A cover letter is a document that accompanies your resume for the purpose of persuading the reader to offer you an interview. Be strategic about what to include as the general recommendation is to keep this to one page in length.
Parts of A Cover Letter
- Top Header
- Heading
- Salutation
- Introduction
- Body
- Closing
- Signature
What to Include in Each Section
Want a visual alongside these written instructions? Click on our cover letter guide to see what a sample cover letter looks like.
Top Header:
- Use a clean, legible font to display your name and contact information
- Your contact information should include your email, phone number and LinkedIn URL
- Include your city and state if you are applying within the state you live in
- Match this header to your resume header
Heading :
- The traditional heading of a cover letter includes the date upon which you send the letter, the hiring manager’s name, company name, and address.
- For the hiring manager’s name, you can use courtesy titles like Mr. or Ms. to align with the professional tone of the document. If you do not know their gender preference you can simply use their first and last name.
- The address can be optional depending on the type of employer. It is a convention that is still used from when cover letters were physically mailed. More traditional employers may expect a traditionally formatted cover letter. You may choose not to include the employer’s address if you think it is a better use of the space to include more content about your qualifications.
Salutation:
- Address the person using their full name
- When you do not know who to address the letter to you can be more general Examples: Dear Hiring Manager, Dear Marketing Department (if it’s a marketing role)
- Avoid using “To Whom it May Concern”
Introduction:
- Open with your enthusiasm or a connection to the company
- State the title of the position you’re applying for
- Jump right in with your qualifications
- Demonstrate that you’ve done your research on the company by mentioning why you specifically want to work for this organization
Body Paragraph(s):
- Decide what skills and qualifications are most relevant to the role using the job description.
- Once you know what to highlight, show how you have these skills through specific examples. End the example with a result or success.
- If you do not have experience utilizing these skills in a previous job, use examples from school, volunteer work, or clubs.
Closing:
- Restate your interest for the position and organization
- Add information about yourself that strengthens your message
- Thank them for their consideration
Signature:
- Use a formal sign off such as “Sincerely”
- Insert a digital signature below the sign off
- Insert two line spacings after your digital signature and type out your first and last name.
Formatting Tips:
- Use clean, legible font in 10-12 point size
- Letter should be single spaced, add one space between paragraphs
- Save file name Ex: FullName_Application.docx
- .5” – 1” Margins
- You can format the body of your cover letter in either paragraph format or a bulleted format. Please note: if you format your body paragraph with bullets, they should offer specific examples and demonstrate how you used a skill to provide value on the job. These bullets should be different than the ones on your resume. A resume lists what you did. A cover letter explains how you performed a skill or accomplishment and why it was important.
Content Tips:
- Writing a cover letter is an opportunity to demonstrate career competencies that are valued by employers, such as written communication and self-reflection. Take the time to think about the unique strengths you bring and be sure to proofread for clarity and errors.
- It’s important to consider what the company values and demonstrate how you have what they’re looking for. Analyze the job description to see what duties or qualifications seem most prominent for the role. These might be repeated words or phrases. Use these words and phrases in your cover letter to help draw the connection. The company website may also give clues about what the company values.
Navigating Bias in Applications
You have the agency to determine what you include and what to omit from your cover letter. Not all recruiters and organizations value every type of experience and identity, which can lead to bias and discrimination in the application process.
One approach to navigating bias is being clear and authentic about your identities on a cover letter and see which employers recognize these as strengths. By taking this approach, you might find a great values fit with an employer who is excited about what your various identities bring to the table.
Another approach is being more general about your identities and experiences on a cover letter to protect from potential bias. Some items you might choose to be more general about or not mention would be political experience, religious groups, controversial research, disclosing of a disability, and listing pronouns. For example, instead of listing a specific faith, you could mention you volunteered at a spiritual organization. Instead of naming a specific political student organization, you could list it as a student leadership organization.
We encourage you to share however much of yourself feels good to you in your application materials. There are many ways to approach this. If you’d like someone to discuss this with, we highly recommend a Career Center drop-in or appointment.
Using AI for Writing Assistance:
The best way to use AI to help with cover letter writing is as a tool to generate ideas.
For example, you may want to ask how your skills fit with the main requirements listed in the job posting.
If you decide to use the AI-generated answer as a foundation, we recommend revising the tone and writing style to make it your own. A very generic sounding cover letter may clue the reader in that it wasn’t written by you. If you decide to use AI, do so as a tool instead of a replacement for your own thoughts and writing.