7 Tips for a Recent College Graduate Cover Letter
7 Tips for a Recent College Graduate Cover Letter
7 Tips for a Recent College Graduate Cover Letter
By Meredith Pepin
August 13, 2020
Summary
As a recent graduate looking for your next step, you might be tempted to attach your resume and click apply without bothering to send an accompanying cover letter.
In my experience as a hiring manager, a cover letter can make or break my interest in moving forward with a candidate.
Admittedly, there are other recruiters and hiring managers who don't look at the cover letter at all-but it's best to assume that they will.
Here are seven tips along with an example of what a recent college graduate cover letter could look like.
Your goal in the next couple of paragraphs of your cover letter will be to share a few stories that demonstrate how you'll bring those skills, strengths, and attributes to the position.
That's OK! College classes, internships, research experiences, part-time jobs, work-study programs, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and personal projects can all be used as examples to back up and show your value to the employer.
From the intro to the experience paragraphs to the closing, you can only strengthen your cover letter by directly aligning yourself with this opportunity.
The content of your letter is most important, but here are some helpful formatting tips for traditional cover letters if you're new to writing them.
It's always best if you can find the recruiter or the supervisor for the position so you can address your cover letter to them.
So what does all of this actually look like in practice? Below is a sample cover letter for an entry-level job.
Reference
Pepin, M. (2020, August 13). Dear Recent Grads, Here's How to Write a Great Cover Letter. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.themuse.com/advice/recent-college-graduate-cover-letter-sample