Cover Letters | Identify a Job Posting

Each cover letter should be tailored to fit the position you’re applying for. The goal is to clearly demonstrate why it would be to the company’s benefit to hire you. Cite specific examples of your past work and connect that experience with what the company is looking for. Anticipated time: 40 minutes to review content, 2-3 hours to find job posting & write cover letter 1. Review Dr. Steinbrenner's video (Links to an external site.) about effective cover letters and/or follow the instructions below. 2. Find a job posting of interest to you. The job posting should be for a position that you would reasonably be applying for currently (i.e.: an internship or other student-level role). Watch this video for resources about where to find job postings. (Links to an external site.) 3. Save the job posting of interest to you. Highlight or underline the key terms and phrases that you are most interested in and/or qualified for, which will help you shape the qualifications matching sections of your cover letter. Circle any minimum qualifications that you will need to meet. Upload the job posting with your markings as a PDF with file name "Last_First_Job". For example, "Steinbrenner_Julie_Job". Before You Start Writing Your Cover Letter Data Mine the Job Description - Start by reading through the job description and identifying key words or phrases that tell you what they're looking for in a new hire. Some of those indicators will come from the list of requirements, but often there's additional useful information in the introduction and/or the description of roles and responsibilities. Do Your Research - The best way to research a company is by talking with someone who works there and getting a first-hand perspective. If that's not an option, read through the information on their website and do a Google news search. See what you can find that makes you excited to work for them and gives you insight into what they might be looking for in an intern. Select Your Example(s) - We generally recommend using one or two experiences as extended examples to demonstrate how you've gained the skills that the company is looking for. What experience would you like to focus on? For example, you could walk them through a challenge from your First-Year Engineering Project to demonstrate things like teamwork, problem solving, and initiative. Writing Your Cover Letter Paragraph One: Introduction - Briefly introduce yourself and reference the position that you're applying for, as well as how you learned about the position. Include 1-2 sentences that explain why you're excited to work with their company specifically and 1-2 sentences about the unique value you would bring to the role and/or why you would be a good fit (Do Your Research, Data Mine the Job Description). Paragraph Two: Main Body - Use the experience you identified for your extended example to show how you've met the job qualifications, making sure to reference how that experience would translate into value added for the company and your team (Data Mine the Job Description, Select Your Example(s)). Paragraph Three: Additional Example(s) - If you find that you have too much to say for one paragraph, you can include an additional paragraph. This paragraph could provide a second extended example or it could include a few examples that are covered more briefly, to succinctly address the remaining qualifications from the job description. Paragraph Four: Closing - Briefly thank the reviewer for their time and reiterate your interest in the position. Example Cover Letters The example cover letters below are for/from upper division students, but the same principles can be applied to an entry level internship application. Project experience, experience from students organizations, and non-engineering job experience are all great things to focus on through an extended example.