Weitere Ă€hnliche Inhalte Ăhnlich wie TeenLife Cover Letter Guide (20) KĂŒrzlich hochgeladen (20) TeenLife Cover Letter Guide1. â©
â©
â©
â©
â©
Guide to
Student Cover Letters
â©
â©
â©
â©
â©
â©
â©
â©
February 2011
â©
2. â©
What is a Cover Letter?
â©
A cover letter is a way to expand on what is included on your resume: highlighting
skills gained, attributes utilized, and passions developed, and then connecting
them to a specific job or type of job. The cover letter illustrates how you are
prepared, qualified, and motivated to take on the position. Therefore, you must
always relate your experiences back to the position description to which you are
applying.
â©
Cover Letter Toolkit
Before beginning to write your cover letter, make sure that you have the following in
front of you:
âą Your resume
âą Job/position description
âą Company/organization description
âą Any additional research you are able to conduct about the company and
position, including information gathered from a current employee whom you
can reference in your letter
â©
Writing a Cover Letter
â©
With all of your tools in hand, you are now ready to write your cover letter. To begin,
carefully read the job description and do the following:
âą Highlight specific elements of the job description that you have the skills
and/or experience to do
âą Underline all qualifications and note how you have attained them or why you
would be able to develop them further
âą Obtain the employerâs address and contact information. Be sure to follow the
application instructions explicitly (e.g., include personal references or salary
expectations if asked to do so).
Once you have a better understanding of the position and company, you may want to
tweak your resume to highlight different aspects of your background that are most
relevant. Consider the following when updating your resume for a specific position:
âą Creating a new section: Depending on the job description, you can always
consider adding a new section if you think it would be relevant to that
employer. For example, you might add a section on volunteer experience if
youâre looking for similar work now, and noting your language skills or travel
history might matter at some times but not others.
âą Reality check: If the job description describes some task that you have done
before or some qualification that you definitely have, double-check your
resume. Is it on there? If not, make that change before sending out your
resume!
www.teenlife.com info@teenlife.com
â©
3. â©
âą Fine-tune existing sections: Your computer skills and interests section are
always smart to crosscheck against the job description. If the employer is
looking for a skill that you have, then it had better be listed on your resume! If
you have any hobbies or interests that are relevant to an employer based on the
job or industry, you absolutely want to mention those in your Interests section.
Now that you understand the position and organization better, you may begin writing
your cover letter. Create an outline by doing the following:
âą Compare your resume to the job description, and then do some
brainstorming.
Write down a list of all the ways that your experiences and skills might connect
to that specific job description. This can require some creativity. If the
company is looking for someone with good multitasking skills, for example, you
really need to look over your experiences at work and school and think about
where you best showed that quality. A waitressing job is definitely a great one
to tout for multitasking, but you also could talk about juggling full-time school
with a part-time job. If the job calls for responsibility, then experience with
childcare or lifeguarding might deserve consideration.
âą Once youâve listed five or ten possible experiences and skills, pick the best
three to mention in your cover letter.
At this point, you need to look at your list more critically. Which of these skills
and experiences represent your strongest argument for getting hired? Which is
a characteristic that you possess that other job candidates might be less likely
to possess? For example, many teens could claim to have a good work ethic,
but do you have great proof of it because you worked incredibly long hours
doing tough work? That might be worth a mention. In general, hard skillsâthe
ability to use computers or to do bookkeepingâare more powerful to emphasize
than soft skills, when possible.
âą Select experiences from your resume that highlight your interest in and
passion for the organizationâs mission and work.
Organizations want to hire people that will be good fits for their culture, and
they also want employees who are as passionate about their work as they are.
Making a connection between a past volunteer experience at a hospital and a
paying position in a doctorâs office would be smart, for example. Spending time
creating web pages or fixing the family computer might be good to mention if
youâre looking for technology-related work or with a company that values
computer skills.
When you have identified three compelling skills or experiences that hopefully
differentiate you from other job seekers, then youâve created what will become the
heart of your cover letter. By a wide margin, this is the most important element that
your cover letter will include. After a brief introductory paragraph, youâre going to
help the employer connect the dots between what you can do and what they need to
get done.
