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Career Center
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Resume Help
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| Cover Letters |
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There are three basic parts to writing the cover letter: Opening, Body, and Closing: |
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| The Opening |
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| This part of the letter should grab the reader's attention
immediately. Skip the "I am exploring employment opportunities" line. Think of who your reader is and
imagine them opening your correspondence. Why would they want to take the time out of their busy day to
read a letter from you?
Here are some examples of opening sentences...
- "Could your organization benefit from a marketing
professional with a proven track record?"
- "I am a Hospital Educator graduate offering an excellent
academic history for your university hospital position."
- "I will be relocating to your area in the next two months
and have enclosed my resume in the event you are in need of qualified nurse manager."
This is also an excellent place to name drop...right at the
beginning!
- "Harry Jones recently suggested that I forward a copy of my
resume to your attention."
- "Your recent advertisement in the Anytown Gazette is of
particular interest to me."
The paragraph then identifies your reason for writing and,
hopefully, draws the reader to a logical transition to the next paragraph. You may even want to use
bullet points in the next paragraph, and a logical transistion could be:
"The following highlights some of my accomplishments (or
experience)" |
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| The Body |
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Some people insist this be one paragraph, but if you have two
totally separate ideas, such as present and formative experience that are relevant, or you sincerely believe
that a longer letter is necessary to convey your idea, by all means use two paragraphs for your body copy.
This paragraph gets to the center, the summary of what you have to offer.
- "I am offering over 10 years of background in clinical
settings with emphasis on..."
- "As a Surgery Manager with over 20 years of comprehensive
background in the field, I am seeking a Directors role..."
If you are attempting to create a base letter covering several
areas of experience, you may want to use a bulleted format. After stating "The following highlights some
of my accomplishments (or experiences)" at the end of your opening paragraph, begin a series of
bullets that identify and highlight your areas of experience. For example:
The following highlights some of my accomplishments (or experience):
- Proven management capabilities. Supervise a staff of 50 staff, delegating work flow and ensuring quality of work performance.
- Effective communicator, managing multiple projects concurrently at remote sites, working with and through staff to achieve positive results.
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| The Closing |
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| A traditional formality, the idea is to endear yourself
to the reader. Keep in mind that the format should accent your letter,
but not take attention away from it. The most commonly
used complimentary closes include:
- Sincerely,
- Sincerely yours,
- Yours sincerely,
The proper approach useful for very conservative
legal or medical settings could be:
- Respectfully,
- Your respectfully,
- Respectfully submitted,
The formal closure for corporate employment could
be:
 Very
truly yours,
The casual approach to those you've met with previously:
- Cordially,
- Best
regards,
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