In past blog posts, we’ve talked about tips for creating a LinkedIn profile, building a résumé, and preparing for an interview, but there’s a critical piece of applying for a job that everyone should be familiar and comfortable with. Writing a cover letter can be tricky, and there are some jobs that will require more inventive ways of introducing yourself to prospective employers, but for most jobs, employers will expect you to be able to write a cover letter that simply highlight who you are and why they should hire you. It’s sort of a preface to your résumé that gives you the chance to be more personal in how you present yourself and your accomplishments compared to your résumé. Below, I’ve listed 8 tips for writing a cover letter, and I’ve included an outline for your reference if you’re looking for a more visual explanation.

When writing a cover letter…

1.  Include the job title and keywords from the job description

When you’re applying for a job and you’re asked to submit a cover letter, it’s crucial that you take a good look at the job posting to see exactly what the employer is looking for. Make sure that you can offer what the job entails, and use keywords from the ad in your cover letter, just like your résumé, to make it stand out. Always be sure to include the position for which you’re applying as well so that the employer can easily see why they’re receiving your letter.

2.  Make it known how you became interested in the company

It doesn’t have to take up too much time or space, but if you can, let the employer know what made you apply for a job at this company. List what about the company appeals to you, how you first found it, and what you think makes the company different from others like it. Don’t confuse this with explaining why you want the job; employers want to know why you like their company, not why you need a job.

3.  Cut the formalities and give it some personality

This is a letter for a job, yes, but that doesn’t mean that you need to be overly formal when addressing whoever will be reading your letter. This is the first time you’ll be introducing yourself to a perspective employer, and you should make it count. Try to convey a bit of your personality, if possible, rather than writing a cookie cutter letter that just lists your qualifications. You want to tell employers who you are while you’re telling them what you can do because they’re not just looking for an employee – they’re looking for someone who believes in their mission and will become an integral part of their team.

4.  Don’t include everything that’s on your résumé

It’s easy to get carried away on a cover letter and say everything you feel an employer needs to know before hiring you. Don’t forget that you haven’t gotten the interview yet – this is a time to display your most valuable and marketable qualities based on the position you’re applying for. Be specific about what you can bring to the job, but don’t focus so much on how you built those skills – that’s what you’ll be focusing on when you get the interview.

5.  If you’re short on experience, focus on skills

It’s great to talk about examples of your accomplishments and your experience working in a field related to the job you’re applying for, and you should list any pertinent experiences in your cover letter if you feel that they are your best shot at getting an employer to give you an interview. However, you might not have a long list of experiences to showcase what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. The important thing to remember is that employers aren’t really looking for experiences; they’re looking for skills, and if you can show that you know what they want and you think you’ve got it, make it known. Don’t be shy about stressing your capabilities, especially if they’re in the job description that you’re applying for.

6.  Only stress the skills you do have

It’s easy to start criticizing yourself while writing a cover letter, and you might find that you’re talking about the skills listed on a job description that you don’t have. Instead of focusing on what you can’t offer, focus on what you can. Really try to paint as positive an image of yourself as possible.

7.  Brag, brag, brag. And then keep bragging

As I said in my previous post about writing personal essays, you need to be able to talk about your accomplishments without feeling like you’re bragging too much or you’re going to put someone off by talking about how many great things you’ve done. Just remember that whoever is reading this letter is looking to hire you, and the more honest and overt you are about your abilities, the more likely you are to stand out and be chosen for an interview. They’re pressed for time, and they want your letter to tell them, as quickly as possible, exactly why they should give you their time. That being said, don’t use this as a time to stress what makes you a great person or better than other people – Just talk about your most important qualifications in the most positive way you can.

8.  Edit, revise, and shorten

You might end up with a page and a half of content by the time that you’ve finished writing your letter and including everything that you think is important. If that’s the case, start cutting. Your cover letter should never (or rarely ever) be more than one page, and that’s with room for the entire heading and signature (I’ll explain further below).

Formatting:

There are countless ways to write and format a cover letter, but this is what I would recommend when applying for most jobs unless they’re unconventional and require something more creative.

Example cover letter format:

Date

Employer name
Employer job title
Company name
Address

Dear Employer Name,

List a small amount of background information about yourself, how you came to apply at the company, and why you’re drawn to this position. If you have a lot of skills and/or experiences to list, you might want to summarize them in a general way here as a form of introduction for the body section of your letter. For example, you could say, ‘I have a variety of experiences related to this position that have prepared me for (insert specific aspects of job description).’

In the body section, you’ll want to write all of your experiences and skills in a broad but detailed way. You want to talk about what you’ve achieved, but you don’t want to go into all of the details that you list on your résumé like job titles or dates of employment.

