Megan Riksen:

Hello and welcome to the Work Like a Laker podcast. I'm Megan Riksen, and today I am joined by Grace Joaquin. So Grace, how do you feel about writing cover letters? <Laugh>.

Grace Joaquin:

Uh like most people, it is probably not my favorite activity to do because they take, I think, a little bit more effort than resumes personally, because I think it's really important to personalize them. So agree cover letters, while it's not the worst thing you have to do. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> it's a lot of time, and I don't know about everyone else, but I'm that type of person that has to reread things about a hundred times to make sure I didn't make a mistake. So same, it takes a minute to How about you? Yeah, same thing. And yeah, with resume, everything is like short bullet points in the cover letter. You actually have to, you know, write eloquently and it needs to make sense.

Megan Riksen:

And yeah. I do think you need to pay a lot of attention to what you're applying for. Yes, exactly. Which is what we're gonna talk more about.

Grace Joaquin:

Yes. Today we'll give you tips if you struggle to Yes. That's what we're here to talk about. Exactly. So, yeah, our big topic today is cover letters, and we just really wanna go pretty in depth here. For those of you who are like, what is a cover letter? What in the world would I include in something like that? So what's your typical response, grace? When students ask if they need to submit a cover letter when they're applying to a job, I usually say if, well obviously some places will require one of course, and then of course you need to put it in. But honestly, majority of companies won't require it. But there might be a spot where you can upload Mm-Hmm.

Grace Joaquin:

<Affirmative> as an option. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And in those situations, I always tell students that they should. So even if it's optional, my recommendation is to always upload. Because here's the thing, it's not gonna hurt you. Right. Like, even if they aren't, even if the employer doesn't read it in depth Yep. It's only gonna look good that you've made that effort to include it. And then plus, if they are someone who's going to read it in depth, it could really help you. Absolutely. And it could help you down the road. Maybe it doesn't, you know, I mean, hopefully your resume is the piece that like, gets you past some of the initial screening, but once you get more eyeballs on it and they start looking more in depth at candidates, having a cover letter and having hopefully a little bit of different information about yourself or, you know a little bit more narrative style where, where you can tell a story a little bit easier than in a resume.

Megan Riksen:

I think it can come in pretty handy. I know I can give an example recently where I was on a hiring committee and the cover letter for me was really what sealed the deal of I wanted, wanted to bring in. Because again, I totally think what Megan said is probably true of most situations where really your resume is the, the main thing. They're looking at your application details, and then once they're trying to narrow it down, they might look through your cover letter a little bit more closely. But I was on a search committee where the job itself is a new position and it wasn't super well-defined. And so when we were looking through the applicants, we really wanted to know, do they have an understanding Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> of what this job is or could be. Like, what is their vision for this position because it's a new one.

Grace Joaquin:

And so reading the cover letters is really what helped us to figure out, oh, they do understand what we're trying to accomplish with this new role. So that honestly was in that sense, almost more important than the resume in some ways because it helped us understand their thought processes about the, the role. Yeah. So it really can serve a pretty different purpose from a resume, which is like, here's the facts, here's the stuff that is the most relevant for this job, but it's a list. Right. And it's a lot of things, whereas the cover letter is your opportunity to say, right. Maybe it's a little bit more of how you envision yourself fitting in that role, what you envision for the role itself, like in your example to be able to do a little bit more of that storytelling. Exactly. And to show off your writing skills as well.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. We didn't mention that. Yeah. But that's, that's a huge piece too. Good point. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> for sure. So, all right. I think we agree that a cover letter is a pretty important part of a successful application. So let's get into it a little bit. Do you wanna start talking just about cover letter formatting? Yes. So if, again, if you're like me, I'm the type that stresses over that stuff. Yeah. I'm, I think to my, in my head, oh my gosh, I'm not gonna get this position simply because I didn't put the date in the right place, <laugh>. Right. Which probably isn't true, but that's the way my mind works. Yes. So I like to have sort of a blueprint and we do have an example on our website. So if you go to, if you just Google GVSU Career Center, our website has some resources in the students tab for cover letters.

