{"id":6773,"date":"2020-03-06T10:46:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T15:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwin.edu\/enews\/?p=6773"},"modified":"2024-12-17T17:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T22:12:14","slug":"faculty-article-cover-letter-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwin.edu\/enews\/faculty-article-cover-letter-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting \u201cTwo Thumbs Up\u201d on your Cover Letter from Tough Career Critics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting \u201cTwo Thumbs Up\u201d on your Cover Letter from Tough Career Critics
\n<\/strong>by Dr. Michael Wolter<\/p>\n

During a recent workshop on developing r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and cover letters, students asked why cover letters are important, how they should be written, and if employers even read them.<\/p>\n

When individuals are actively searching for jobs, they might easily spend eight hours or more cautiously crafting a solid r\u00e9sum\u00e9 \u2014 all for a hiring manager\u2019s momentary review. It\u2019s even more frustrating when you factor in creating and customizing a cover letter that will be scanned in seconds. Let\u2019s examine these materials and what their real purpose is.<\/p>\n

I start my cover letter workshops with some important framing questions. \u201cHow many of you go to the movies?\u201d I ask. This generally gets everyone in the room to raise their hand. I then ask, \u201cWhat do you see before the movie starts?\u201d Students typically respond about the previews or trailers of upcoming films.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what do trailers show us?\u201d I inquire.<\/p>\n

Students go on to describe the hero of the movie, awesome fight scenes, and the intense plot twists and turns. I jokingly ask, \u201cWe don\u2019t see the hero of the movie waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, getting stuck in traffic, reading a book\u2026 why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one will spend that much money to go see a movie like that!\u201d they answer.<\/p>\n

This is exactly my point. Your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is YOUR movie, so think of your cover letter as the trailer. If you can grab the attention of your audience (i.e., future employers) during your trailer, they will want to flip the page to continue on to your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. With so many applicants out there, you want your<\/em> cover letter to stand out among the others.<\/p>\n

Quality contents that captures employers\u2019 attention
\n<\/strong>Every cover letter should have introductory and concluding paragraphs. It is the body, or the content area, of your cover letter that will grab your audience\u2019s attention. Review the job description for which you are applying and identify the top two to three priorities of the position. Now go to your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and see how your experiences, education, and qualifications align with those priorities.<\/p>\n

Align one of those priorities to your experiences or education and you have a paragraph. Expand on each match from the job posting to your professional experience and in a short time, you will have three or four paragraphs for your cover letter. Craft your wording with the mindset of a movie trailer: entice your audience (potential employers) to be entertained enough by your professional sneak preview (cover letter) to seek out your movie (r\u00e9sum\u00e9) among the reel of other options.<\/p>\n

It is important to have a peer, mentor, faculty member, Career Services, or friend review your cover letter. A fresh set of eyes helps pick up errors, word choices<\/span>, and spelling mistakes you may miss when you review them. Take in their feedback, make the adjustments to your cover letter, and then send them out to be scanned, seen, and successfully selected from among your competition.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/u><\/strong> to learn more about Goodwin\u2019s Management and Leadership offerings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/u><\/strong> to learn more about Goodwin\u2019s Career Services support.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting \u201cTwo Thumbs Up\u201d on your Cover Letter from Tough Career Critics by Dr. Michael Wolter During a recent workshop on developing r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and cover letters, students asked why cover letters are important, how they should be written, and if … Continue reading Getting \u201cTwo Thumbs Up\u201d on your Cover Letter from Tough Career Critics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1063],"tags":[129,268,424],"class_list":{"0":"post-6773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-university-news","8":"tag-career-services","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-management-and-leadership","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"\nHow to Get Two Thumbs Up on Your Cover Letter | Goodwin University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are cover letters important, and do employers even read them? 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