COVER LETTERS
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Cover Letter Reminders:
• The purpose of your resume is to excite an employer enough to call you in for an
interview. Likewise the purpose of the cover letter is to get an employer to read
your resume, a copy of which accompanies the letter.
• Your goal is to give your reader enough information to interest him or her in
looking at your resume, but not so much that the reader is overwhelmed.
•
It's best to address your letter to a specific person, so always research the
company you are applying to and find out the name of an individual in order to
address your letter properly. Often the best person to contact is the head of the
department you wish to work in.
• A good rule of thumb to use in deciding if you should answer a classified ad is to
answer it if you have 80 percent of the skills or background that it says the job
requires.
•
If you're writing to someone to whom you've been referred, be sure to name
your referent in your first paragraph.
Cover Letter Example
121 South 24th Street, #201-A
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 555-1234
October 16, 2001
Dr. Carol Manager
Director, Program Development
JHPIEGO
1513 Thames Street, Suite #200
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Dear Dr. Manager:
While researching the Maryland public health marketplace, I learned of your facility and would like to be considered for
the position of Program Development Officer for the Caribbean and Latin American Unit. My resume is enclosed.
In May of 2002, I will complete my Master of Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. The
program is intensive and allowed me to draw on knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines to help define, critically
assess and resolve a broad spectrum of public health problems and issues, which I might face during my professional
career. In addition, I completed an independent study based on my work as a Technical Adviser for Latin American
countries at the Center for Development and Population