Grace Joaquin:

So you can see an example formatting, which I think it's helpful to visually see that it's, yeah. But one thing that I honestly didn't know until I got this role in the career center is that it's helpful to put your header on the top of your cover letter that is the same as your resume. So your header on your resume should have like your name, your contact info, and it's probably going to be in a certain like font or style. And what we like to do is put that on the cover letter because A, it's helpful information to have your contact info on there, and b, it helps tie it to the resume. So they look like a nice matching set. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, it all looks cohesive. So that's one way to kind of stylize your cover letter in a way that's gonna make it look professional and match with your resume.

Megan Riksen:

Right. It's kind your personal brand. Exactly. Right. You have this header that's gonna go on your cover letter, your resume. Maybe you're using a similar font in other places if you, you know, need to provide other documents, things like that.

Grace Joaquin:

And, and that being said, it doesn't have to be anything super fancy. No, no. It's just simply that they're going to be formatted the same. Yes. So they look the same, but yeah, you don't have to get into any fancy graphics maybe unless you're in a field where that's more appreciated. Um and so you want that at that at the top, and then you are going to have, the next part is going to be left justified and you're going to have the date on there. You are going to also have who you're writing it to, the name of like the director of the office you're applying to, or the employer as well as their address, their physical address. Which it might seem kind of odd because we don't really send these letters physically anymore. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> through the mail. But that's just kind of the standard. I I think if you, I've seen people leave it off. I don't think it's like the biggest, the most important piece of the cover letter, but again, it is just most common Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> to have their address on the top left. Yeah. It's kind of one of those things that has kind of remained through the years that we probably don't need that, but everybody kind of still expects it. Right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, I think eventually it's gonna, it's gonna go away. Yeah. Yeah. But no, we're not there yet. <Laugh>. No, no. And then you're, so that I would single space, that section. So like you're gonna have like their, the employer's name, their address, single space it, and then add a space after that and then you're gonna put your greeting. So that would be like, dear, whoever, obviously it's very nice if you know a specific person to write the letter to, but it's very common to not know who you're going to write it to. So don't stress if you don't have a specific name. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. If you can get one, great. If not, we recommend something that's similar to dear hiring manager, dear hiring committee. You know, you of course will see people say something like, to whom it may concern but that's a little bit less personal even. So Yeah. Dear sir slash madam, don't do that. <Laugh>. Yeah. It's a little too not great, too formal or, I mean, like these, this is a formal letter, but it's almost just a little too stuffy. Yes, yes. For this day and age. So yeah, we recommend dear hiring committee, dear hiring manager, or something along those lines.

Grace Joaquin:

Another small detail that isn't a huge, it isn't a huge deal, but if you're writing to someone who's really into grammar, they might care about this. After the greeting, you're going to put a colon, not a comma. Yes. So strange. I know. And again, 99% of people probably won't even care or even notice. Yeah. But technically, if you wanna be correct, it will be a colon because it's a professional letter that you're writing. Yep. Yep. And then, so that's kinda the top part. Then you get into the body of it, which Megan and I will discuss. And then at the bottom you do wanna put some sort of sign off so you know, sincerely is tried and true. You can't really go wrong with that. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> best regards, you know, go ahead and put your own little touch on it as long as it's something professional, right.

Megan Riksen:

We're not seeing cheers or something like that. Right? Mm-Hmm.

Grace Joaquin:

<Affirmative> probably wouldn't get too quirky with it, but you can, there's some options.

Megan Riksen:

Sincerely. Sounds pretty nice. Yeah. That's usually what I go with <laugh>. Yeah. And then you're gonna wanna maybe put a few spaces and then type your name out. And then honestly, if you do want that like final nice last touch, you can print out your document, physically sign in between the signature and your typed name. Yep. Or what am I trying to say? In between the, the sign off, like sign off sincerely. Yeah. Space type name. Yes. You could put your signature S that signature. Yes. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yep. You don't, and then scan it back in. You don't have to do that last piece, but it does look nice. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. We will say the one thing you should avoid is probably typing in cursive your name, right.

