I had a student contact me after she'd been out of school for three years. She wanted to tell me that she'd finally gotten the knack of writing cover letters. It only took her three years and about 60 cover letters! Writing cover letters is both a technical skill and a personal one. Finding the right balance between personable and professional is an interesting challenge. You MUST be interesting. You MUST engage them with the very first paragraph. It's not an easy thing to do and one you will practice over and over and over again. But, it is an essential tool when building your career, or moving from one career to another, or one location to another one if you're looking to replace your job somewhere else.
Type "writing cover letters" into your search engine and you'll come up with millions of pages of advice (mine too). Mostly they all say the same thing, keep it to one page, tailor your letter to the description provided in the advertisement, do your research, and follow up and follow through. Mostly that is it! But let's break it down just a little more so you can develop a clearer picture of the expectation.
Format:
1. Keep your cover letter to one page - in general this is a good rule but not always so. Your cover letter should be the length that fits the job. I applied to a school once with what I thought was a brilliant cover letter and it was three pages long. But it was a very high level job and the job description demanded that I respond in a way that allowed my thoughts to fully conveyed about why I was the best candidate for the job. It got me the interview so the hard rule of one page is only a suggestion. When you're building your career you might not have a whole lot to say and the demands of the job might not be quite as severe as a three-pager. Judge the length of your paper by the demand of the information provided. Let that be your guide. What is important is what is said and not how long it takes to say it if you say it well.
2. Keep to three paragraphs - again, in general this is true as well. Your opening paragraph introduces yourself, discusses how you heard about the open position, and might relate one or two people in common - especially if they have recommended that you apply for the position (be sure you have their permission first!). The second paragraph compares your skill set to the one listed in the announcement. This is not a recounting of what is in your resume but in can highlight events in your resume you want pointed out. This is where you get to be a little more personable discussing your skill set and how it matches so perfectly the descriptors they have included in their posting. The final paragraph is your wrap up.
If you are sending this cover letter in cold, meaning there is no job posting, and you are fishing for an interview, base your middle paragraph on the company, the company's history of accomplishments, and what you can bring to the company if they hire you. Everyone will tell you to do research in the company and it has never been easier than now. The internet and web sites make it very easy to find out who works there, what their mission statement is, what they value in operation, and in some cases the fiscal stability of the company. You can find out readily if it is a .org, .com, .net, etc. that will help you understand the overall focus of the organization and help you tailor your letter to their needs. Dive in and find out who works there and what they do. If you get the interview you'll want to know their names as well as their positions in the hierarchy of the company. Time spent in research pays off. We recently hired a new faculty member in acting who not only knew my name, he knew where I went to college! Now that is a good researcher (and he got the job!).
The final paragraph is a wrap up of what makes you excited about this position. It is also a reach out that you will follow up and be specific about how you intend to do accomplish this task. A lot of theatre companies post in their notices, "do not phone". It is my advice to not ignore this but don't take it as gospel either. Remember there are thousands of actors to each production person looking for jobs. I can understand a theatre company being overwhelmed by actors seeking employment but a good stage manager is hard to find. I encourage my students to include in this paragraph that you will be following up with either a note or a quick call to see if the position has been filled. There are any number of theatre companies out there offering unpaid internships. To not pay you and ask you to spend hundreds of hours gaining experience and not offering to talk to you about the process seems terribly one-sided. I might think twice about working with them in the future. It's both a right and a privilege to look for work. You should not be hesitant to do so and that includes finding out if you are still in the running.
Now, once again we're to that point where I have to deal with the three paragraph rule. Some job postings demand that you respond as completely as possible. Make sure you have fully answered the issues listed in the job announcement. If that is four paragraphs then make it four really good paragraphs.
Spelling and Grammer:
It is always best to include a partner to help proof your work. It is very easy to overlook a misspelled word the fourth or fifth time you've worked through writing your cover letter. It's natural. Have someone else look through your work with fresh eyes. Have you spelled there when it should be their? Then instead of than, etc. Did you just misspell entirely a wrod? Most word processors have built in spell-checkers to help you with this aspect of cover letter writing but don't underestimate the value of a second pair of eyes helping you proof your cover letter.
Nothing is more damaging to your cover letter then misspelled words and names. I don't view as many cover letters as I used to early in my career but I can tell you that those with egregious errors went straight to the waste basket.
Spell check is your best friend but not your only one. Use the buddy rule.
Rewrite:
You'll hear me say this over and over, practice makes perfect. You have to work on it until you've perfected it. If you've written it once and it's perfect then we'll call you Mozart. If you're not Mozart then rewrite it. Look for words that can be eliminated if they're just embellishment. Remember, the cover letter represents you so make sure you read it for clarity and read it so that it sounds like you! Don't try to dazzle them with your expansive vocabulary. Stick to a point. If you're going to start a paragraph with a statement or opinion be sure you wrap it up by the end of that paragraph or that it is tied in someway to the overall intent of the letter.
Consider it a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Make sure your letter starts with a "starting" statement and ends with and "ending" statement. By this I mean, begin the conversation with your introduction and finish your conversation with how much you would enjoy working with their company.
To illustrate what I mean, while I am writing this, I have continued to refine it, eliminated a lot of words that were unnecessary, and checked for spelling and grammar, and I'm trying to make sure that I begin in a place that launches the discussion and I'm wrapping up with my finishing thoughts on the subject.
Oh, and one more thing... don't lie. People have a way of checking up on your information. One of the first things that I look at in a resume is to see if there is someone in common we share in experience. If there is and I am interested in you, I am going to call them and talk with them about you. If they don't know who you are and I've called them because you've referenced them in a cover letter or on your resume then file 9 you go, into the trash.
Paper Choices:
This is largely one of personal choice. There are people who have tremendous success using catchy colors and large headings, etc, in making a statement with their cover letters. I am not an advocate and I am not a fan. It is my belief that stage managers are business persons. While on the one hand we work hand in hand with artists, we have to maintain a rigorous discipline of professionalism, keep closed lips, and be rumor free. Because of this I prefer plain white linen paper. It's a little pricey but it is crisp and clean. That, with black ink, is my statement on my professionalism as a stage manager. You may feel free to experiment with what you think represents you best. But remember, you are putting your professional face forward. Try not to put a big purple heart on it unless you're applying to the American Heart Association.
Summary:
It would be terrible of me not to practice what I preach so in the spirit of creating a document with a beginning, a middle, and an end, learn to enjoy the cover letter writing process. Remember you have to make yourself stand out from the rest so what you write and how your write it will determine whether you stand out or not. Often I look for quotes and phrases that help me illustrate points I'm trying to make in my letter. Bartlett's Book of Quotations is an excellent choice in looking for like meaning phrases that might illustrate your point in ways you haven't considered. Feel free to use these phrases if they fit with your intent.
Finally, it is only an onerous experience if you make it so. I like the process of rewriting so I look forward to clearly laying down my intentions on paper. In the end it's an accomplishment you can feel good about if it truly represents you as you present yourself to a new opportunity.
Summary #2:
We're working on cover letters in class. They think it's odious. But, it's interesting. Some are proficient at writing but lack personality and some are full of personality and devoid of character. Don't hesitate to ask them to redo them. Finding the balance is a personal choice. But the act of rewriting to find the right fit is the point. Make them right it and rewrite it. It needs to sound like them and it needs to be engaging. Words are just words. Make sure the right words are employed.