Phil
Druker
Department of English/
University of Idaho
Application Cover
Letter for Your Résumé
Cover
letters for résumés usually come in two types:
- the
prospecting letter—where you announce you are looking for a job and
what to present your material, and
- the
application letter—where you apply for a specific job, usually
after seeing a job vacancy announcement.
The application letter is generally the more
productive, and the comments here focus on it.
Purpose: Mainly you want to communicate
 | you
want the job, |
| you
want the interview, |
| you
have the required and the desired qualifications, and |
| you
have good communication skills. |
To do all this, you want to do more than summarize
your résumé; you want to amplify, emphasize, and explain what is really
important to show you meet the employer’s needs.
Application
Letter Outline:
Introduction
 | State
the title of the job you are applying for. |
| State
your interest in the job (your main point). |
| State
where you heard about the job. |
[Set a productive, professional tone.]
Education
paragraph:
|
| State
your degree, where you are getting it, and when. |
|
| List
and explain special experience that qualifies you for the job. |
| Use
key terms from the job announcement/description. |
| Show
how your educational experience qualifies you for the job. |
Employment
paragraph:
|
| State/list
pertinent employment experience. |
| Use
key terms from the job announcement/description. |
| Show
how your past employment experience qualifies you for the job. |
Goals
paragraph (not necessary, but this
works sometimes)
| What
do you want to do for the company/organization? |
| How
do your goals match their goals? |
Conclusion
paragraph
| Refer
to your résumé and other enclosures. |
| Call
for a specific action—request an interview. |
| Make
it easy for them to respond: give phone number and email. |
| Show
your interest in the job. |
Notes:
- Make
it perfect in content, organization, sentence style, and format.
- Follow
standard business letter format.
- Be
sure to sign your name.
- Avoid
passive.
- Usually,
you want to limit the length to one page.
- If
you are not applying for an entry level job, then putting education first
probably will not be a good organization plan to follow.
Emphasize what is important by placing it first.