Cover Letters

Your cover letter should explicitly translate your skills and experience into the employer’s needs and language, and express enthusiasm. Contact one of our Career Ambassadors for help.

The 5 Steps of Cover Letter Writing

  1. Determine if you meet the basic or minimum qualifications to apply (usually education requirements and years of experience). 
  2. Look for key words/phrases throughout all parts of the job description and required qualifications that match your skills, interests and experiences (not just under “Required or Preferred Qualifications”).  
  3. Retype all key words or phrases (transferable skills) from the job description directly onto a fresh clean Word document and highlight them in another color. The highlighting tells you which key words came from the job description, so you won’t change them.  Do not use synonyms – use these exact key words. 
  4. Take each key word/phrase and provide an example of when you used/acquired this skill, which will be unique to you. Ask yourself the following: What does the employer want? What evidence can you provide to highlight your skills? (unpaid experiences, work, classes, academic projects, internships, jobs, etc.) 
  5. Place these examples into paragraphs in a sensible order for the reader. Begin with the strongest, most relevant examples or skills first. The least relevant (or weakest) will be at the bottom of the cover letter. 

Cover Letter Formatting & Advice

Traditional cover letters start at the top left-hand side of the page with: 

  • Your address, the date, person’s full name, their address, Dear __________ 
  • Your name only appears at the bottom of the page (not top). 

Contemporary style:

Copy and paste the exact same information (name and contact) from your resume onto the top of your cover letter.  

  • Font is the same style as your resume and should be around the same size 
  • Length - one page  
  • Keep bolding, all-caps, colors, lines, and italics to a minimum 
  • Margins can be between .05 and 1.25 inch  
  • Keep free of typo’s, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors 
  • Left hand justify entire page, no need to indent spaces for paragraphs 
  • Use only one white space (aka return) in between all paragraphs 
  • Need a minimum of three sentences to form a complete paragraph  
  • What position you are applying to (include a job ID # if there is one) 
  • Where did you see it advertised? 
  • Why do you want this job? (be as specific and unique as possible, and demonstrate enthusiasm) 
  • Must include words/phrases directly pulled from the job description 
  • Opening paragraph has the most relevant skills and important qualities, last paragraph has the least relevant 
  • Use short narrative examples to showcase how your skills and experience match their qualifications 
  • Several short paragraphs are easier to read and comprehend rather than one long one
  • Include final skill sets, or additional qualities or characteristics that make you stand out as a candidate.  
  • Must include a “Thank you for your time and consideration” phrase. 

Professional, positive, direct, enthusiastic. 

  • Create a NEW cover letter for each application, as the skills and qualifications will vary - don’t waste time with generic phrases or cover letters.  
  • Never mention things you don’t have, such as “While I don’t speak Arabic, I know some Spanish”. Instead, write about how you have utilized conversational Spanish in the past and enjoy learning new languages. 

SPHHS Cover Letter Guide and Samples by Major