1. Cover Letter Workshop
Rationale: Welcome to “Tutoring Cover Letters.” This presentation is designed to help students with their cover letters.
Directions: Each slide is activated by a single mouse click, unless otherwise noted in bold at the bottom of each notes page.
Writers and Designers: Stacy Lolkus and Allen Brizee, 2007.
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab

2. Agenda Cover Letter Basics Preliminary Research Header First Paragraph
Middle
Conclusion
Language
Extra Tips
Key Concept: The facilitator should stress the fact that if the tutor doesn’t understand the reason the student is creating the cover letter, he or she could waste time worrying about the wrong parts.
The facilitator should stress again and again that it is very important that the tutor is first concerned with the student’s questions. At Purdue’s Writing Lab, tutors only have a 30 minute session to help the student, which should be primarily concerned with the student’s needs.

3. It is personal but professional
Cover Letter Basics
A cover letter expresses interest and qualifications for a particular position
It is personal but professional
It should be adapted to the position/company
It explains how you fit with (ti inserisci nella) organization and how you will help them
It tries to expand the main points from your CV
It “sells” your qualifications to the future employer
Key Concept: The facilitator should emphasize that a cover letter should make a student stand out from the rest of the applicants. Each cover letter will be different according to experiences, jobs, and applicants. Remind the tutors that although students may seem hesitant to make more than one cover letter, each cover letter should be tailored to a particular job or assignment to be most effective.

4. General job information Desired qualifications and skills (abilità)
Preliminary Research
Make sure you know:
General job information
Desired qualifications and skills (abilità)
Key values and words
Research helps you build your cover letter
Look for (cerca) mission statements, organization
“vision,” goals, etc.
Key Concept: The facilitator should emphasize that sometimes the tutor will have to help a student find information about a job position or company. Most students don’t realize they need to do preliminary research before writing a cover letter. Tutors should stress the impact that knowledge about a company can have on the effectiveness of a cover letter.
Activity: If the tutors have access to computers, the facilitator could have tutors take some time to explore looking up company and job information. A couple tutors could then share what they found with the rest of the tutors.

5. Date Salutation First Paragraph Conclusion Closing
Student Address
Stacy Lolkus
222 Harrison Dr
Apartment 5
West Lafayette, IN 47906
October 16, 2006
Jenny Lock
Uline — HR Recruiting Center
2105 S. Lakeside Drive
Waukegan, IL 60085
Dear Ms. Lockridge:
After speaking with Emily Richards about her past summer in the internship program, I am very interested in your
Human Resources Summer Internship position. I worked with employee benefits this past summer and became
very interested in the human resources aspect. I have obtained many leadership opportunities while working as a Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator at Purdue’s Writing Lab that would be valuable in a career at Uline.
As Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator at Purdue’s Writing Lab, my primary role is to help train
new tutors for the Writing Lab. I work directly with the Business Writing Coordinator teaching classes and
participating in mock tutorials to allow students to obtain hands-on experience tutoring business documents. I
also organize educational workshops to refresh the skills of current Business Writing Consultants. My position as
a Boiler Gold Rush Team Leader also challenged me to use my enthusiastic personality to motivate incoming
freshmen to be involved in campus activities. As a Human Resources Intern at Uline, I could use all of these
leadership skills while learning more about recruiting and hiring practices.
Thank you for considering me for this position. I would love to discuss these and other qualifications with you. If
you have any questions, please call me at or me at
Sincerely ,
Enclosure: Résumé
Date
Employer Address
Salutation
First Paragraph
Middle Paragraph
Conclusion
Key Concept: A sample of a cover letter with the sections indicated.
Closing

6. Header
Your Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Date
Name of Contact Person
Title
Organization
Street Address
Dear Ms., Mr., Dr., (etc):
Make sure you address the letter to a specific person if possible (preferably the interviewer)
Key Concept:
The “Header” should include:
Student’s address
Date
Employer’s address
Salutation.

7. More Examples Date October 4, 2006 Name of Contact Person Stacy Lo
Title
Organization
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Ms., Mr., Dr. (etc):
October 4, 2006
Stacy Lo
CEO
Lo Labs
300 State St.
Chicago, IL, 60611
Dear Ms. Lo:
Key Concepts: Another example of how to start the letter. In this example, the student’s address could go at the end of the letter, after the signature.

