COVER LETTERS FOR CAREERS IN AGRI-BUSINESS

Cover letters and the 4 scenarios• 1. An interview is scheduled and a specific job opening that may interest you • 2. Interview is scheduled but no specific job is available • 3. After the interview takes place• 4. No Interview has been scheduled

8 Guidelines for Writing Great Cover Letters

• 1. Write to someone in particular • - Do a little research – never write “to whom it may concern”• Why should we avoid that ? It will be treated as junk mail - Just think about the mail you and your parents get at home.

2. Make absolutely no errors - Can be the easiest way to offend someone (misspelling or wrong

gender, incorrect title). - Use spell check and check grammar - Absolutely no slang or abbreviations

8 Guidelines for Writing Great Cover Letters

• 3. Personalize your content- Don’t use premade letters – its to generic and informal

4. Present good appearance - your contacts with prospective employers should be professional

5. Never hand write a cover letter

8 Guidelines for Writing Great Cover Letters

5. Use appropriate format - Always use business format writing

6. Provide a friendly opening - begin your letter wit ha reminder of any prior contacts and reason for your correspondence now

7. Target your skills & experiences - You must know something about the organization or person whom your dealing with. - Present relevent background that may be of particular interest to that person

8 Guidelines for Writing Great Cover Letters

• 8. Define your next step • Don’t close your letter without clearly identifying what you will do

next • Don’t leave it to the employers to contact you • You must take the initiative to contact them

Who should get your cover letter• 2 groups of people should receive your cover letter

• A. People who know • B. People who you don’t know

- Call the person who you know if they already advertised the positon.

- - Make some sort of personal contact before sending resume and - cover letter

- If you don’t know the person hiring – makes no sense to contact them, just send resume and cover letter

Points of Emphasis • Remember you are competing with other people for the

same positon – you must work hard and fight for the positon that you want.. Nothing is ever handed to you

• 1. your resume should stand out from the rest. • 2. Your cover letter & resume should be neat, clean, and professional at all times. • 3. References must be reliable, credible, and not family

Example of a Good Cover Letter