Elon University School of Communications
A good cover letter is just one page long, it is dated and it has all your particulars - name, address, phone number, e-mail address - in case it gets separated from the resume.
The cover letter should be addressed to a particular person by name and should have that person's correct title. It's always smart to make a phone call to make sure you have those correct. You want your letter to stand out from the rest, but you don't want to get too familiar or strange. So, be specific, write well and diplomatically tease the person who's hiring into reading your clips and your resume.
Here's one approach: "I'll do anything for a good story." The cover letter goes on to talk about feature stories the person had written on parachute jumping, being a guinea pig for a medical testing center and a taste test of the food at the local restaurants with the lowest sanitation ratings. (If you mention a particular piece of work in your cover letter, be SURE to include it in your work portfolio.)
Here's another: "They said it couldn't be done, but I did it." The cover letter next describes an event you planned, a project you completed, a story you accomplished against the odds.
Another approach is to say, in an unexpected way, why you think you'd be perfect for the position. Example: One police reporter wrote that she wanted the beat covering a major city's copshop because that city's crime stats made it sound like the perfect place for covering crime.
The secret to a good cover letter is to seize on the most interesting work you've done or experiences you've had and to tell about them in a brief, but compelling, way. Give your cover letter a strong lead. Remember to use nouns that people can see and verbs that they can feel.
Customize your letter by showing that you know a little something about the communications organization at which you're applying, perhaps by mentioning it in the body of the letter, but spend most of the space talking about your fit for the job, not about everything you've learned about the company or that region of the country. The cover letter must be letter-perfect, of course.
Types of Cover Letters
As with newspaper articles, purpose dictates the form of a good cover letter. Once you've settled on a purpose, you'll know how to structure the letter. You can choose from a variety of openings - autobiographical, anecdotal or aggressively confident are a few - but you'll still need to make a few key points that satisfy the purpose of your letter. These are the primary types of cover letters.
When answering a specific ad...
When applying for a specific opening, you have a few things going for you. If the ad was detailed, you can answer, perhaps point by point, the qualities and qualifications the hiring organizations is looking for, and show how you meet them. Applying for a specific job also tells you which parts of your work history to emphasize. If you're applying for a job as an education PR writer, write about that, and re-cut your resume' to accentuate relevant experience. Use the same approach when applying for an opening you hear about or anticipate, but have not seen advertised. Applying while there is a hot opening gives you the advantages of tailoring your letter to a specific job and landing it on someone's desk at a time when they're most receptive. Tip: Before you write the letter, call the person who's hiring and get more details on what the job will entail.
Mass mailing to many workplaces...
It is tough to make mass-mailed cover letters very specific because they go to so many places at once and because you don't know what job you're applying for - or whether they even have an opening. The response rate on mass-mailed letters is lower than it is on tailored letters. Still, this approach is often appropriate for beginners who have not yet made a lot of contacts in the newspaper business, who are just looking for a start and who will go anywhere to get it. While you canŐt write a separate letter for each newspaper you approach, take the time to personalize the address and greeting. An application addressed to "Dear Sir/Madam," or just a resume' stuffed into an envelope, will not get a response. Tip: At least change the body of the letter to say the name of the company or organization and the manager to whom you are applying - don't slip up and let them know it's a mass mailing. It must be individualized.
Introducing yourself to a potential employer...
These can be effective. Reserve them for your destination jobs. If you think you might want to work at the PR department of Duke Power in two years, write now and tell them that's what you're working toward. Explain why. Enclose clips. Ask the manager if she can provide any advice or feedback. Ask if you can stop by for an informational interview next time you're in town. Tip: Do your research before trying this approach and only use it if you are sincere in your desire for such a future.
Keeping in touch with previous contact...
