Dressing up Cover Letters

1. Dressing up Cover Letters When rhetoric pays—literally

2. Adding Value Showing Added Value • The main purpose of the job application letter is to • establish a professional identity • highlight and develop the credentials listed in your résumé. • The letter should show your professional voice. • The résumé doesn’t generally make room for this • Examples from PWO: • "In Finance 352, we had to write several papers on economic topics, and we even had to give oral presentations.” • Here, the ethos is that of the tired student who "had to write papers." • The language is academic — the vocabulary of school • This does not convey a professional ethos to the reader. • This doesn’t show readers that you are ready-to and experienced-enough to work in a professional environment

3. SAMPLE 2: "My experience in the U.S. Navy has instilled in me a high regard for excellence and achievement, which I strive to maintain daily in both my personal and professional activities. During college, I have worked full-time as a programmer to support my family, and have managed to maintain a near perfect grade point average.” • SAMPLE 3: "My portfolio includes several different kinds of technical documents, including end-user computer documentation, technical descriptions, and summaries of science and technology articles, written for both advanced readers and new learners.” • Samples 2 and 3 do a better job of establishing an ethos • They establish very different character qualities. • The writer of Sample 2 is talking about personal character, about qualities of discipline and achievement that have helped him in his life • These are important qualities to employers. • The writer of Sample 3 focuses on her experiences as a technical writer • Her use of language shows some sophistication with terminology in the field.

4. So what should the letter do? • Your letter establish a professional voice and identity in a fairly short letter • This is why it’s such a difficult document to construct • The job letter serves several other important purposes: • It highlights key credentials and "tailors" them for a specific job. • The job letter connects your credentials to a particular job at a particular company. • It should not be generic and specifically geared for the job you're applying for. • It expands on credentials listed in the résumé. • Do more than merely repeat what is already in the résumé. • "add value" to the résumé by providing additional information or perspective. • It conveys your interest in and enthusiasm for the job and the company. • This is something the generic résumé can't do!

5. Think of the resume as a writing sample. • It profiles your use of language. • This reflect your character and identity • It also shows the reader how well you use language • It shows you can: • Be Careful • Be Precise • Edit and proofread • you know business letter format and style • that you can write fluently and professionally • you have a certain amount of skill

6. It is extremely important that the job application letter be perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics. • Careless or frequent errors can create a negative impression. • A job application letter should not be more than one page long. • It should be a clean, correct, and professional-looking document.

7. Tailoring you letter Tailoring. An effective job letter tailors your credentials for a specific job. Compare the following two sentences from job application letters: GENERIC: “I am writing in reply to your advertisement for a programmer in the August edition of Computerworld magazine. ” TAILORED: “Your advertisement for a programmer in the August edition of Computerworld magazine describes a very intriguing development environment, and one that I am interested in learning more about. ” The first sentence could have been written by any one of thousands of candidates to any number of different companies. The second sentence is not generic: it is specifically tailored for one company, and it shows how the candidate's specific background connects to that company.

8. Tips improving your cover letter Going from Generic to Specific • Steps to going specific • Can I relate this to an experience or something on my resume? • Can I relate a personal interest of mine to this job? • Can I point to a skill or experience that wouldn’t fit on my resume? • Can I use vocabulary from my keyword list?

9. In-Class Work: • Get into groups of 2-3 • Open the sample cover letter on the course calendar • Work together to find and improve sentences based on the questions below • Be sure to find a sentence that you can improve based on each question (so you should change at least four sentences) • Be ready to share your changes and findings Ask the following questions about each sentence of your cover letter: Can I relate this to an experience or something on my resume? Can I relate a personal interest of mine to this job? Can I point to a skill or experience that wouldn’t fit on my resume? Can I use vocabulary from my keyword list?

10. Work • For Friday • Read PWO>Documents>Employment Documents>The Rhetoric of Employment Documents>The Rhetoric of the Application Letter. • Use the process learned in today's class to edit your cover letter. Bring an electronic copy with you Friday.