Cover letters need to include specifics...

Submitted by bjdunfor on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 22:00

According to the reading “Kairos and the Cover Letter”, one needs to adjust what they put on their cover letter according to what the job ad itself is asking. When creating a cover letter I will take this into account and make sure to properly answer the questions and conditions listed in the job ad without being too over the top. In the article titled “Junk Cover Letters Kill Good Resumes”, there are a few questions you want to ask yourself when writing a cover letter. The first question they talk about that you may want to ask yourself is “does your cover letter use a personable approach”. This is one of the key things I will keep in mind while writing a cover letter because it is one of the first things you need to think about. If you don’t base your cover letter on a certain company, and just make a general one, you are setting yourself up for failure. There are also questions you may ask like: “Does your cover letter include specifics”, does it use laymans terms that everyone can understand. The laymans terms question is also a very important one I will ask myself this because, if you don’t speak in a way everyone can understand, then you may not get your point across at all and won’t have a chance. This article as well as the instructor’s blog also spoke about specific keywords to include in your letter. When writing my cover letter I will take this into account and try to use specific words that are included in the job ad itself. These can help increase my chances of success. After reading the instructor blog I will also make sure to figure out who will be reading the cover letter and try to include their name in the greeting. When I am almost finished with my cover letter I will make myself take the time to thank the person reading it because they certainly don’t have to read it in the first place.

Cover Letters - the personal approach

Lpetrovi's picture
Submitted by Lpetrovi on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 14:52.

Personally, I have my cover letter template ready to go for whenever I want to apply for a specific job. The template generally contains my information, which obviously doesn't change, the basic introduction and the conclusion. All I have to do is change the job and company I am applying for in the introduction and tailor the body to the specific job ad. To me, this is about 5 minutes well spent if it earns me an interview with the company because it appears as though I have taken time to write a specific cover letter for their company.

Tailoring your introduction

TANoNati's picture
Submitted by TANoNati on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 15:45.

I don't think this is a bad strategy, especially since you've built your template so that you customize for each specific job and company while maintaining some sort of efficiency. But I think that you should change more than just the name of the company and the job in the introduction. It seems like you would lose a lot of specificity by having a template with fill-in-the-blanks for your introduction. Your introduction should lay out in sum your message about why you would be good for the job. If you don't tailor your introduction's wording to each situation, you will probably end up with something that's pretty generic, talking about your strengths maybe but not saying why they make you a good fit. You may establish that information later on, but I think that argument of why is important and it should be established right off the bat: I'd want to hit the reader as early as possible with my strongest argument.

Cover Letters Are First Impressions

ymyang's picture
Submitted by ymyang on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 12:30.

Beginning this semester the general tone of my cover letters that I have submitted in the past give a professional approach because I assumed that is what they wanted to hear. Therefore one of the more important suggestions that I also take to my current cover letters is a friendlier tone. The best way I can describe a cover letter to have a pleasant tone is a first impression or acquaintance. You should take the opportunity to establish a relationship between the reader and yourself. Typically the first impressions for a business are some of the most important, and submitting a cover letter may take the responsibility.