Guidelines for Cover Letter Writing Webster University I Career Planning & Development Center

Cover Letter Strategies

Customize Your Letter

• Adjust and update your cover letter for every application you submit.
• Review the position description for a clear outline of requirements and ensure your letter directly addresses the qualifications needed for the position.
• It is not effective to use the same text in your letter to apply for different positions as it can feel like more of a form letter to employers.
• It is important to change your letter to best suit each position and to highlight your skills and qualifications for that specific internship/job and/or employer.

Personalize the Letter

• When possible, address the letter to a specific individual using their name, title (Dr., Ms. Mr., etc.) and/or position with the organization (Director of Human Resources, Principal, etc.).
• If a contact person is not listed in the job description and it is difficult to identify the contact via the company website or through networking, do not assume that the hiring manager has a particular gender by opening the letter with “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam.” Instead, “Dear Director of Human Resources” or “Dear Hiring Manager” is more appropriate.

Proofread

• Request that several people review and comment on your letter, including a career advisor in Career Planning & Development.
• Review your document until you are confident it is error-free and an honest, accurate reflection of your skills and abilities.
• Remember that spell check may not find a word that is spelled correctly but is misused (there vs. their, for example).

Focus on the Reader

• When writing cover letters, writers often overuse the word “I” and focus on what they want from a company or job instead of how they can contribute to the organization.
• Reword sentences to eliminate excessive occurrences of “I” by using “my” and “me”, adding transition words, or flipping clauses. For example, “I have enclosed a copy of my resume” becomes “Enclosed you will find a copy of my resume” and "I contributed to quarterly reports as an intern" becomes "As a finance intern, I contributed to quarterly reports."

Create a Theme

• Connect your cover letter content to other pieces used in the application process. Does your resume introduce the skills and qualifications you will elaborate on further in your cover letter?
• Your cover letter should also reflect your resume by using the same font and potentially the same header so your documents look like they belong together.
• In preparing your application materials, ensure that you unify the message that you want to relay to your prospective employer.

Formatting & Content Guidelines

How you format your cover letter, both from a content (the information you include) and presentation (what your cover letter looks like) is important. Even when applying online or through email, your cover letter needs to be properly formatted, readable, and prepared without any errors.

Block-Style Format

• The block-style format is the most frequent and recommended format for preparing a job cover letter.
• In this format, text is aligned left and single spaced.
• The exception to the single spacing is a double space between paragraphs.

Limit Your Letter to One Page

• Write clearly and concisely and avoid using unnecessary words and phrases.
• Margins should be no less than .5” and font size should be no smaller than 10 point.
• Employers want to know the most relevant information so you want to focus on the key points in your cover letter to show that you are qualified without writing a multi-page letter.

Vary Your Sentence Structure

• Adding variety to your letters makes them more interesting and easier to read.
• Vary your sentence structure to create an interesting, effective letter. For example, offset long sentences with shorter sentences and use transitional words and phrases to help ideas flow together.

Consistency

• Use the same font in a similar size as used on your resume for a consistent, professional look.

Include Relevant Content

• Your cover letter should contain accurate, specific information relating to your professional qualifications for an internship, job, or graduate school.
• You want to address the most important qualifications from the job posting so that someone reading your application can clearly and quickly understand that you are a strong candidate for the role.

Use Action Verbs and Adjectives

• Keep content action oriented.
• Focus on providing the reader with objective, factual evidence of your qualifications.
• When highlighting accomplishments, avoid using language that appears more opinion-based. For instance, "In 2024, I was recognized as the top salesperson at the St. Louis office for that fiscal year." instead of "I was the best salesperson at my office."

Sample Letter Format

Your Contact Information

• Your contact information should be included at the top of the letter. This is traditionally aligned to the left or can be the same as your resume header.
• Include your name, location, phone number, and e-mail.

Date

• Insert the month, day, and year the cover letter is being submitted on the left-hand side.

Organization Contact Information

• While it is less critical to include this content when submitting applications online, it is still traditional to include the contact information for the person or company you're writing to.
• List the name and job title when submitting to a specific individual if known.
• Include the organization, street address, city, state and zip code.

Greeting Examples

• Dear Mr./Ms. ________,
• Dear Hiring Manger,
• Dear Search Committee,

First Paragraph

• State the reason for the letter. Who are you (academically and professionally) and why are you writing to this company and for this position?
• State the specific position for which you are applying and indicate where you learned about the position if it is relevant such as from a networking connection at a career fair or a referral from a current employee.
• Explain why you are interested in the position and why you want to work for this organization. This is a great way to show that you have done some research on the organization and stand out from other applicants.

Middle Paragraph(s)

• Outline your strongest qualification(s) as they relate to the company and position description.
• Do not repeat the information on your resume. Instead, draw attention to the most important experience or education you have and provide supporting evidence of your qualifications. You can do this by describing specific accomplishments or highlighting skills you have developed through work experience, coursework, campus or community involvement, or other activities.
• Make every effort to connect your qualifications to the job requirements.
• Since a cover letter is more of a narrative format, make use of that to go more in depth with your content than your resume.
• Some writers prefer to introduce their strongest qualification(s) as they relate to the company and position description in the second paragraph and then expound upon them in a third paragraph. If you choose to utilize a third paragraph, use it to provide specific provide supporting evidence and examples of your qualification(s).
• Depending on your writing, you may find a natural break or break up the content by theme. For instance, you might focus one paragraph on your customer service skills and another on your technical skills.

Final Paragraph

• Thank the reader for their time.
• Reinforce your strongest qualifications in a sentence or two in the conclusion.
• Suggest what you want the reader to do or what action you plan to take if applicable.
• Repeat your contact information (preferred phone number and e-mail address).

Closing Examples

• Use a closing like "Sincerely," or "Best Regards," as you would when writing a professional letter or email followed by your name.
• For your signature, you can type your first and last name in the same font as the rest of your letter or in a more cursive-like font. You could also include your handwritten signature by adding an electronic signature or scanning a signed printed copy of your letter.
• Although application materials are almost always submitted online instead of a hard copy, it can be a nice touch to include a handwritten signature. However, it should be clear and readable if included. A pixelated image that is hard to read will not enhance your letter.

Submitting a Cover Letter

A cover letter may be submitted in multiple ways. Review the tips below for submitting a cover letter as a part of a complete, customized employment application. Be sure you read every job description carefully to understand what application materials the employer seeks and in what format.

Email

• When e-mailing an application to an employer, attach a cover letter (along with other requested materials) to your e-mail message.
• In the body of the e-mail, briefly express interest in the company and the position, and explain what materials are attached to the e-mail.
• Due to the length of cover letters (and the brief, concise nature of e-mail), putting your cover letter in the body of the e-mail message is not recommended.
• Rather, attach your documents in a PDF format.

Applicant Tracking System

• When using an online application form, you will need to upload your document as specified by the system.
• You may be asked to copy and paste your letter into a text box, upload a separate document as your cover letter, or upload one file with all of your documents such as resume and cover letter.
• It is typical to upload files as a pdf since that preserves formatting or a Word document file. Other file types may not be accepted.