Preparing Effective Cover Letters
The following is provided courtesy of the Office of Career Development at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business
While the perfect cover letter does not guarantee you an interview, an imperfect cover letter could quite possibly remove you from the interviewing process. First impressions are important and your cover letter is your opportunity to make a good one.
A cover letter enhances your resume allowing you to clearly state your career objectives, goals and personal qualifications for the position.
When writing your cover letter, remember these two key principles:
- Be reader-centered. Focus your cover letter on what you can do for the employer rather than what the job will do for you. Certainly a good position will provide you with experience, exposure to solving real world problems and valuable contacts, but remember the point of your cover letter is to sell your skills and get the employer interested in you. Try it. We think you’ll be much more successful if you write from your reader’s point of view.
- Support your claims. The main weakness in most cover letters is unsupported claims. Job applicants frequently describe their strongest attributes in glowing terms, but fail to give examples or illustrations which lend credibility to their statements. One way to ensure you’ve supported your statements is to use the “claim, data, warrant” method devised by Stephen Toulmin which provides a method for identifying parts of a written argument. The claim is your statement—your conclusion about yourself. Data is what you use to support that statement, and the warrant is the bridge which connects the two or relates them to each other.
For example: In sentence “I am a very responsible person and would do an excellent job for you in this position,” you have two claims. The first claim is “very responsible person” and the second is “would do an excellent job,” but it does not include any data or warrant. These are easy claims for anyone to make and thus, not very persuasive.
Here is an example of how the same idea could be better expressed using data and the warrant:
“I am a very responsible person. For example, when I worked for Jones, Inc., I was put in charge of new customer accounts and, after three months, allowed to work independently of any supervision. Nine months later I was commended on my performance appraisal for being ‘diligent, hard-working and responsible.’ Because you’ve indicated responsibility is a key component of this job, I believe I would do an excellent job for you.”
Supporting your claims with data and connecting your ideas with warrants will enhance your cover letter making it easier to read and more persuasive.
Cover Letter Outline
Following is a recommended outline to consider when drafting your cover letter. Don’t forget to incorporate the two key principles.
Section 1: Introduction
- State who you are
- Indicate any common acquaintances, referrals, or prior contacts
- Indicate the purpose for your letter
Section 2: Evidence
- Indicate your understanding of the skills/requirements for the position
- Cite examples of where you have displayed the requisite skills
Section 3: Conclusion and Follow-up
- Express appreciation for consideration
- Indicate when you’ll follow-up
Cover Letter Drafting Preparation Exercises
Ready to start writing? Try these cover letter writing preparation exercises to get your thoughts flowing.
- Create a list of all you know about the organization you are submitting a resume and cover letter to: products; services; locations (headquarters); growth areas; earnings; values/mission; reputation; community involvement; history; and employees (including U-M graduates and personal contacts).
- Write a paragraph describing one of your functional skills—an ability (e.g. writing a business plan) that is applicable to a wide variety of tasks. Select a functional skill that is relevant to the job you are seeking. Include details on skills learned and how you have successfully used this functional skill in the past.
- Write a paragraph describing one of your transferable skills—an ability that transfers to the job you are seeking. Include information on how you learned and have successfully used this ability.
- What is your greatest accomplishment that can be related directly to the needs of the position for which you are applying?
- Use your notes as the basis for writing the paragraphs that will comprise the body of your cover letter.
Tips for Writing Cover Letters
- Personalize your cover letter by naming the organization and the specific job you are seeking. Mention how you found out about the job and the names of employees with whom you may have contact. Include this information in your introductory paragraph.
- Focus the body of your letter around one or two abilities and/or claims about yourself that qualify you for the job opening. Fill these paragraphs with personal examples and experiences that prove you possess these abilities or that show your conclusions about yourself are true.
- Use a traditional letter format. Include your address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address on your resume and cover letter. Also, make sure that the message on your phone answering machine is professional, short and includes your name. If you share a phone, devise a system to insure that you receive your telephone messages.
- Proofread and spell-check all written application materials. Research shows that recruiters for businesses notice mistakes in grammar and syntax.
- Match the paper and font style of your resume to your cover letter.
- Keep a copy of every resume and cover letter you send out. Refer to them during interview preparation and revise to apply for other jobs.
Cover Letter Q&A
Q. What is the cover letter supposed to do for me?
A. Cover letters and resumes get you interviews and interviews get you jobs. The goal of a cover letter is to spark enough interest from an employer to get you an interview. It also tells the potential employer what job you are applying for which is often necessary when applying for a job at a large corporation that has numerous vacancies simultaneously.
Q. How long should a cover letter be?
A. A cover letter should be no longer than one page. Approximately, three to four paragraphs in length with ample top and bottom margins. Although there are exceptions (e.g. an experience needs to be described in more detail), in general, a one-page letter with an introduction, a one or two paragraph body, and a conclusion is usually sufficient. Do not expand to two pages.
Q. After sending a cover letter, should I leave it up to the employer to contact me, or vice versa?
A. A week to ten days after sending a cover letter, follow up with a phone call to the employer. In fact, it is acceptable to mention at the conclusion of your letter that you will place a follow-up call to the employer (e.g., “I will call you in a week to discuss the possibility of interviewing for the job of…”). A follow up call is one important way to show your sincere interest in the job and to learn a little more about the organization.
Q. Is there a correct way to prepare a cover letter?
A. Do not cling to the notion that there is one correct way to write a cover letter and that one cover letter will suffice for any job opening. Research shows that written application materials, such as resumes and cover letters, must follow standard formatting conventions to be taken seriously; however, the content of these written materials should reveal the unique experiences and training of the job applicant that are directly related to the job opening. In a study of how writing influences job recruiters seeking to fill positions in mechanical engineering and marketing, David Charney, Jack Rayman, and Linda Ferreira-Buckley (1992) discovered that recruiters gave higher ratings to applicants who elaborated on relevant work experience and relevant coursework (especially when work experience was limited).
Q. To whom should I send my letter?
A. If it is unclear to whom you should send your letter, contact the company and ask the receptionist or someone in human resources.
