Speech/ Cover Letter For Job

Cover Letter

The purpose of a cover letter or letter of interest is to introduce your professional background to the employer. It is also intended to highlight some of your skills, convince the prospective employer that you have something valuable to contribute and that it would be worth their time to interview you.

Always  Type your letter.  Address your letter with a specific name of a person whenever possible. You may direct your

letter to the Hiring Department or Recruiter or simply begin the letter without a salutation. To Whom It May Concern is another option for a salutation – but not recommended.

 Your letter should not be repetitious of your resume.  Be sure your letter is errorless. Proofread, and have others proofread for you too.  Sign your letter.

Never  Exceed one page.  Indicate hobbies, sports and social activities.  Include irrelevant personal information such as; age, marital status and social security number.  Lie.

Formatting your Cover Letter

 First, use the same size font throughout. Unlike a resume, your name should not be in a larger

font.

 Left justify your letter (everything should line up on the left hand side—some of the examples have a centered heading—that is okay, but it’s better if everything is on the left)

 You should not have any indentations.

 Avoid double spacing or excess spaces in your information, their information, or in your paragraphs. To avoid this, highlight your information, right click your mouse, go to Paragraph in the pop-up menu, make sure under “Spacing,” the “line spacing” is set to single and the box that reads “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style” is CHECKED.

What goes on your letter

 FIRST: Start with your full name, mailing street address, city, state (abbreviate state as TX), zip code, professional email address (avoid anything silly or that indicates your age: cutiepie94@hotmail.com = NO, and remove the hyperlink by right clicking on your blue underlined email address and clicking “remove hyperlink”), and number you can be reached at

 SECOND: Space ONE down and insert the date. Go to “Insert” choose the calendar icon to insert the date, and select the format like this: Month, ##, Year (example: October 22, 2015)

 THIRD: Put their information, like you are mailing a letter: Name of the person(s) you are addressing, their organization name, mailing street address, city, state, zip.

 FOURTH: Space ONE down and write the Dear or To line, followed by a colon (Dear Hiring Committee: or To Ms. Smith: )

 NOTE: Never use the term Mrs. if you do not know if the woman is married. Mrs. is a term for a married woman. If you don’t know or aren’t sure, use Ms.

 After the To line, space ONE down and begin your first paragraph. Do not indent your paragraphs.

Organizing Your Letter of Interest/Cover Letter

 Paragraph 1: Why are you writing? Mention how you found out about the position (what source did you find the job) in the first paragraph. You may also indicate specific information about the vacancy such as; the job title, requisition number, department, etc. Space ONE down to begin 2nd paragraph.

 Paragraph 2: Why should they hire you? And why do you want to work for them? Identify your unique strengths and attributes that could benefit this position. Sell yourself! You could use this opportunity to specify any experience or education you have that the department advertised. If a department is asking for experience in a specific area that you are lacking but have been educated in that area, mention your education. Turn a negative into a positive. Space ONE down to begin 3rd paragraph.

 Paragraph 3: You could include a third paragraph if there is additional information, which has not been mentioned on your resume or needs to be described in detail (i.e. your cooperative education experience or gaps in your employment history). Space ONE down to begin 4th paragraph.

 Paragraph 4: The close. Ask for an interview. Also invite them to contact you and give them a phone number where you can be reached. You may also thank them for their time or consideration. Space ONE down and write the word “Sincerely,” followed by a comma

The Sign off

 After the word “Sincerely,” followed by a comma, space FOUR down. You want to leave room for a hand signed or electronic signature.

 DO NOT write the words “handwritten signature”