{"id":20057,"date":"2017-10-02T14:44:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T19:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/?page_id=20057"},"modified":"2024-07-29T11:41:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T16:41:25","slug":"how-do-you-organize-your-cover-letter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/how-to-guides\/cover-letter-guide-2\/how-do-you-organize-your-cover-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you organize your cover letter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection><h3>Cover letters typically have four parts:<\/h3>\n<h5>Part 1: A brief introductory sentence<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>goal<\/strong> of this sentence is to indicate the role for which you are applying<\/li>\n<li>This sentence typically begins, \u201cI am writing to apply . . . \u201c<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Part 2: The remainder of the first paragraph<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>The goal is to show<br \/>\n\u2014 why the organization interests you (it\u2019s about them &#8212; not about you!)<br \/>\n\u2014 why you would be a good fit for the role<\/li>\n<li>Describe how you learned of the position (especially if a person referred you to the role)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Part 3: The main body of the letter (1-2 paragraphs)<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>The<strong> goal<\/strong> is to show how your experiences and skills fit the role and the skills required<\/li>\n<li>Open by briefly introducing your college background, including majors\/concentrations or relevant coursework. Keep it short. Connect your academic interests to the role<\/li>\n<li>Next, describe your qualifications. Follow the outline that you prepared when you <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/how-to-guides\/cover-letter-guide\/how-do-you-review-a-job-description-to-prepare-for-writing-a-cover-letter\/\">reviewed the job description<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Include your greatest accomplishment \u2014 the one that relates most directly to the role<\/li>\n<li>Discuss why the organization would want to hire you. What do you have to offer that would make you a top candidate?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Part 4: Brief closing paragraph<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>The goal is to show how much you would like to become part of the team<\/li>\n<li>Refer the reviewer to the enclosed resume<\/li>\n<li>State that you hope to hear from the organization and to speak with them further<\/li>\n<li>Close with a statement indicating you will <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/how-to-guides\/interview-guide\/follow-up\/#follow_up\">follow up<\/a><\/li>\n<li>List a phone number where you can be reached<\/li>\n<li>Thank the reviewer for taking the time to review your application<\/li>\n<li>Sign your cover letter <strong>by hand<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a class=\"cta\" href=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/how-to-guides\/cover-letter-guide\/what-are-the-layout-and-format-of-a-cover-letter\/\">What are the layout and format of a cover letter?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- begin-migrated-from-panel-builder --><!-- end-migrated-from-panel-builder --><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cover letters typically have four parts: Part 1: A brief introductory sentence The goal of this sentence is to indicate the role for which you are applying This sentence typically [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8275,"featured_media":0,"parent":17163,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20057","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20057"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41115,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20057\/revisions\/41115"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/pipercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}