The following page shows the format for an effective cover letter.
www.teenlife.com info@teenlife.com
â©
4. â©
Cover Letter Format
â©
Dateâ© Aprilâ©1,â©2011â©
â© â©
Employerâsâ©name,â©Employerâsâ©titleâ© Ms.â©Employer,â©Employerâsâ©titleâ©
Organizationâsâ©nameâ© ABCâ©Companyâ©
1â©Employerâ©Streetâ©
Employerâsâ©addressâ©
Boston,â©MAâ©01234â©
Employerâsâ©city,â©state,â©zipâ© â©
â© Dearâ©Ms.â©Employer,â©
Dearâ©Mr.â©orâ©Ms.â©_________â© â©
â© Iâ©amâ©writingâ©inâ©responseâ©toâ©yourâ©postingâ©onâ©idealist.orgâ©forâ©
Paragraphâ©Iâ©(3â5â©sentences)â© theâ©Healthâ©Internâ©position.â©Inâ©Juneâ©2011,â©Iâ©willâ©graduateâ©fromâ©
âą Stateâ©yourâ©reasonâ©forâ©writingâ©andâ©howâ© Bostonâ©Latinâ©Academyâ©andâ©planâ©toâ©undertakeâ©aâ©healthcareâ
youâ©heardâ©aboutâ©theâ©position.â©Identifyâ©theâ© relatedâ©internshipâ©forâ©theâ©summer.â©
positionâ©orâ©typeâ©ofâ©workâ©thatâ©youâ©areâ© â©
applyingâ©for.â© Becauseâ©ofâ©myâ©interestâ©andâ©demonstratedâ©academicâ©
excellenceâ©inâ©theâ©naturalâ©sciences,â©Iâ©planâ©toâ©followâ©aâ©preâmedâ©
â©
trackâ©inâ©college.â©Iâ©hopeâ©thatâ©myâ©internshipâ©experienceâ©willâ©
Paragraphâ©IIâIIIâ©(3â4â©sentencesâ©each)â© allowâ©meâ©toâ©contributeâ©toâ©aâ©localâ©organizationâ©whileâ©buildingâ©
âą Stateâ©whyâ©youâ©wantâ©toâ©workâ©forâ©thisâ© myâ©knowledgeâ©ofâ©thisâ©field.â©
employerâ©orâ©inâ©thisâ©field,â©providingâ© â©
relevantâ©examplesâ©ofâ©yourâ©interestâ©andâ© Yourâ©jobâ©descriptionâ©indicatesâ©thatâ©youâ©areâ©seekingâ©someoneâ©
qualification.â© withâ©excellentâ©communicationâ©skills,â©anâ©abilityâ©toâ©coordinateâ©
âą Alwaysâ©relateâ©yourâ©experienceâ©backâ©toâ©theâ© multipleâ©tasks,â©andâ©theâ©interpersonalâ©skillsâ©neededâ©toâ©buildâ©
positionâ©andâ©mentionâ©eachâ©qualificationâ© relationshipsâ©withâ©volunteers.â©â©Lastâ©spring,â©Iâ©coordinatedâ©aâ©
fromâ©theâ©positionâ©description.â© healthâ©fairâ©onâ©campusâ©inâ©whichâ©20â©organizationsâ©participated.â©
â© Thisâ©projectâ©gaveâ©meâ©handsâonâ©experienceâ©andâ©aâ©betterâ©
understandingâ©ofâ©theâ©needsâ©ofâ©healthcareâ©organizations.â©â©â©
â©
â©
â© Additionally,â©myâ©knowledgeâ©ofâ©biology,â©combinedâ©withâ©theâ©
â© excellentâ©writingâ©skillsâ©acquiredâ©throughâ©myâ©coursework,â©willâ©
â© helpâ©meâ©toâ©prepareâ©interestingâ©andâ©informativeâ©programsâ©andâ©
â© publications.â©â©Yourâ©agencyâ©playsâ©aâ©vitalâ©roleâ©inâ©securingâ©bothâ©
â© professionalâ©andâ©financialâ©resourcesâ©toâ©helpâ©alleviateâ©theâ©
â© sufferingâ©ofâ©others,â©andâ©Iâ©wouldâ©beâ©proudâ©toâ©beâ©aâ©partâ©ofâ©thatâ©
â© mission.â©
â© â©
Paragraphâ©IVâ©(2â3â©sentences)â© Inâ©myâ©desireâ©toâ©makeâ©aâ©differenceâ©inâ©theâ©Greaterâ©Bostonâ©
community,â©Iâ©wouldâ©welcomeâ©theâ©opportunityâ©toâ©meetâ©withâ©
âą Thankâ©themâ©andâ©indicateâ©nextâ©steps.â©
youâ©toâ©discussâ©theâ©internâ©position.â©Iâ©willâ©callâ©youâ©nextâ©weekâ©toâ©
Provideâ©contactâ©info.â© followâ©upâ©onâ©myâ©application.â©Meanwhile,â©Iâ©mayâ©beâ©reachedâ©atâ©
â© (617)â©123â4567â©orâ©viaâ©emailâ©atâ©student@email.com.â©Thankâ©
â© youâ©inâ©advanceâ©forâ©yourâ©consideration.â©
â© â©
Sincerely,â© Sincerely,â©
Studentâ©nameâ© Studentâ©nameâ©
â©
â©
www.teenlife.com info@teenlife.com
â©