Office of Career Development

Cover Letter Tips / Sample Cover Letters

A cover letter gives you an opportunity to highlight or clarify particular information on your resume.   Here are some tips to follow when writing your letter:

• Clearly state how you came to contact the person you're writing to, such as in response to a specific job opening.  Use the rest of the letter to support your candidacy.  Review the sample cover letters below as a guideline.
• Specifically tailor your cover letter for each company to which you are writing. Research the company and industry to help you determine your approach.
• When seeking a position that is an unexpected application of your academic training (for example, a mechanical engineer seeking a finance position) or if you do not yet have any experience that is directly related to the position to which you are applying, be explicit about why you are interested in that particular field, organization or job, and what value you bring.  Emphasize the skills and experiences you have learned through class projects, extracurricular activities, and summer jobs, such as time management and team leadership.
• Always try to write to a specific individual and include the job title (i.e., Director of Human Resources).  Try not to address your letter to “Dear Sir or Madam" unless absolutely necessary.
• Use a standard business letter format, as is used in the sample letters below, when mailing, faxing, or in person delivering your cover letter and resume.   
• Ask an OCD staff member to check your grammar, spelling, and style.

Email Application Tips

 When applying through email, be sure to follow these guidelines in addition to those above:

• Write your cover letter in the body of the email message, and attach your resume in a common format, such as .doc or .pdf.  

• When emailing your cover letter, you do not need to write the entire formal heading (addresses, date, etc.).  Simply begin your letter with Dear Mr. (Ms.) XXX:

• Be sure your email address and name are professional.  Use a combination of your first name and last name, or first initial and last name (e.g. John Smith (jsmith45@yourmail.com)).  Do not use any other formats as your email, such as “ChocolateLover (CL@yourmail.com)” or “Joe (joe_mama@yourmail.com)”

• If emailed the job description (e.g. through the OCD), create a new, separate email to send to the company.  Do not simply forward the OCD email and write your cover letter on top. 

• Use a simple, easy to read subject such as “Electrical Engineer application” or “Application for Project Manager Position”.  If the job description asks you to include a job code, be sure to do so.

• Keep your resume name simple:  lastname_firstname.  Eliminate all other information, such as “rev3”, “6-30-04”, or “updated”, etc.

• Remove any tables/text boxes/macros from your resume.  Many companies use resume scanning software and these formats cannot be read by the software.

Sample Cover Letters

• "Cold" Contact  Writing a general introductory inquiry letter

• Referral  Making contact based on someone's recommendation, such as a professor

• Response To Ad  Requesting consideration for a specific, posted employment opportunity

• Updated Resume  Reestablishing communication with a company representative