{"id":2368,"date":"2017-08-04T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T14:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/?p=2368"},"modified":"2017-08-04T10:03:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T14:03:33","slug":"get-off-the-pile-cover-letters-2017-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/2017\/08\/04\/get-off-the-pile-cover-letters-2017-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Off the Pile: Cover Letters, 2017 Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here at Afterword, we want to provide helpful advice to guide you through the real world of job searches, interviews, personal finance and much more. This series “Get Off the Pile” is where we focus on these topics.<\/p>\n

Right now, a lot of you are job searching, or preparing for that process as the summer winds down, so, this week we ask “how can you get off the pile of endless applications with a stellar cover letter”?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrew Flewelling, our HR expert at the UVM Foundation has some helpful tips for how to write great cover letters.<\/strong> Andrew has a graduate degree from UVM and is the Senior Director of Human Resources here at the UVM Foundation. Today he’s going to discuss writing expert cover letters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Basics<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to cover letters, the most common mistake I see is that the applicant merely restates what their\u00a0resume says. I CAN read<\/strong>, so there is no need to make a sentence out of a bullet that is listed on the next page.<\/p>\n

Instead, a good cover letter is one that does my work for me<\/strong>.<\/em> It clearly articulates why the position is of interest; and\u00a0illuminates the skills and abilities that make the applicant special.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to talk about a few (2-3 max) examples of success. Bonus points if the applicant can quantify the success (% increase, overall sales, maximized efficiency by x measure, etc\u2026).<\/p>\n

What Makes a Cover Letter Stand Out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The letters that really stand out are the ones in which the applicant\u00a0takes their experiences, skills, and successes, and synthesizes them for me, highlighting their direct and\/or transferable nature for the position they seek. The best letters\u00a0demonstrate that the writer\u00a0knows enough about the position to be able to overlay their own skills on what we are looking for.<\/p>\n

Tips for Writing a Stand-out Cover Letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Keep it to one page. <\/strong>And be\u00a0aware of\u00a0the\u00a0formatting \u2014 dense,\u00a0long paragraphs in eight point type are not good practice.<\/p>\n

2. State\u00a0the important. <\/strong>In the opening paragraph, mention the position applied for and where the listing was posted. In the rest of the letter, discuss\u00a0what the position requires (skills, characteristics, temperament, values, etc.) and demonstrate\/prove that\u00a0you possess those requirements.<\/p>\n

3. Mix it up. <\/strong>Use a good mixture of short declarative statements and longer, multi clause sentences to make sure the letter flows.<\/p>\n

4. Be Yourself.<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t be afraid to inject a bit of personal passion. Depending on the position, it may be appropriate to articulate your understanding of the importance of the position to the company, industry, society overall. You\u00a0should also be able to articulate why the position is important to you.<\/p>\n

5. Read it out\u00a0loud. <\/strong>Hearing yourself will help you catch mistakes, <\/strong>missed references or awkward phrasing. Have a friend do this with you too, it always helps to double check.<\/p>\n

6. Proofread to perfection. <\/strong>Incorrect grammar, spelling, and punctuation are non-negotiable deal breakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at Afterword, we want to provide helpful advice to guide you through the real world of job searches, interviews, personal finance and much more. This series “Get Off the Pile” is where we focus on these topics. Right now, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2917,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[266803,265456,40450,265760],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-an-assortment","category-careers-jobs-and-grad-school","category-people","category-tips-advice-and-hacks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6o9cB-Cc","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2917"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2368"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions\/2382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/afterword\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}