Cover Letter Checklist
Franz Hall 110 ∙ Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM ∙ 503.943.7201 ∙ care[email protected]
Student name: ______________________________________________________________
This checklist is a guide to identifying the fundamental elements of a cover letter.*
1. Proofread your letter for errors and complete the self-review checklist.
2. Have a peer, faculty member or professional review your cover letter – include position description for his/her
review.
*Please refer to the “Resume and Cover Letters” section of the Career Education Center (CEC) website for more
information: www.up.edu/career. Additionally, the CEC library has numerous resources, including sample cover letters.
Self-
Review
2
nd
Review
Element of a Successful Cover Letter
RESEARCH
Demonstrates that you reviewed the position description and company website to identify desired qualifications,
skills, and abilities for the position/organization
Specifically tailored for the position and organization; addresses why you are interested in the organization as well
why you are a fit for the specific position
Follows all directions in the posting
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
Identifies the position for which you are applying and describes how you heard about the opening
Specifies if you were referred by a specific person and notes that person by his/her name
Clearly states any connection to the organization, including any interaction you have had with employees and/or
recruiters
Briefly highlights why you are interested in the job and organization
The wording is creative and catches an employer’s attention quickly
BODY PARAGRAPH(S)
Identifies your strongest and most relevant qualifications, skills, and abilities and clearly states how they apply to
the position
Incorporates keywords from the position description to demonstrate a strong match
Elaborates on why you are interested in the position, organization, industry and/or location
Expands on the experiences in which you developed relevant qualifications, skills, or abilities, providing clear
examples that invite the employer to review your résumé – does not simply restate what appears on your resume
First sentence of each paragraph summarizes the content of the paragraph – a recruiter may skim the letter
CLOSING PARAGRAPH
Thanks the reader for taking time to read this letter
Refers the reader to your resume or any other enclosed documents
Reinforces your desire to work for the organization and your fit for the position
Identifies next steps and may describe how you will follow up with the employer in a specific time frame
Contact information is provided again for clarity (if not included in signature)
CLOSING & SIGNATURE
Ends with a formal closing, such as Sincerely, Regards or Best regards – If your closing contains more than one
word, capitalize only the first word, as in Best regards or Sincerely yours; Be sure to put a comma after your closing
Your full name goes on the next line if you are submitting online or via email – If you are submitting a paper copy,
sign your letter and then type your full name
Includes your telephone number and email address on separate lines after your name if you did not include them
in the closing paragraph
Self-
Review
2
nd
Review
Element of a Successful Cover Letter
OVERALL FORMAT
Correct business letter format – block and modified block format are standard, each paragraph is single spaced
and left justified within the body of the letter with a blank line between paragraphs
Date and your address at top
Includes contact information for organization, including physical address
Addressed to a specific person with a colon (:) at the end of the greeting (not a comma) –
Example: Dear Mr. Smith:
Review organization’s website or call to identify the correct addressee if it is not included in posting.
If not possible, use Dear Hiring Manager: Dear Search Committee: or Hello:
Content is clear, concise, and interesting , as well as personal, warm, and professional
Uses a 10-12 point font size with the same margins and same font style as resume
Letter flows smoothly and has clear transitions between paragraphs
No longer than one page
SPELLING & GRAMMAR
All the words used are familiar to people; industry-specific terms should be recognizable to those within the field,
industry and/or company
All words are spelled correctly – do NOT rely on spell check
Use of capitalization is consistent – if you capitalize the job title or subject, make sure you do it throughout letter
Punctuation used to separate information is consistent
COMMENTS:
How to submit a resume and/or cover letter:
Email as an attachment:
• Save your cover letter, resume and references (if requested) in a common word processing program such as
Microsoft Word or as a PDF (preferable). Increasingly, employers are specifying format.
• Give the document a name the employer will associate with you once they are downloaded, for example:
SmithJane_Position.pdf.
• In the Subject line, put the name of the position for which you are applying. In your email message, briefly say
why you are writing. Ask the employer to contact you about any trouble opening attachment(s).
Send in the body of an email:
• Paste your cover letter a couple of spaces below your brief introduction. Set it up in Business (Block) Style, with
everything justified to the left. Your cover letter may need to be reformatted to send it in the body of an email
message. Do not use bold, italics, underlining, bullets, fancy fonts, colored text, or multiple columns.
• Attach your resume (in PDF format) to the email.
Mail or submit in person:
• Final cover letters and resumes submitted to employers as paper copies should be printed on resume quality
paper (ivory, gray or white) with the watermark right side up, and should not be stapled to other application
materials.
• If the cover letter and resume are being sent through the mail, then they should be placed in a large manila
envelope or an envelope that matches the resume paper.
Cover Letter Checklist
Franz Hall 110 ∙ Monday – Friday 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM ∙ 503.943.7201 ∙ care[email protected]
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): You need to format your resume in an ATS-friendly manner
• Title your materials with your name and targeted title: "LastName_Position"
• Remove images, columns, tables, fields, text boxes and graphics so the ATS can quickly scan your text for
keywords and phrases. The ATS may not be able to read data placed in images, tables, and text boxes, so it’s
best to avoid them altogether.
• Remove special characters and avoid creative or fancy bullets that are often illegible to an ATS scanner.
• Avoid special fonts, font treatments and colors. Stick to fonts such as Arial, Georgia, Impact, Courier, Lucinda,
Tahoma or Trebuchet, and only use black color. Avoid underlining words, which can mess up the legibility of
lower case letters such a g, j or y.
• Avoid templates, which are a combination of fields and tables and can confuse ATS systems. Also, avoid page
numbers.
• Save your materials as a basic word document (.doc) or .txt file.
For additional information on submitting through an applicant tracking system, visit the following resources:
• http://www.careerthinker.com/resume-services/resume-advice-tips/resume-distribution/
• http://www.hrbartender.com/2014/recruiting/the-new-resume-rules-infographic-friday-distraction/
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/03/18/how-to-get-your-resume-read-by-an-employer/
