{"id":66,"date":"2018-08-16T10:59:57","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T15:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/?page_id=66"},"modified":"2018-08-16T11:12:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T16:12:21","slug":"cover-letter-help","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/?page_id=66","title":{"rendered":"Writing a Cover Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>A cover letter is your first introduction to a potential employer. This is your way of telling the potential company what you bring to the table; what YOU can do for THEM.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">**Try to keep this letter to one page, if possible. **<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Introduce yourself<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">**Paragraph 1<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">If at all possible, address a specific person. Do your research on the company, the position and the person hiring. You can even call and ask who the hiring manager is for that position. If you cannot figure it out,\u00a0 put the head of the department that is hiring. If you cannot find a name, put the hiring position.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">i.e.\u00a0 \u201cMr. John Smith\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">if no name, then position: \u201cArt Director\u201d, \u201cArt Department Hiring Committee\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Tell the employer the position for which you are applying and how you learned about the position. This is especially important if you were referred to the position by someone within the company. This is one of the places where networking will help you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Basic information about yourself: your degree, areas of expertise or study, and career goals (if they align with the position for which you are applying)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Argue why you would be a good fit for the job<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">**Paragraph 2 (can be 1-3 paragraphs, if necessary)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">The second paragraph is where you spend time telling the company why they should hire you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Describe previous job experience, skills (hard and soft), extracurricular pursuits, etc. that will benefit the company and benefit that particular job.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Be personal. Tell a story. Give an example or two<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Reflect back some of the language of their job posting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Fill in places your resume cannot describe and explain aspects of your resume that you feel need explanation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><u>Do not restate your resume<\/u> &#8212; expand or apply your resume experience to this company.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">DO NOT apologize for areas of the job posting you are weak in or lack. This is a chance to positively identify your strengths, not dwell on your weaknesses.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Finish with a call to action paragraph<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">**Last paragraph<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Tell them you look forward to an interview and that you will follow up with them in a week if you don\u2019t hear back.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Thank them for their time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Make sure you have included all of your contact information at the top of the page.<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Name<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Phone number<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Email address<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Portfolio URL<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Physical address<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Have someone else read your letter. <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Get feedback on tone, grammar, punctuation and spelling.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Read it out loud<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><strong><u>Customize!<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">This is a letter meant to be read. It should not be the same form letter you send to every company.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">You can use a template to get you started with formatting, etc. but you want this to be personalized and to speak in your voice, not a formal, dry, non-specific template voice.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Good resources and Cover letter information came from the following sites:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resumegenius.com\/cover-letters-the-how-to-guide\">https:\/\/resumegenius.com\/cover-letters-the-how-to-guide<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/ed\/2017\/02\/27\/502445571\/hey-students-5-things-that-are-wrong-with-your-cover-letter\">https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/ed\/2017\/02\/27\/502445571\/hey-students-5-things-that-are-wrong-with-your-cover-letter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themuse.com\/advice\/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-31-tips-you-need-to-know\">https:\/\/www.themuse.com\/advice\/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-31-tips-you-need-to-know<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 A cover letter is your first introduction to a potential employer. This is your way of telling the potential company what you bring to the table; what YOU can do for THEM. **Try to keep this letter to one page, if possible. ** &nbsp; Introduce yourself **Paragraph 1 If at all possible, address a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":71,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-66","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post","no-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions\/74"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saumag.edu\/saugamedevelopment\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}