Dressing up Cover LettersWhen rhetoric pays—literally

Adding ValueShowing 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

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.

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!

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

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.

Tailoring you letterTailoring.

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.

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?

In-Class Work:

1. Get into groups of 2-32. Open the sample cover letter on the course calendar3. Work together to find and improve sentences based on the

questions below4. Be sure to find a sentence that you can improve based on

each question (so you should change at least four sentences)

5. 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?

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.