Grace Joaquin:

That looks a little tacky. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So either sign it or just type in regular fonts, your actual signature or Yeah, just keep it typed. Right? Yeah. So I think, did I, oh, another thing with formatting that I forgot to mention is the body of your paragraph. You do want the body to be single spaced. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> with spaces in between each paragraph and everything left justified. So no indentations in the paragraphs. Yeah. Good call. Good point. Cool. All right. So let's get into what you're actually going to be saying in your cover letter, which you know, of course is going to be very dependent on who you are, what your experiences are, and also what you're applying to. But these are just kind of general guidelines. And a way to get started. So three paragraphs is typically what we're looking at. Now that could vary easily before probably wouldn't be two 'cause you'll kind of see how we're structuring this.

Megan Riksen:

But in general, this cover letter is not gonna be more than one page right. In length. So typically that three, maybe four paragraphs is gonna get you to where you need to be. So the first paragraph you're gonna, you know, you're gonna start with what you are applying for. So you actually are going to tell me, you know, it is my pleasure to apply for x, y, Z internship at X, Y, Z organization. So it's important to really name that. Because you, you, that's a real identifying factor for the person who's reading it. And maybe you're even applying to multiple jobs at a organization. Right. Also, I think it tips them off that you wrote this for them. Yes. Versus copy and pasted Absolutely. <Laugh>. Absolutely. and then you can kind of transition into the why I think this piece is really the most important part of the first paragraph because you want to be sharing, here's why I'm interested in this role.

Megan Riksen:

And that probably is gonna be a combination of, you know, it's something you're passionate about, but also it's something that you're qualified for, right? So you wanna put together a nice sentence or two that speaks to pretty specifically why you want this job. And then it also is a great opportunity to maybe share a little bit of the research you've done. So sharing what you know either about the role and definitely about the organization itself. Again, that will allow you to not come across as if you're writing just kind of this copy and paste generic cover letter so that it really feels personalized both to the rule and to the organization so that you can share, yes, I want to work for you. Not just any marketing company, accounting firm, healthcare system. Right. But this specific one, one question I have Megan.

Grace Joaquin:

So something I often see in that first paragraph is the first line says something like, hi, I'm Grace Joaquin. How do you feel about that? Yeah, I don't think you need it. Yeah. I don't think you need it. You'll be signing it, right? They're gonna know who it's from. So yeah, I would say just cut that out. Especially when you only have one page to work with. Exactly. Yeah. Extra things you don't need. Okay. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. Yeah. So did I cover, yeah, first paragraph. Anything else there? I think the key, like Megan said, the key is to make it specific to that organization. Yeah. And to show your enthusiasm for sure right away. Yeah. So second paragraph, and this is where it could sometimes split into two paragraphs. So you might have like a second and third that would be this middle chunk.

Grace Joaquin:

This is really gonna be the meat of your paper is what I typically say. And it's, we're going to talk about your qualifications, like how your experiences might line up with the position your specific background and why it might be of interest to them. Now. I think one pitfall some people fall into is that they just rehash exactly what's on their resume. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And you don't wanna do that because they can simply look at your resume Right. And see what's on there. Instead. I always try to recommend pick one or two experiences or qualifications that you feel like are most relevant to this position and go a little bit more in depth than what's on the resume. An example would be like, let's say you have a job at Subway and you're applying for an internship in finance, maybe on the resume they're not gonna see why that is applicable or why that connects, but maybe you have a specific Mm-Hmm.

Grace Joaquin:

<Affirmative>, maybe you were a team lead or something in that role that is somehow relevant to the finance internship and you can articulate that better in a cover letter. Totally. So, you know, thinking of those examples of like, okay, what's on my resume? What's missing? Like what information couldn't I get across on this resume that I can then put onto my cover letter? I think that's important to think about. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Also with that you wanna be very specific. So you know, again, instead of just rehashing the bullets of your resume, pick a couple experiences of experiences and give some specific details and examples of what you did or accomplished in those roles that can help paint a picture of who you are as a person, as a worker, et cetera. Yeah. I think that painting of the picture is what makes a cover letter interesting to read.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. Because if, yeah, if it's just a rehashing of the resume, I'm gonna just skim it. But if I get to read a little story a little example from your job at Subway in a time you really, you know, went above and beyond is in the team lead role or whatever it is. Yeah. it makes it a lot more fun to read. Exactly. And you want and you want to connect with your reader as well. Like they're gonna, you want them to feel like they got to know you a little bit and wanna meet you in person. Yep. So that's where you can really let that shine, I think. Yeah, for sure. And wouldn't you say like connecting it back to the role itself if you can? Yeah, just like I was mentioning with my example at the beginning where I was on a hiring committee, it was really helpful to hear them talk about the role they're applying for Mm-Hmm.

