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APPLICATION LETTER
This section focuses on the application letter (sometimes called a "cover letter"), which together with the resume is often called the "job package." You may already have written one or both of these employment-seeking documents. That's okay. Read and study this section, and then apply the guidelines here to the resumes and application letters you have created in the past.This section presents many different ways to design and write application letters. Nothing here is trying to force you into one design. You design your own letter using whatever you find here that is useful and any other sources you know of.
In many job applications, you attach an application letter to your resume. Actually, the letter comes before the resume.
The role of the application letter isto draw a clear connection between the job you are seeking and your qualifications listed in the resume. To put it another way, the letter matches the requirements of the job with your qualifications, emphasizing how you are right for that job. The application letter is not a lengthy summary of the resume — not at all. It selectively mentions information in the resume, as appropriate.
Be sure tocheck out the example application letters accompanying this chapter:
Common Types of Application Letters
To begin planning your letter, decide which type of application letter you need. This decision is in part based on requirements that employers may have, and in part based on what your background and employment needs are. In many ways, types of application letters are like the types ofresumes. The types of application letters can be defined according to amount and kind of information:
• Objective letters — One type of letter says very little: it identifies the position being sought, indicates an interest in having an interview, and calls attention to the fact that the resume is attached. It also mentions any other special matters that are not included on the resume, such asdates and times when you are available to come in for an interview. This letter does no salesmanship and is very brief. (It may represent the true meaning of "cover" letter.)
• Highlight letters — Another type of application letter, the type you do for most technical writing courses, tries to summarize the key information from the resume, the key information that will emphasize that you are agood candidate for the job. In other words, it selects the best information from the resume and summarizes it in the letter — this type of letter is especially designed to make the connection with the specific job.
How do you know which to write? For most technical-writing courses, write the highlight letter. However, in "real-life" situations, it's anybody's guess. Try calling the prospectiveemployer; study the job advertisement for clues.
Common Sections in Application Letters
As for the actual content and organization of the paragraphs within the application letter (specifically the highlight type of application letter), consider the following comon approaches.
Introductory paragraph. That first paragraph of the application letter is the most important; it sets everything up — thetone, focus, as well as your most important qualification. A typical problem in the introductory paragraph involves diving directly into work and educational experience. Bad idea! A better idea is to do something like the following:
• State the purpose of the letter — to inquire about an employment opportunity.
• Indicate the source of your information about the job — newspaperadvertisement, a personal contact, or other.
• State one eye-catching, attention-getting thing about yourself in relation to the job or to the employer that will cause the reader to want to continue.
And you try to do all things like these in the space of very short paragraph — no more than 4 to 5 lines of the standard business letter. (And certainly, please don't think of these as the "right" or the...