BCOM 3304, Business Communication Cover Letter Handout General Format • Applies to Solicited and Unsolicited (Prospecting) Letters • Normally one page, résumé grade and weight, white or neutral color • Personal Address Header: Name centered at top of page, contact info below • Personal Address Header: Standard left margin address block • Date • Company Address o Name of contact person given in job o Company name o Company street address o City, state, and Zip • Salutation to contact person • Paragraph make-up o Short Introductory paragraph - 3 to 5 sentences o Body paragraph – Several short paragraphs or paragraph with mix of bullets & sentences Closing paragraph- 3 to 5 sentences • Complimentary closing “Sincerely,” followed by typed name with space to give signature • Consider telephone number and e-mail address below typed name Introductory Paragraph: What you don’t say! • “I am the awaited Messiah arriving to take the company to golden heights of prosperity.” The interviewers will not need welding helmets to withstand your brilliance, because you won’t be invited! • “I need to work for you in order to prepare for bigger opportunities.” No chance! • “I have this intense hunger to work for you, the best company on Planet Earth!” Hyperbole delivers you submittals to the wastebasket. • “This position really works to my advantage, allowing me to meet personal needs and all my education requirements.” This line says you don’t understand employment priorities. • “I really need this job, and I’m willing to do anything you require.” Won’t happen! • “I don’t have much education, but I’m a hard worker and a moral person.” Probably true, but this is an overused, therefore trite, address that establishes a negative. • “I cannot believe my good fortune upon finding your ad on Monster.com! “ Keep believing, but look elsewhere! • “Going down your skills and requirement columns, I see that I match every one of them!” Yes, and your interviewers will quiz or grille you over each one! • “Who is Jock Strap? A person who you need working for you!” Please, go away! • “I am, foremost, a portfolio manager, but also I am an accountant, a securities analyst, a licensed stockbroker, tax appraiser, licensed real estate agent, an insurance specialist, registered lobbyist, Board Member of. . . .” Praise God! And when will the listing stop? Introductory Paragraph: What you do say! • Two to four sentences are sufficient. • Either first or last sentence: State the job position as advertised, state the Job ID # in parentheses after it, and state the advertising source. State this plain and clearly, without hype. This information can be placed as a main or subordinate clause –your style! • Persuasive style and tone begins now! All “silent reading” involves some extent of “vocalizing,” i.e., “speech,” and an image and profile arises from your chosen words. Polish carefully, because you are building a psychological portrait of yourself! • You must be warm, sincere, positive, and truthful. • When using a name or names of recommenders, state their company or an occasion, such as a job fair, which establishes your contact / connection with them. • Consider a strategy that aligns your past experience with statements given about the position duties. This could embrace services, similar product lines, or daily functions. • Consider a strategy that presents your experience titles that approximate or match the job title. • If education and degree(s) are required, state it now. Try to avoid “I have a degree from. . . .“ Link your education achievements with dynamics like “continuing development,” “research,” “current training focus on. . . “, “conference participation,” etc. Education and degrees are more than stations – they are active tools in use! • Don’t be stiff or syrupy! Be natural and yourself – your personal “touch”! • Your main focus is to serve the organization you are applying to. Body Paragraph(s) • One paragraph or several short ones. Three to six sentences are max for these paragraphs. • Use bullets wisely. They become major highlights when used. • Provide information that qualifies you for the position and sets you apart from others. • Reflect key words that appear in the skills and experience requirements of the job ad. • Write sentences that link together to deliver a main idea. When using multiple paragraphs, have the lead sentence of each guide the reader into what follows. Do not put unrelated ideas into one sentence or short paragraphs. • If your résumé is chronological, then your letter emphasizes your leadership accomplishments and administrative acumen in one or more company histories. If it is a skills-oriented résumé, match the stated skills, job duties, and emphasized trainings and knowledge appearing in the job ad. In both cases, handle carefully repetition (“echo”) of phrases and clauses appearing in the résumé. • Your edge over others is to exceed expectations in combinations of background experience, demonstrated skills, management depth, patterns of accomplishments, and recognitions. • You develop an eye for when you’re over-qualified for a position. However, you cannot control the reviewer’s definitions of “over-qualified.” Do not shortcut your experience or skills, because you may lose the opportunity of having your materials passed towards a position yet unannounced in other divisions of a company. • Show facts and figures. Give numbers of people served and amounts managed in dollars monthly, quarterly, or annually. Show company expansion in dollars or percentages, and relate yourself to that expansion. Speak of training certificates, awards, and recognitions. • When software applications are emphasized in the job ad, show your use and familiarity with them. Use acronyms if they are generally recognized, or give the full title first if they are not. Talk tech! • Verifiable skills applied in a family business are not diminished by the family connection. A business operating in a market is a business, period. • As in the résumé, avoid privacy issues of age, health, race, marital status, religion, and SS number. • By law, employers cannot discriminate against the handicapped. Handicap definitions increasingly expand. If handicapped, know your rights and cases applying to your situation. • Speak of and control issues of employment gaps if you feel you must. Your decision, but know full well that it will arise in an interview. • Military discharge is normally stated in the résumé. After a prison/jail parole and pardon, you need not list a conviction, unless the job position requires a background check. • Some ads project a youthful, “go getter” characteristic. When you’re graying and long in tooth with experience, feel free to chop your résumé experience and letter discussion to the previous ten years or so. • Avoid controversies and clamorous social issues; however, use them carefully if they provide an angle into a security, police, or political employment. You’re setting a tone when doing this! • If you’re moving up inside a company, reinforce your record of multiple achievements and recognized good business traits. Show your outreach to customers and the community. • Exercise your warm and sincere personality as you display skills and accomplishments. By the end of the body formation, reinforce key points that would make companies want to interview and associate with you. Sell your good values and qualities of being alert, energetic, skilled in communications with clients and associates, and accomplished in education and experience history. Closure: One to three sentences • Final statement of your sincere desire to work for this employer. • Give notice of your intent to call in 10-14 days, and provide a contact telephone number. • Make sure you have a message recorder on the phone when you’re job hunting. • When mailing, the Letter is on top of the résumé.
