Cover Letters
Writing a Cover Letter:
Cover letters introduce you as a potential candidate to prospective employers. The purpose is to encourage an employer to continue learning about your skills and experiences, and possibly invite you for an interview. A great cover letter makes a hiring manager excited to learn more about you by:
Highlighting relevant knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests
Demonstrating your unique candidacy through interest and enthusiasm
Conveying your communication skills, attention to detail, and personality
You will want to tailor your cover letter toward a specified role or organization. We suggest that you always draft a new letter for each application to avoid mistakes or referring to incorrect information. However, some applicants use an editable version of a cover letter if applying to similar roles in a specific field or industry.
Cover letters can also be uploaded to TritonTrack (along with other documents, such as writing samples, references or schedules) using the same method you used to upload your resume.
Career Center offers assistance with cover letters through:
Cover Letter Guide: This guide provides you with recommendations for your cover letter as well as a sample.
Career Advising: Meet with a Career Advisor to ensure you are providing employers with the best possible cover letter. Schedule an appointment through TritonTrack.
The value of cover letters for recent grads:
Cover letters may not always be required, but when optional, include one. This provides you with an opportunity to note how your academic, extracurricular, and volunteer experiences are relevant to the position, and make you a qualified candidate.
Networking and Cover Letters:
You can refer to an in-person interaction with an employer (for example: Networking Nights, Career Fairs, conferences, and more) to create a personalized and impactful introductory paragraph. To do this effectively, make sure you hold onto any contact information you receive at a networking event.
Types of cover letters:
For internships, focus on the skills you hope to gain and how the experience will benefit your professional goals.
For jobs, be employer-focused - demonstrate the value that you will add to their team.
Submission & Formatting suggestions:
Don't exceed a page. Employers have to sift through many cover letters so you want to make yours as concisely powerful as possible!
Cover letters should elaborate on resumes, not repeat them
Refer to the employer directly, if possible
You can utilization a combination of the following style variations:
Tell a story as a way to convey your candidacy
Aim for uniqueness while matching what you know about the organization/role
Brevity and conciseness, when combined with keywords from the job description, can be just as effective as a multi-paragraph cover letter
Use the same contact header from the resume as an 'Official Letterhead' so that the documents present as a pair
Confirm application instructions: some require cover letters and a resume to be in one attachment
Before saving the final draft, read your cover letter out loud
Use a professional file name when saving your document, for example "John Doe Cover Letter"
Save the document as a PDF to maintain formatting
Explore great cover letters written by actual Eckerd students below!
Remember that these were tailored for specific positions, organizations, and goals, so make sure to tailor your cover letter to best highlight your unique skills and experiences.