Networking with people is the most important thing you can do to land yourself a good job. You've heard people say that so-and-so got a job by being in the right place at the right time. Does it happen? You bet. Be in that place by staying in touch. If you know someone at a good media organization, stay in touch through occasional visits or courteous e-mails or by sending updates on your work. Tip: Keep these letters or e-mails informal so that it's clear you're not expecting a response. Supplement these with polite phone calls in which you gauge the person's reaction to your work and your chances.
Internship application cover letters...
It's an extremely competitive market out there in the internship field. You probably have about as much experience as your competitors, the applications all arrive at about the same time and there are way more candidates than there are jobs. You'll avoid the bottom 25 percent of the group if you just do your homework: What's the deadline? What are the application requirements? To whom do I write? Miss one of those and you can be eliminated without a thought. Tip: Open your cover letter in an interesting way. They want to see that you can write. Show them. Half of the candidates for these jobs open in pedestrian ways. Take a risk. With the odds so high, it makes sense and can pay off.
Getting Started: The Lead is Vital
Following are some opening leads culled or paraphrased from internship applications at a major metropolitan daily. If your letter starts like those in the first two groups below, you will probably be in the unchosen majority. Find a new style.. Experiment with gentle combinations, say, an opening line with a twist to get attention, and then an autobiographical body. Choose a type where your own experience and interests suit the style. Don't strain. Notice that some of the good leads below the following bad examples are really combinations. Oh, and by the way, if some of these ideas sound good, but you haven't done the work that allows you to write about yourself this way, well get busy and build up your experience and your portfolio right now!
BLAH: Many internship candidates, writing cover letters for perhaps the first time, go for the safe - and bland. Notice that these state facts obvious from the resume or the signature at the bottom of the letter. You want to be more imaginative than these. Make every word count, and don't keep any words that can be dropped without changing your meaning.
Baaaaad examples from lazy writers: 1) I am applying for a summer photo internship with the Daily Hooha because I know I can do the job well. 2) I currently am a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in psychology at Party U. In addition, I ... 3) My name is John Doe, and I am a sophomore in the process of completing a bachelor's degree in journalism at Rich Private University. 4) I am writing you concerning a possible internship. I feel that I will be an asset to you and your staff for many reasons. 5) My name is Jane Doe, a junior at Diploma Mill, applying for your summer internship. 6) I recently became aware of your internship program and am interested in exploring opportunities with your newspaper. 7) I understand that you are looking for a feature writing intern for the summer. 8) My name is June Doe. I would very much like to be considered for ... 9) My name is Doe Doe and I am a sophomore at State University in What's-it-town, NY. ... 10) I am a junior at State U., majoring in journalism and planning a career as a newspaper reporter.
WORDY: A close cousin of the bland letters, these spend a great deal of time in throat-clearing. Get to the point quickly - just as the editor hopes you will do as an employee. Here are more bad examples: 1) I am currently looking for a summer internship in the print journalism industry and would like to be considered for such a position at your newspaper. 2) I am a junior in college pursuing a concentration in print-journalism and would very much appreciate a chance to apply what I have learned at a first-rate newspaper, such as yours. 3) It has come to my attention through an advertisement at Big State University that intern positions in feature writing are available at your newspaper. 4) I am writing to express my interest in an internship at the Charlotte World Herald over the coming summer. I would like to use this letter as an opportunity to introduce myself as a qualified candidate for the summer internship program at the Charlotte World Herald.
TELL A STORY: Communicators are expected to tell stories, so show the editor that you can by doing it. If you take this approach, say - soon - what the point of the story is. Good ones for example: 1) Each day, Barb Jones carried an armful of shirts into the dry cleaners, and picked up a few clean ones, neatly pressed and bagged in plastic. Working the counter to pay for my journalism studies, I was intrigued by the woman with all the shirts. Finally, I just had to ask ... 2) It's surprising how quickly you can wear out a pair of shoes on the streets of Chicago... 3) Reading my notes by flashlight and typing on a laptop as someone I had just met drove me through a driving rainstorm, I knew I was in the right business... 4) When Jim Johnson appeared to chase his family out of the house and then set fire to it, the neighbors thought he was acting crazy again. It turns out, he was a hero... 5) My parents told me that, if I was going to go out of state to go to school, then I'd have to get there on my own. In a borrowed car that became my living quarters for the next four days, I did...
