#COVER LETTER FOR JOB APPLICATION HOW TO#

By selecting someone in the company, you’ve demonstrated that you’ve done some research and are actually interested in this company specifically. The most important thing about the salutation is to address a real human. “Dear Joe McGlinchy” means a lot more than “Dear Hiring Manager.” LinkedIn is a great tool for this-you can look up the company, then look through the employees until you find someone that seems like they hire for the relevant department. The best practice is to do your research and use your connections to find a name. Starting a cover letter with the above phrase is pretty much stamping “I didn’t bother to research this company at all because I am sending out a million generic cover letters” across your application. Avoiding vague greetings is the oldest trick in the book, but it still holds a lot of weight.

#COVER LETTER FOR JOB APPLICATION HOW TO#

How to Write a Good Cover Letter Salutationĭon’t start with “Dear Sir/Ma’am” (or any iteration of a vague greeting, including “to whom it may concern”). Below, we will go over each of the important parts of a cover letter: the salutation, introduction, body, and conclusion, as well as some other best practices. Writing a good cover letter, a cover letter that will encourage a hiring manager to look at your application and schedule an interview, is more difficult (but certainly not impossible). How to Write a Good Cover Letter: The Basics A cover letter should also demonstrate why you want to work at the company, but it should be primarily focused on why you can do the job better than any of the other applicants. Most organizations want a cover letter, not a letter of intent, so it is important to make sure your cover letter caters to the specifics of the job posting. Or, they may not have any positions open at all, but choose to keep my resume on hand for the next time they do. They may have an opening for a sales floor associate, but after reading my application and letter of intent, decide I would be better suited to a design position. The goal of a letter of intent is to demonstrate your interest in the company (or whatever type of group you are appealing to) and illustrate that you are willing to work with them in whatever capacity they feel is best.įor example, if I loved the clothing company, Patagonia and wanted to work there, I could write a letter of intent. It is intended to express an interest in working at a particular company or with a particular group. For example, if I got an email saying that the University of Colorado was looking for a tenure track faculty member to teach GEO 1001, and I chose to apply, I would write a cover letter.Ī letter of intent, however, is written regardless of the job opening.

A cover letter is written for a specific job opening. Note that a cover letter is not the same as a letter of intent. Cover letters give a company a glimpse into the qualities that will make you the ideal candidate for their opening. So, what is a cover letter, exactly? It is an explanation (written out in paragraph form) of what you can bring to the company that goes beyond the information in your resume. Without proving that you are worth the time to interview, a company or research organization will set your application in the rejection pile without giving it a second look. Your cover letter gives you the chance to demonstrate that you are an interesting, qualified, and intelligent person. Resumes and curriculum vitae (CVs) are often cold and static-they don’t show any sort of character that will give companies a hint about if you will fit in with their culture. What Is A Cover Letter and Why Do Cover Letters Matter?Ī cover letter is your opportunity to tell a story and connect the dots of your resume.

Cover letter for job application