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Cover Letters and Thank You Notes
There are several career documents you will need to develop to in your career development. Two of these are cover letters and thank you letters.
A cover letter is typically part of a job application and accompanies your resume. There are two types of cover letters -- one that is written to respond to a specific job posting and the other as a letter of inquiry where no specific job opening has been identified. Regardless of which type you are writing, this is the time to sell yourself to the employer and to show them that you have something beneficial to offer. Focus on specific skills, talents, or experiences, but it is not intended to be a restatement of all the bullet points from your resume. The statements in your cover letter should be designed to persuade the reader to read your resume and learn more about you.
It is important to send a thank you letter after you have any type of interaction with an employer. The most common time to send a thank you is after an interview for a career development experience. Not sending a well thought out letter in a timely manner may have disastrous results-primarily in you not getting the position. Besides thanking an employer for the opportunity to interview, it is a way to remind them of why you want to work for them and why they should hire you! It is recommended that you send an email thank you immediately after the interview (remember, some employers make decisions on candidates by the end of that day) and send a hand written note a week later. In the second thank you, you can talk about additional research you have done on the employer and how it reconfirms your desire to work for them.
If you really want to stand out, you should also send a thank you after you have completed an informational interview, meet someone in a networking setting or any other instance where you meet with an employer or CBA alumnus. It is a simple way to maintain your professional network relationships.
Next Steps
- Refer to the documents section below for our cover letter and thank you letter guides.
- Be sure to meet with one of our Career Services staff to have your cover letters and thank you letters reviewed. You can do that either by coming to our daily walk in hours or schedule an appointment through CBA Connect.
- Submit your documents through our Online Document Review service. Have your cover letters and thank you letters reviewed by CBA Career Services staff and professors. Your documents will be reviewed and quickly returned to you with our revision suggestions.
Cover Letter and Thank You Note Resources
Cover Letter and Thank You Note Links