Grace Joaquin:

<Affirmative> to understand that they had a grasp of what that was and how it connected to their previous experiences. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So always trying to tie everything back into what you're applying for is key. Yep. And being kind of explicit in your writing. Yes. Right. As you end kind of that body section of the cover letter, one tip I like to say for that is, Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> literally pull up the job description Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> and look at the bullets. So they'll often have like 10 bullets of what they're looking for. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and mimic some of their language. So if they say we're looking for someone who has experience with X, Y, Z, literally in your cover letter you can say, I have experience with X, Y, Z doing my work at Subway. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> or whatever. Yes. And really pull from their language.

Megan Riksen:

Exactly. Yeah. Then you know, you're doing the connecting piece. Yes, for sure. Okay. So I mean, we kind of already <laugh>, it kind of seems like you're writing more than a page at this point, but we know, we know it, you're writing these stories, these examples, but you need to really edit them down as well. So maybe start with, you know, a longer example, but you're gonna really wanna pare that down so that it still is brief to the point. And even visually often with that first paragraph, even though there, there was a lot of things Megan mentioned. Yeah. It ends up being pretty short. Yeah. It's really long. Or it should be. Yeah. Because it's like if you're talking about why you're enthusiastic about the rule, you can really say that in a sentence or two. Exactly. So hopefully again, that middle part is typically the bulk of what, what you're going to be writing.

Megan Riksen:

Yes, exactly. So yeah, the conclusion that final paragraph I find is one of the easier pieces of the cover letter. It might not need to change too much depending on what you're applying for, but basically you wanna, you wanna end on a positive note maybe you do a quick little reiteration of why you're applying, right? So maybe you're pointing out again like, I can't wait to use my skills in this role or something like that. You can definitely use this paragraph to express interest in moving forward so you can express interest in an interview. And then it's also good practice to share when you plan to follow up. So maybe, you know when the posting is closing and you'll follow up two weeks after that. Maybe you just follow up two weeks after you send the application in.

Megan Riksen:

But either way it's kind of nice to say, I'm, I'm gonna be reaching out again because I want to hear back from you and I'm excited about this role. Yeah.

Grace Joaquin:

And that's one I sometimes will even mention. You can probably Google examples Oh yeah. Of a final paragraph in a cover letter. And obviously you're not gonna copy it verbatim, but like you can really get some good ideas of what language to use because it's okay for that last one to be a little bit more generic. Exactly. 'cause it really, yeah, because it just think of this. Yeah. Yeah. That's fine.

Megan Riksen:

Yes, for sure. Good. Okay. I think we've really hit all the main points. You can always come in to the career center. We actually really like to help with cover letters especially if you've given it a shot first. You know, if you come in we're just gonna kind of say all the things we just said to you about how to write a cover letter. So get on our website, check out that example, give it a shot, even if it, you know, has some gaps, some things you're questioning. But yeah, then come in to see us in career lab or make an appointment with your career advisor. I'll also plug the writing lab. Yeah.

Grace Joaquin:

Or the writing center. I mean, because this is so much writing. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And it, I mean, I think, I think I said earlier, you know, it's not gonna hurt you to include one, it could only help you. However, the exception is if you do a poor job of writing it Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> and like your grammar is off or things like that. So this one for sure, you wanna have multiple eyes on it just to make sure that you don't have those little mistakes that we all make sometimes. Yeah.

Megan Riksen:

And those writing consultants are really good at kind of crafting language in a way, helping you maybe be more concise, what words can you eliminate? Exactly. Things like that. So yeah, lots of good resources at Grand Valley for that. Yeah. Awesome. Okay, well I think we've about covered it. Yeah, I do too. So thank you so much to everyone for listening, and we hope you tune in to a future episode soon.