just one page.
This is a great section to include keywords from the job posting! Read the job posting and take note of any specific skills they are looking for or qualifications that you meet. Try to include those words in these paragraphs.
You want to make sure that you aren’t just reiterating what is on your resume in this section! Take this section to explain something from your resume in more detail. Or you can describe a project you worked on that isn’t listed on your resume. Remember that this section should explain why you are uniquely suited for the job you are applying for.
Closing
The last paragraph of your cover letter serves to reiterate your enthusiasm for the position you are applying for. Explain again what position you are applying for and the company/organization that it is with.
End your paragraph with another quick reason why you are suited for the job. For example, I usually say something like:
“I am always looking for new learning experiences, and working with _______ as a ______ will allow me to continue learning and growing while diving deeper into my field of interest.”
Signature
The last line of your cover letter should include a warm and professional sign-off and your name underneath. With this line, you want to thank the reader for their time and consideration and again express your enthusiasm for the position!
Your sign off can sound something like this:
“Thank you for your consideration and attention. I look forward to hearing from you!”
Proofread Your Cover Letter!!!
Cover letters are your first impression to the job recruiter or hiring manager. You want to make sure it is a good one!
If possible, have someone else read through your cover letter. Have them keep an eye out for instances where you are repeating words or phrases. You can also ask them if they have any advice or feedback about what you’ve written or any ideas of what else you can include!
If you’re a college student, having professors read through your cover letter can be beneficial. They have probably read through dozens of letters before and know what is desired for job applicants in that field.
If you’re not in college, you can really have anyone proofread your cover letter. The main goal is to make sure you sound as professional and accomplished as possible!
Personalize Your Cover Letter
So every job you’re applying to is probably different right? They are looking for different qualifications and will require you to do different tasks?
The answer is yes! So obviously, you want your cover letter to reflect that specific job! Each job you apply to should have an individualized cover letter. This means if you are applying to 30 jobs, each job application should have a different cover letter.
I know it sounds like a lot of work, especially if the jobs you’re applying to are all similar. But sending individualized cover letters to each job will really help your chances of being asked for an interview!
Send Your Cover Letter as a PDF
My last piece of advice is to send your cover letter (and resume) as a PDF! When you send Microsoft Word documents or Google Docs, sometimes the formatting can get messed up or it doesn’t open right. It is best to always send job applicant materials as PDF documents!
I hope that by following these steps, you are able to write an amazing cover letter that helps you get the job of your dreams!
Having trouble finding jobs to send your cover letter to? Check out some job hunting secrets HERE!