Cover Letters

• Introduces you and your resume.
• Explains why you'd like to work for that particular organization.
• Promotes your candidacy for the job.
• Can make the difference between landing an interview for the job or having your resume discarded.

Keep in mind that many companies receive hundreds of resumes. Chances are many of them will be impressive; so the competition will be high. A good cover letter will bridge the gap between your personal qualifications and the many other impressive resumes they have collected.

Do

• Use the same color, paper, and font you used in your resume. The cover letter and the resume should match.


• Address your cover letter to a specific individual. Try to find out who the "hiring authority" is. It's not always easy to find the name of the specific hiring manager, but try to do so if at all possible. Usually, you can just call the company and ask who the hiring manager is for a given position. The worst-case scenario is that your letter will begin "Dear Hiring Manager for [name of position]:"


• Address your cover letter for a specific position. This should be mentioned in the first paragraph. If you're answering an ad, it's easy to target your letter to a specific job. However, if you're making cold contacts to employers, you'll have to do some research to find out what positions that the company offers fit your qualifications.


• Show that you know something about the company and the industry. This is where your research comes in. Try to incorporate specific company knowledge, making it clear that you did not pick this company out of the phone book. Demonstrating knowledge of the employer is not a mandatory part of cover letter, but it's a great touch that will often win favor in the eye of the employer.


• Make sure your cover letter is direct and to the point. Length matters, but not more than content. Use this opportunitiy to show the company that you have done a lot of research on them. Reiterate your knowledge in your letter.


• Use specific examples whenever possible. Be very specific when describing your skills and qualifications. Use concrete examples to demonstrate your claims about yourself. Determine the skills and experiences that specifically qualify you for the job you're applying for, and describe those in your letter. If you do not have a lot of solid experience in the field you are trying to enter, remember to focus on key skills that can easily transfer from your previous work experience to the job at hand.


• Use terms and phrases that are meaningful to the employer. (This is where your industry research and networking come in.) If you are applying for an advertised position, use the requirements in the ad and put them in BOLD type.


• Request for action and specific description of your planned follow-up action. Don't be vague about your desire to be interviewed. Come right out and ask for an interview. Then, take your specific action a step farther and tell the recipient that you will contact him or her in a specified period of time to arrange an interview appointment. Obviously, if you say you will follow up, you have to do so. If you take this proactive approach and follow up, you will be much more likely to get interviews than if you did not follow up. This follow-up aspect is another good reason to obtain the specific name of the hiring manager.


• Always run Spell Check before you print the letter, but also proofread it yourself carefully for typos, proper grammar, and accuracy. Have someone with an eye for detail or an ICC staff member critique and proof your cover letter before you mail it.

Don't

• Use a generic, "one size fits all" cover letter. Never copy cover letters. You must write a different cover letter for each job for which you apply. Each cover letter should be targeted to a specific job/organization.


• Start your letter with: "Dear Sir or Madam" or, worst of all, "To Whom It May Concern." That lazy approach shows the employer that you were not concerned enough to find out whom your letter does concern.


• List several possible positions or say that you're willing to consider any position. If you do, the employer will see you as unfocused or even desperate.


• Write a long, unnecessarily worded cover letter. Try to keep the length down to one page (unless absolutely necessary to go longer). Do not repeat information already contained in your resume. Instead, use the cover letter to expand upon information not included in your resume or to summarize key points of your resume. Be concise, to the point, and succinct. The average cover letter is reviewed in 8 seconds, so you must really draw them in within the first paragraph and entice them to read on!


• Exaggerate your skills or experience. Even if you don't think you qualify for a position, NEVER exaggerate. Keep in mind that most job descriptions are for the IDEAL candidate. Often there will be some latitude in qualifications.


• Leave your phone number (home or cell) and have your answering machine be non-professional! Don't have cute songs or weird "what's up" stuff. Also remember to indicate to any roommate(s) that you may be expeting a call, so they know to answer the phone professionally.

Do

• Know the rules of a dynamic cover letter. Before you even think of sending an email cover letter, first make sure you understand all the rules and guidelines for writing a dynamic cover letter.


• Always use standard cover letter protocol. Just because it's an email, doesn't mean you should abandon standard business letter writing guidelines. Thus, make sure to include a salutation (Dear Ms. Smith) and a standard closing (such as "sincerely"). Leave blank lines between paragraphs. Avoid the use of emoticons, abbreviations, wild colors, and other cool techniques and shortcuts used in everyday emails.


• Keep your cover letter short. Brevity is critical with an email cover letter. Focus on your key selling points. Most experts say that at most, your cover letter should be two to three paragraphs and under 150 words. For email cover letters, the idea is that it should not be any longer than one screen in length.


• Take advantage of keywords. Use pertinent keywords to the job you are seeking, and focus on key industry buzzwords and critical skills sets. Noun phrases become more important than action verbs. Because your cover letter may be filed into a database, using critical keywords will enhance the likelihood that your cover letter and resume will be retrieved in a future search.


• Stick with plain styling (ASCII text). Write your cover letter in your favorite word processor, but strip away all formatting once you've completed editing it by saving the file as "plain text." Because some email packages allow you to manipulate font style, color, and size, make sure your email is also being sent in plain text -- black font, normal size and typeface (10 point, Arial, Helvetica, Times Roman), on a white background.


• Check your line length. Make sure your lines are no more than 60 characters in length. Some email packages automatically do word wrap for you (much like word processing software), but you should check. You don't want your cover letter to arrive fragmented on multiple lines.


• Test your message before sending it to the company. Even if you're sure your letter is perfect, send it to a friend or another one of your email accounts first and check for the content and style one more time.

Don't

• Waste your subject line. Don't ever leave the subject line of your email blank, but don't waste it by just inserting the job number (unless that is what is required). Instead, use the subject line to entice the reader into your cover letter. For example, for a director of nursing position, say something such as: "experienced nurse for director of nursing position."


• Email using a non-professional sounding email address. If you are using one other than your UC Davis email, make one using your name or initials and not a nickname that the company may not understand.


• Bother with attachments (unless requested to do so). Some companies actually block all emails with attachments; thus, your email would never even be received if you used an attachment.


• Hit "send" without thoroughly spell checking and proofreading your email letter. Don't just rely on your email software's spellchecker. Take the time to really proofread it. A simple typo could be the downfall of a brilliant cover letter. Avoid all mistakes.


• Leave your phone number (home or cell) and have your answering machine be non-professional! Don't have cute songs or weird "what's up" stuff. Also remember to indicate to any roommate(s) that you may be expeting a call, so they know to answer the phone professionally.