WritingCoverLetters:CoverLetterChecklistPrinter-FriendlyVersionbyKatharineHansen,Ph.D.,andRandallS.Hansen,Ph.D.Yourcoverletter(alsosometimesreferredtoasaletterofintroduction,letterofapplication,oremploymentletter)isavitalpartofyourjob-searchcorrespondencepackage.Thinkyourcoverletterisreadytobeseenbyemployers?Tobesure,usethischecklisttoguaranteethatyou’vewrittenthemostdynamic(andpowerful)coverletterpossible.CoverLetterChecklistforJob-SeekersCoverLetterBasics:Doyouunderstandthestrategicimportanceofcoverletters?Seeourarticle,TheBasicsofaDynamicCoverLetter.Doyouhaveabasicunderstandingofhowacoverlettershouldbewritten?Seeourarticle,TheDynamicCoverLettersFormula,aswellassomesampledynamiccoverletters.Areyouplanningtosendemployersanycoverlettersviaemail,aspartofyourelectronicjob-search?Beforeyoudo,seeourarticle,TipsforaDynamicEmailCoverLetter.AppearanceandInclusionofVitalInformation:Isitanoriginalletterratherthanamass-producedcopy?Istheletterinastandardbusiness-letterformat?SeethispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Isitclearwheretheemployercanreachyouduringbusinesshours?Haveyouensuredthateitherapersonoramachinewilltaketheemployer’scall?Istheletterneatandattractive?Haveyouenhancedtheletter’sreader-friendlinessthroughuseofbulletsorotherspecialformatting?SeethispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Isitnolongerthanonepage?Haveyousignedyournameboldlyandconfidently?WritingStyle:Iseverywordspelledcorrectly?Isallgrammar,syntax,punctuation,andcapitalizationcorrect?Istheletterfreeoftypographicalerrors?SeethispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Doesthelettertellwhyyouarewriting,aswellasgrabthereader’sattentioninthefirstparagraph?SeethispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Haveyouusedactionverbs?SeeourJob-SeekerActionVerbs,aswellasthispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Istheletterconciseandtothepoint?SeethispageofourCoverLetterTutorial.Doesitavoidsuchclichesas“Ihavetakenthelibertyofsendingmyresumeenclosedherewith”?Haveyouavoidedsuchphrasesas“Ifeel”and“Ibelieve,”whichtendtoweakenanddilutethestatementsyoumakea...