8. Get the reader’s attention Introduce yourself
First Paragraph
Purpose (scopo):
Get the reader’s attention
Introduce yourself
Explain the purpose of the letter
Explain why you are interested in the position or the company
Explain how you will help the organization
Preview the rest of the letter

9. First Paragraph (sample)
After speaking with Emily Richards about her past summer in the internship program, I am interested in your Human Resources Summer Internship position. I worked with employee benefits this summer and became interested in the human resources aspect of the position. In addition to the leadership opportunities I obtained while working as a Business Writing Consultant Assistant Coordinator for Purdue’s Writing Lab, I have also developed my communication skills during my summer internship. I believe my skills will help your Human Resources department maintain its excellent track record.
Key Concept: This is an example of a standard beginning paragraph.

10. Highlight (metti in evidenza) skills and benefits to the company
Middle Paragraphs
Highlight (metti in evidenza) skills and benefits to the company
Emphasize interest in the company
Provide concrete evidence (prove concrete)
Show don’t tell (use information from
the resume)
Include specific, credible examples of
qualifications for the position
Begin paragraphs with topic sentences (frasi chiave)
Key Concept: The facilitator should remind the tutor that the student should pick no more than two or three skills or benefits. Some students get in the habit of listing qualities, which tells the employer absolutely nothing.
Organize your body paragraphs to emphasize your strongest and most relevant qualifications. Only include the two or three strongest qualifications from your resume.
Make it easy for readers to scan your letter by beginning each paragraph with a topic sentence

11. Middle Paragraph
(Sample)
As a banking representative at Chase, I provided quality customer service while promoting the sale of products to customers. I also handled close to $20,000 each day and was responsible for balancing the bank’s ATM machine. My experience with customer relations and money management can help your accounting firm expand its Middle East division located in Dubai.
Key Concept: This is an example of an effective middle paragraph.

12. Conclusion
Conclude the letter
Provide contact information
I would like to discuss these and other qualifications with you to further explain how I can contribute to your Middle East operations. I look forward to meeting you soon. If you have any questions, please call me at or me at
Key Concept: This paragraph brings the entire cover letter together and expresses what the student will do, or the student’s expectations

13. Sincerely, Simon Smith Enclosure: Resume Closing Formats Sincerely,
5886 Tunbridge Crossing
Fort Wayne, IN 46815
Enclosure: Resume
Key Concept: These are two examples of very common closing formats.

14. Look for: Language: Weak Language (linguaggio debole):
I worked as a ramp agent at Comair.
Strong Language:
As a ramp agent, I assisted in loading baggage, oversaw fueling the aircraft, and stocked commissary items on the aircraft.
Key Concept: If the tutor has time and notices any weak language, he or she can help the student change these sentences to better describe the student’s experiences.

15. Unprofessional language Length (lunghezza)
Extra Tips
Unprofessional language
Length (lunghezza)
- Letters should only be one page
Strongest and most relevant qualifications should be highlighted
- Limit to a few qualifications
Easy to read
- Begin with topic sentences
Key Concept: If the tutor notices any sexist or informal language in the letter, he or she should remind the student that although it may seem appropriate, the student has no way of knowing who will read the letter. Sometimes students may argue that they know the person who will be receiving the letter. That person may see the letter, but may also want to share the student’s cover letter with others.
Therefore, the language should be appropriate for all audiences.

16. Explain how you will help organization
Extra Tips
Appeal to (fai ricorso a) company values, attitudes, goals, projects, etc.
Explain how you will help organization
Elaborate on the information in your resume
Provide evidence of your qualifications
Proofread (ricontrolla) carefully for grammatical and typographical errors
Key Concept: The facilitator should remind the tutors that some of the work experiences students have had may not seem to be relevant, but still usually has some aspect of the job that was.
Tutors should also not try to take over the tutorial. If a student doesn’t want help with a part that a tutor thinks needs tweaking, the tutor should refrain from interfering.
Students may seem down about some of their work experiences or lack of work experiences. Sometimes, tutors just need to encourage them and help them realize that they have valuable skills even if they don’t think they do.

17. Purdue University Writing Lab Check our website Email brief questions
Where can you go to find extra help
Purdue University Writing Lab
Heavilon 226
Check our website
brief questions

18. The End Cover Letter Workshop By: Stacy Lolkus and Allen Brizee.
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
Written by: Stacy Lolkus and Allen Brizee, 2007.
Updated by: Ghada M. Gherwash and Joshua M. Paiz, 2014