Effective Cover Letters
In today's extremely competitive Co-op job market, a well-crafted cover letter is more than a formality—it's a strategic tool that can set you apart from others. Serving as a personalized introduction, a cover letter allows you to showcase your enthusiasm for the role, highlight relevant experiences and demonstrate how your skills and abilities align with the company's needs. According to an HR consulting company, applications with a tailored cover letter generally yields 53% more interviews than those without cover letters.
Understanding the key elements of an effective cover letter is essential for making a memorable impression and advancing in the hiring process.
The Power of Personalization
With hectic study schedules, project deadlines, team meetings and upcoming exams, attempting to squeeze in even a bit of time to draft effective cover letters can be challenging for even the most organized student! It’s no wonder why many students opt for opening paragraphs that resembles the following:
"I am writing to apply for the Experimental Plasma Physics internship at General Fusion. I am impressed by your company's efforts to develop fusion energy technology. I believe my academic background and passion for engineering make me a suitable candidate for this position."
It's sometimes believed by students that the above is sufficient as it demonstrates a student’s interest and aims to prove that they have taken time to review the company’s website. The part, though that is a lot of times overlooked and/or underappreciated, is that the above is typically what hundreds of students are doing with each of their applications. If not for that specific reason, then it’s also generally because students are just trying send out as many applications as possible in the limited time that they have, so the above is a result of attempting to find efficiencies in applying.
Hiring managers are typically quick to discard applications that they feel does not rise to their expectations of demonstrating sufficient effort in creating an “engaging” opening paragraph. So, what does an engaging opening paragraph look and sound like? The following example builds off of the example above by expanding on a detail from this specific company’s website and perhaps, more importantly goes into a bit more detail regarding a specific and unique interest in applying.
"I was immediately drawn to apply to General Fusion’s Experimental Plasma Physics Co-op opportunity after reading that the company is focused on creating a world that has clean, limitless energy. As a UBC Engineering Physics student I am quite keen on utilizing my technical knowledge from this program to hopefully one day be in a position where I can dedicatedly focus on supporting renewable initiatives. So, with a deep-rooted passion for sustainability and engineering, I am eager to make a positive impact in this Co-op opportunity with General Fusion by also utilizing my mathematical problem-solving abilities and large data sets experience."
By demonstrating that you have a clear and specific reason for applying to an opportunity and as it relates to what you have identified as an interesting detail about the company again has the potential to increase your interview acquisition rate by at least 50%! And that is the true benefit of putting in this amount of energy into each cover letter, though it is very understandable that the above does requires a greater amount of time and effort.
Keeping Hiring Managers Engaged in Your Application
So, you have created an effective opening paragraph…great! Next step?...ensure that the hiring manager now knows that you are a perfect match for the job description.
Your following two to three paragraphs needs to accomplish two things:
- Ensure that you are highlighting how you have the specific experience, skills, or abilities outlined in the job description. Mentioning details that are nowhere to be found in the job description will ultimately decrease a hiring manager’s interest in your application. Essentially, if you are not highlighting how fit the job description, then why would the hiring manager interview you?
- Highlight the specific experience, skill or ability that you are going to talk about ideally in the first line of the paragraph. This is a good strategy as it ensures that the hiring manager not only is able to connect the paragraph back to their requirements but also aims to keep them well-informed as to what you want to discuss in the paragraph.
A great bonus detail that could enhance each paragraph would be to add some sort of success, accomplishment, goal, etc., that was achieved with each knowledge, skill or ability that is being outlined in the paragraph.
Don’t Forget about Great Formatting
The final piece to any effective cover letter is great formatting. Formatting that generally follows business etiquette guidelines is definitely recommended. When those guidelines are followed, along with ensuring that your cover letter is one full page, it comes across as looking extremely professional.
The following link presents a great example of a cover letter when all of the above concepts are applied. Note that the green highlights point to mentioning the experience, skill or ability that would be outlined in the job description and the yellow highlights point the bonus detail of ending on a high note with a success, accomplishment, etc.
Summary
If you are looking for your cover letter to be as effective as possible, then remember that personalization is key! Generic introductions fail to engage hiring managers, whereas a compelling introduction that connects the applicant’s passion to the company can significantly improve success rates. Beyond the introduction, the body of the cover letter should align specific experiences and skills with the job description to demonstrate a strong fit. Lastly, professional formatting ensures a polished and credible presentation, reinforcing the candidate’s attention to detail and professionalism.