Ugh! Cover letters... am I right? No one likes to write them - myself included. If
you are here because you need to write a cover letter and you are looking for
some advice or some next steps, then hit that like button below because I'm about
to tell you what you need to know in this video. Hey there I'm Jenna Rein from
theinternhustle.com and this is Initiative Muscle Monday -- helping you to
start each week with an intentional step toward a successful future. Let's do this!
So, you're applying for an internship. The first thing to understand is that
every company handles their hiring process differently. Some value a cover
letter a lot more than others, and some may not even request one. But no matter
if they request one or not, you should always submit your resume (and any other
application materials that they have listed in their job description) PLUS a
cover letter. Think of it this way -- a resume is a very boring, formal and
factual document about your education and work history. Important, yes, but not
super interesting for someone to read. If you do need tips for polishing your
resume as well, you can check out these videos that I've done on my channel
after this one. And I also recommend downloading my
Resume Readiness Checklist so that you can make sure you're submitting a
winning resume. I will include the link for that checklist in the description
below this video, so make sure that you grab that as well. OK, but back to the
cover letter... Unlike the resume this is your chance to
stand out and tell the company more about yourself. More about your strengths
and your past accomplishments that may be relevant to the role that you're
applying for. Overall, when you're writing your cover letter, I want you to think
about not writing like a generic robot. Remember you want to stand out and
showcase your excitement for this opportunity. Even if you're just doing an
internship because you need to do an internship, try to act like you're
excited. Okay? Now, pull out a notebook and a pen and get ready to take some notes
on how to structure your cover letter for success, because there are going to
be some points that I'm sharing that you're going to want to write down and be
able to reference back as you are actually sitting down to write your
cover letter. Okay, so we're just going to start off with how to format the cover
letter. And you've likely been taught how to write a formal
business letter in the past, right? So it's very similar to that. The only
difference here is that I don't think it's necessary to include the company's
address on the top left. It's kind of outdated, you're also sending this over
email most likely, or uploading it to a website, so including the company address...
not necessary - They know where they work. You are going to start though with the date.
So list the date in the top left corner, hit enter a couple times and the
next line should be the subject of what you're writing about. So if you are
applying for... let's say just for example... marketing internship at Amazon. I would
say RE: Amazon Summer Marketing Internship ...Whatever it may be. Again, this
is just calling attention to what you're applying for and then the next couple
lines down you're gonna write Dear and the person you're addressing, or maybe
the team that you're addressing. If you do have a name definitely address that
person, but if you don't the next best thing is just to say Dear Amazon Team or
in this case (again we're using Amazon as as example), but Dear Amazon Marketing Team
That is how I would address the letter. It's just better than To Whom It May Concern
which is pretty formal and again kind of outdated. Make it addressed to the
actual team that you are applying for. And from there you're gonna hit enter
two more times and we're going to kick off that first paragraph, the introductory
paragraph to your cover letter. I know that was kind of a lot, and it's hard to
explain how to space stuff out just by talking to you, so I'm also pasting it up
here just so you have an example of what I'm talking about. Now the opening line
of your introductory paragraph is key. It is the deciding factor if someone's
going to continue to read your cover letter or if they're just gonna say
"thank you, next" and throw it in the trash. Because this opening line is so
important, I'm actually going to share some examples with you on different ways
that you can approach the opening line at the end of this video. But first, we're
going to break down the cover letter by paragraph so that you just know how to
structure your outline. The first paragraph (the introduction) - an opening
statement that grabs their attention is what you should lead with. Remember,
examples at the end of this video. Then, after that opening statement, you
want to state who you are, where you go to school and what you're majoring in.
Specifically what you're majoring in if it's relevant to the type of role that
you're applying for. And then wrap up that first paragraph referencing the
position that you're applying for. So be specific. If they have multiple
internships that they list on their website and you're just targeting one in
particular, then you want to make sure that you're being specific in the cover
letter on which internship you're applying for. Make it easy for them
to follow along. Moving on to the second paragraph you want to use keywords. This
is where you want to connect your experience to keywords that they have
in the job description for this internship. Now you may be thinking "I'm
in college and I don't have experience yet." You do! Think about using your
experience from part-time jobs or school clubs, sports teams, volunteer work. Pay
attention to keywords that the company uses to list desired skills or
requirements for the internship and then use the same keywords in your cover
letter that will help link you to this role and make you look like a good fit
for this role based on the experiences that you've had in your past. You also
want to use this paragraph to demonstrate that you've done your
research on the company. You can do this by referencing relevant articles or blog
posts, social media, the idea here is that you want to use research about the
company to show that you've paid attention and then also try to match
their tone in your cover letter. Again, let's recap... first paragraph: opening
statement, who you are, where you go to school, what position you're applying for.
second paragraph: using keywords and showing them that you've done your
research on them. And then in the third paragraph:
You're going to highlight your strengths and any relevant accomplishments through
a quick story. Because people remember stories (even one to two-sentence stories).
