You may ask, “Who writes letters anymore?” But the fact remains there are still situations where you will need to write a persuasive cover letter to accompany your resume when applying for a job or internship. How do you separate yourself from the other candidates? The key is to target your documents to the opportunity so they are relevant and well received.
Employers may read through hundreds of resumes and cover letters in the selection process. Your job as an applicant is to help them see how well your skills, abilities, experience and interest match the opportunity and organization. You need to use the job description and your company research as your road map when you write this targeted message.
The purpose of the cover letter is to expand your resume descriptions to demonstrate your ability to do the job via examples of related experiences. I suggest incorporating the company’s language into your letter. For example: ‘I see that you are seeking a candidate that is experienced with marketing plans’ or ‘I have written several documents in my Marketing classes.’ You need to explicitly state your ability to do the job based on your education and experience. Do not think that they will assume anything, use your cover letter and resume to emphasize these connections and position yourself as a viable candidate.
It is also important that your letter be addressed to a person or a title. ‘To Whom It May Concern,’ will not concern anyone. Take the time to research the organization for the person or title to include. If you are submitting your documents via email, I suggest attaching the resume and cover letter, versus including them in the body of the email. This allows you to use the appropriate letter and resume formats. Also, always check your documents for spelling and grammatical errors before sending.
The Center for Advising and Career Services, the College of Business Johnson Career Center and the Writing Center all provide assistance with writing resume and cover letters. I suggest a second opinion so that you can present the best documents to the employer.
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Jo Chytka is the Director at the Johnson Career Center and Center for Advising and Career Services.
