{"id":1940,"date":"2017-04-06T18:22:51","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T18:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/careerplanning.me.holycross.edu\/?p=1940"},"modified":"2017-04-06T18:22:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T18:22:51","slug":"cover-letter-dos-and-donts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/2017\/04\/06\/cover-letter-dos-and-donts\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Letter Do&#8217;s and Don&#8217;ts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1971\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/04\/coverletter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By Emily Bowman &#8217;17<\/p>\n<p>Cover letters can often seem daunting, but they don\u2019t have to be! Check out these do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of cover letters to ensure you\u2019re presenting yourself to potential employers in the best way possible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DO<\/strong> include a formal heading with your name and address as well as the contact information for the person you address the letter to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong> write too much. Three detailed paragraphs should take up no more than about \u00be of a page. \u00a0Brevity and concision are key!<\/p>\n<p><strong>DO<\/strong> spend time thinking about what traits you want to highlight about yourself. Make sure you\u2019re engaging the reader right away and emphasizing the qualities that make you a perfect fit for the job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong> use too many personal pronouns. Nix any extraneous \u201cI think,\u201d \u201cI feel,\u201d \u201cI believe\u201d phrases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DO<\/strong> your research on the organization and make sure to include specific details about its mission\/services. This will assure the employer that the cover letter is personal and that you\u2019re knowledgeable about the position, which will go a long way in making you a competitive candidate!<\/p>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong> make a form letter and just change the organization\u2019s name for each different application. Employer\u2019s will easily be able to tell it\u2019s not a customized letter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DO<\/strong> read through the job requirements and make sure you mention experiences and qualities about yourself that fit the description.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong> forget to convey enthusiasm for the position and use positive language and tone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Emily Bowman &#8217;17 Cover letters can often seem daunting, but they don\u2019t have to be! Check out these do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of cover letters to ensure you\u2019re presenting yourself to potential employers in the best way possible. DO include a formal heading with your name and address as well as the contact information for &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/2017\/04\/06\/cover-letter-dos-and-donts\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Cover Letter Do&#8217;s and Don&#8217;ts&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}