So for example, instead of just stating that you have a strong work ethic (which
anyone can say about themselves) you want to give them a specific example about
how you went above and beyond for someone or something in the past showing
that you had that strong work ethic to go above and beyond. Again, maybe it was a
part-time job or some volunteer experience that you were a part of. You
want to do your best to tie back to the company and how you will be
an asset for them. And then finally, in the fourth paragraph, which is your
closing paragraph: you want to use this to restate your excitement about the
internship position and how you hope to contribute to the company's mission. Now
this is a pro tip -- most companies list their mission statement or their company
values on their website. And if you take the time to specifically tie their
mission or values into your cover letter somehow, that can go a long way. Because
it shows that you're paying attention and that you care. So I want you to think
about that when you're stating how excited you are about this position,
because you also want to show that it's the company you care about as well. It's
not just that you want to get an internship, but you really want to work
for THIS company. And then I want you to close this final paragraph by letting
them know that you look forward to hearing from them (it's kind of a call to
action), and that they should reach out to you should they require any additional
information from you in this process. Don't forget, once you close out all four
of those paragraphs, to sign off professionally. Sincerely, and your name,
always does the trick. And then I want you to read over your cover letter. You
need to read it over for spelling, grammar and appropriate tone. I want you
to do this a couple times, and if you have someone else that can proofread for
you as well then do it. Just like your resume, a spelling error on a cover
letter can get it thrown out of the process altogether, because people just
don't even waste their time if you have spelling errors on something. So really
important here that you are proofreading your cover letter. Once you've done all of
that, then save it as a PDF and title that PDF document using
your first and last name_cover letter_the date.
Now in most cases PDF is going to be the format of choice. It keeps your cover letter from losing
format when you have to upload it into an online system or when you're sending it
over email, because sometimes the version that someone has of Word might open it
differently than how you had it formatted. So unless they're specifically
requesting you send your document in a different format (like in a Word format),
then I really highly recommend you send it in PDF. However, if they are asking for
it in a different format, then make sure you're following their instructions. And
one other thing that I forgot to mention at the beginning of this video, is to create a
header at the top of your cover letter that matches the header on the top of
your resume. You want this to look like a cohesive document with your resume, so
things like your name, a contact phone number, an email address, and I always
recommend putting your LinkedIn profile URL on your header as well. If you're
going to include this though, you want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is
complete and up-to-date. So definitely make sure that you go clean that up. But
if you do have a good LinkedIn profile pulled together then definitely put it
on your cover letter and resume. Okay, as promised because you stuck around till
the end of this video, I'm going to share some examples for opening lines, opening
sentences, that you can use in your introductory paragraph to really make it
stand out. And the goal here is that you're not starting your cover letter by
introducing yourself like "My name is Jenna, I'm a student at Ohio State and
I'm interested in being an intern at your company this summer." blah blah blah
You want to catch their attention right off the bat. So one approach that you can
take to show them that you've done your research on them and that you're paying
attention to what their company is up to... again this is just a made-up example but
to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, you could say something like: 'I
recently read an article about your company in Forbes and I'm inspired by
the innovative work that you are doing to engage your customer base as retail
moves to primarily e-commerce." This shows that you've specifically been
following them as a company and you're referencing something that you're
impressed by. You are showing them that you are paying more attention than the
average person. Now, you can do research on companies online these days and
pretty easily find topics to lead with, but maybe they're a small business and
there aren't enough articles out there, or they don't have blog posts that you can
reference. Then here's another approach you could take to an opening sentence:
You want to pick out keywords in the job description for this internship and
speak to how you're just what they're looking for using those exact same
keywords. So for example, maybe you're somebody that has video editing
experience (you don't have to be a pro, but you have experience). Now say that
you're applying for an internship in content creation or digital media, and this job
description mentions that video editing experience is part of what the company
is looking for an intern to do in this role. You want to use that to hook them
early on in your cover letter by leading off with something like: "In the past two
years, teaching myself video editing and testing out the latest techniques has
been one of the most rewarding ways that I've developed creatively." This
shows them that you do have that experience and that they're going to want
to keep reading to learn more about you. Another approach I like to take when
doing a cover letter is making a connection upfront.
You've probably heard it's not about what you know but it's about who you
know. And who you know is a pretty powerful thing. So if you know someone
from within the company, and they've given you the okay to use them as a
reference, then work with that! Don't forget to check LinkedIn for potential
connections that you may have to this company as well. If you do have a
connection, you can kick off your cover letter by saying: "I recently met John
Smith at my school's career fair, and I was really excited to learn more about
the internship positions within your company. He recommended I apply for the
sales operations internship that you have an opening for this summer." This
shows them that you have talked to somebody within their company. You have a
connection, and they're probably going to be more interested to read on from there.
Finally, if you're striking out with these examples: referencing an article on
the company, tying in to keywords in the job description, or making a connection
with someone. If you're striking out on those (which happens), then it's never
a bad idea to open with expressing genuine excitement. This is always a good
strategy. Remember, a resume is the boring, formal document and the cover letter is
your opportunity to express interest. So something like: "I was very excited to
come across your marketing internship, as I've always been a big fan of the
creative way that your company reaches customers, and I would love the
opportunity to learn from and support your team." You are showing genuine
interest and excitement in the position. Okay, final words of advice with the cover
letter... just like your resume, keep it to one page. Nobody wants to read more than
that. Hopefully this video was helpful for you
today and you are well on your way to writing a compelling cover letter.
Remember, don't waste your opportunity to talk yourself up and draw a connection
to the company... ALWAYS write a cover letter. If you have any additional
questions about cover letters go ahead and leave them in the comments below, and
I'll do my best to answer or address them in a future video. As always, if this
video gave you some new insights today, please give it a like and share it with
a friend or two. Hit that red subscribe button below so that you don't miss out
on future videos. In support of your hustle, I'll see you next Monday.