EXPERIENCED: Many internship candidates have only slight experience. If you have loads of experience to offer - especially if it's in commercial, mainstream newspapers, play it to the hilt. 1) In two summer internships, I have written more than 150 stories on everything from a murder-suicide to a neighborhood bicycle parade... 2) As an editor of my campus newspapers, I hold the record for... 3) Few reporters my age can say that they've met the president and been thrown out of the local police station for asking too many questions... 4) I have endured horseflies, poison ivy, angry dogs and downpours to get a good quote or a telling detail for a story... 5) After a city desk internship at the Suburban Weekly World and two terms editing my school paper, I am ready to go to work for the...
THE DIRECT APPROACH: If you're proud of who you are and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. Try the fresh and straightforward approach. What would you tell the recruiters, face to face, games aside, about why they should hire you? Be crisp. Avoid wordy. Be crisp, not bland: Hire me for a sports internship because I work tirelessly, find stories everywhere and write them well. My professional experience includes internships at two dailies...
TWIST: Wake up the news manager with a twist or a tease. Play contradiction, irony or the unexpected to maximum advantage. Remember that one of the key things editors want to find in a good cover letter is evidence that you can write. 1) Like most student journalists, I expected to start at the bottom with dog shows, planning commission meetings and ribbon-cutting ceremonies. ThatŐs not what I got, though, when I showed up for the first day of work last summer... 2) Sometimes, the stories I tell amaze me... 3) It has been said that you're only as good as your last story. Let me tell you what it was... 4) One of several dozen routine announcements from the campus public information office contained the germ of a story that led to a resignation. 5) I never wanted to be a journalist. Now, I can't help it...
CONFIDENT: A narrow line to walk, be bold without being brash, assured without being arrogant. Only you can tell whether such an approach is natural to you. 1) I am exactly the right person for your sports-writing internship. Are you looking for a highly motivated, team-centered, up-and-coming reporter who is hard working and creative? I am that person... 2) There are few guarantees in life. I am one. Hire me, and you will not be disappointed... 3) You've been looking for someone who will bring creativity, energy and initiative to your newsroom. I am that person...
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND INTERESTING: Can you tell a story about yourself that explains why you are an excellent prospective intern? Can you tell - in a polite, constructive way - why you are the bee's knees? Some people who can began their letters in these ways: 1) My family always said I loved to tell stories... 2) Perhaps it's my sense of order that led me to newspaper design... 3) ItŐs only natural, I suppose, that the girl who spent so many hours in the library reading stories would one day be writing them... 4) All the classes I spent in journalism class didnŐt teach me as much about reporting as the hours I spent driving a hack... 5) As the math whiz in my high school, I was the last person anyone ever expected would want to write for a living. Now I canŐt imagine things any other way... 6) Arson, murder, rape, torture. These are... 7) I have covered small-town politics in Texas, crime in Atlanta and environmental issues in New Jersey. I am ready for my next challenge... 8) I have been yelled at, lied to, had the door slammed in my face and been shot at - all in the pursuit of journalism. What a great business...
Information courtesy the Detroit Free Press
Internship/Job Hunting Links
• Preparing a Portfolio: A professional portfolio is an essential part of your internship/job application. Click for details on portfolio prep.
• Putting Together a Dynamic Cover Letter: Don't waste words. Write a letter that piques the interest of the potential employer and encourages him or her to carefully consider your portfolio and call you for an interview. Click for details on writing cover letters.
• What to Include in a Resume': Rule number one is to assume that pretty much anything you did in high school is not of interest. That was then and this is now. Click for details on resume' writing.
• Preparing to Take the Test: Newspapers and other media organizations often administer writing, editing and/or general-knowledge tests to prospective employees. Are you ready? Click to find out more.
