Cover Letter How-To Guide

What is a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is your chance to make a case for why an employer should hire you. It is a formal business letter stating your interest and explaining your qualifications for a professional opportunity. A cover letter builds off your resume, highlighting a few examples that you explain in narrative detail which directly relate to the job description. A cover letter is also an opportunity for you to showcase your writing abilities and thought process. Ideally, a cover letter will inspire a hiring committee to want to get to know you better through an interview. 

When Will I Write a Cover Letter?

You will write a cover letter for nearly every internship and job you apply for. A cover letter, sometimes referred to as a letter of interest, will be requested along with your resume as the main components of an application. Cover letters must be custom-written for each opportunity you apply for as they are specific to each position and organization. 

Note that a cover letter requires multiple drafts before it is ready to send out. There can be no typos or poor grammar, and each sentence must be clearly written with purpose. We highly encourage you to have your cover letters proofread by other people you trust, like an advisor or Peer Career Advisor (PCA) from the Loeb Center, or a friend or family member. Leave ample time for this editing process.

Cover Letter Basics

Formatting

  • No more than one page
  • Margins between 1” to .5”
  • Single-spaced, size 10-12 font, in a neutral typeface such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana or Calibri
  • Utilize a business letter format.
  • Always write your cover to a specific person, or to the Hiring Committee within the department you’re applying to

Structure
The structure of a cover letter is similar to the five paragraph essay you learned to write in middle school: it is a persuasive piece of writing where the thesis statement is about why you are the best candidate for the position and the body paragraphs support your thesis. Each cover letter consists of an introduction, 2-3 body paragraphs outlining your experiences, and a concluding paragraph, all of which are specific to the job you are applying for.

Example

Example Cover Letter Format (Google Document with tips for what to include in the body of the letter)

How To Begin Writing

  • Make a new folder where you can keep your materials for this application.
  • Bring up your resume, the job description, a place to take notes, and make a new document for the cover letter.
  • Note the posting date and the due date for the application, planning accordingly.
  • Try to only concentrate on one application at a time to stay organized.

  • Read the job description fully, making sure you fit the desired criteria.
  • Highlight key words and phrases that you find to be important and/or interesting to you.
  • Tip: copy and paste the job description into a word document for your reference and note-taking.

  • The knowledge you gain from researching the employer will allow you to write a more informed and customized letter, targeted to the position and organization.
  • Find out more about the mission, organization’s culture, and what they value in employees.
  • Identify what you admire and what is interesting to you about this organization
  • Seek information through news and social media, reviews on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed or Vault, find Amherst alumni who work at the organization through LinkedIn or the Alumni Directory and ask them about their experience after reviewing our Networking How-to Guide, or find a former intern through the Handshake student profiles section.

  • Return to the job description and review the required qualifications and tasks. Choose the 2-3 most important aspects of the position that you believe match your qualifications.
  • For each of these 2-3 aspects, make a list of tasks, projects, assignments, or responsibilities that illustrate your experience/knowledge in that area.
  • Choose the most important or relevant experience that you can describe confidently from each list.
  • Use the STAR Method to write a paragraph about each of these selected experiences succinctly and effectively
  • These 2-3 main examples will populate the body of your letter

  • Go back to your resume and make sure that the way you describe your experiences in your cover letter aligns with how you are framing them in your resume, updating or rearranging information when necessary.
  • As noted in the Resume How-to Guide, make sure to target your resume to this opportunity in the same way that you have customized your cover letter through research and careful attention to the job description.

Best Practices for Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Write a Cover Letter

You can use generative AI tools to assist you with brainstorming ideas for your cover letter or editing an existing draft. Additionally, you can use programs such as Grammarly to correct spelling and grammar mistakes and receive feedback on improving your tone to sound more confident or persuasive. Although you can upload or paste all or parts of a cover letter draft you have written to an AI platform, you should redact personal or confidential information (i.e. your name, contact information, GPA, etc.). Never use an AI tool without reviewing its privacy and data protection policies first.

One important thing to remember is that these AI outputs are to be treated as suggestions and starting points, not final products or replacements for your own efforts.  While these tools can produce full cover letter drafts, you should never include one in your final job or internship application without editing it for accuracy, relevance, tone, and style. A tip is to read the cover letter out loud so that you can hear whether it sounds like your authentic voice. The Loeb Center has received feedback from employers that they can detect when applicants have submitted a purely AI-generated cover letter, and it has resulted in those employers declining to interview those applicants. Read the application instructions for any guidelines regarding the use of AI before using the technology to write a cover letter.  

TRY THESE GENERATIVE AI  PROMPTS:

  • Can you identify the top skills and experiences I should highlight in my letter based on this job description: [INSERT JOB DESCRIPTION]?
  • Do you give me tips on how to write an introduction for a cover letter that will hook a reader?
  • Please review my cover letter for tone, style, typos, and alignment with this job description: [INSERT JOB DESCRIPTION]. Here is my cover letter: [PASTE YOUR COVER LETTER].
  • Could you identify the relevant experiences from my resume that I should include in my cover letter for this internship: [INSERT INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION]?  Here is my resume: [PASTE YOUR RESUME].

Tips & Resources

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