If you have a lot to say, and it won’t all fit into the first two paragraphs, you can write a third paragraph that further demonstrates your capabilities, but be weary of this, as it takes up more space, and you’ll be more likely to include unnecessary details if you give yourself more letter space to fill up.

Your final paragraph should invite the employer to contact you to ask for any materials or information that they might wish to see or know before inviting you for an interview. You might also mention that you’ve attached your résumé and any other pertinent information or documents. End your letter with a cordial “I look forward to hearing from you,” or something similar, to make it clear that you’re the one who will be lucky to hear from them, not the other way around.

Sincerely,

Your Name

For examples of finished cover letters, look at Quint Careers, or find industry-based samples at Resume Genius.

-Hope Swedeen

What can you do to make your cover letter even more effective? What are some dos and don’ts that you follow when writing a cover letter?

If you’re a high school student, there’s a good chance that if you haven’t already had to write a personal essay at least once, you’re going to be asked to write one soon. These essays are typically written for applications for membership in organizations, scholarships or awards, and colleges. Whether you’re applying for any of these now or not, you just might find yourself writing a personal essay one day and wondering just how to begin. What should you include? How do you write an essay that will show who you really are? As someone who has filled out several college, scholarship, and membership applications in the past few years, I can tell you that, like most things, it’s much easier to write a personal essay after you’ve done it once. It’s difficult to say what specifically you’ll need to say in your essay to achieve whatever you’re pursuing, but I can suggest some general tips that should help you no matter your topic.

1.     Follow directions and stay focused – Before you can even begin writing, you need to know the topic and word count for the essay. All personal essays are not the same, and while one might ask a general question about a significant experience, another might ask about how an experience provided a specific type of insight. A popular topic, for example, is how an experience has shown you the importance of diversity.

2.     Use the first person – This essay is all about who you are, what you’ve done, and what makes you “you.” The only way to write about yourself is to use “I,” “me,” and “my,” so disregard what your teachers have said about formal, objective essay-writing. This isn’t a research paper; it’s more of a story than anything.

3.     Open and end strong – Whoever is reading your essay will likely only spend a few seconds on it if they’re not immediately caught, and your conclusion will be what sticks with them once they’ve finished reading.

4.     Use an anecdote – Your essay will likely revolve around an anecdote, and this is generally the best technique. Using an anecdote, especially at the beginning of your essay, captures your reader quickly and has a better chance of showing your personality and history than just talking about your accomplishments.

5.     Don’t be afraid to get personal – It’s a personal essay; by definition, it has to be at least a little personal, and the more anecdotal it becomes, the more personal it will feel. If you’re not comfortable talking about the more private details of an experience, you can still stress its significance and how it has changed you without sharing everything.

6.     Choose an experience that matters to you – If you’re writing about something that is only slightly significant to you, whoever is reading your essay will be able to tell. Get creative, and stop trying to outdo everyone. Just be you. Don’t try to use an experience that affected you briefly and slightly like a week-long volunteer position or a summer job – these are obvious choices that everyone assumes can impress, but it’s what you gain from even the smallest experience that sets you apart, not the experience itself. That said, you don’t have to have saved someone’s life or had a traumatic experience to be a worthy applicant. As long as it’s important to you, the most ordinary experience can be the most significant.

7.     Balance humility with confidence – Whoever is reading your essay wants to know that you’re competent and have the qualities that they’re looking for, but that doesn’t mean that you should use your essay for bragging rights. Highlight your uniqueness and qualifications, but don’t try to assert your superiority over other applicants. In the same way, though, don’t undervalue your experiences and minimize the importance of what you’re saying. If you don’t appear to value your own experiences, why should someone else?

8.     Research your audience – Although your essay prompt might be specific enough to explain what people who read your essay will be looking for in your essay, it doesn’t hurt to do a little research to find out what specific qualities are important to them and their institution or organization. You should know what type of person will be reading your essay to know which aspects of yourself you should choose to highlight. For example, if an organization’s website lists a mission statement that values determination, teamwork, and hard work, then try to highlight those qualities.

9.     Show, don’t tell – Although you want to be clear about what you can offer your reader by explaining your qualifications in your essay, don’t outright tell them “I’m hard working and determined.” Show them examples of times when you possessed these qualities, and they can figure out how these examples apply to them on their own. This applies especially to when you’re working your research into your essay, as previously mentioned. Using anecdotes will help immensely with this, as stories natural “show” rather than “tell.”

10.  Start early – If you leave your essay for the last minute, you’ll find that it’s much more difficult to come up with anecdotes and draw out the most meaning possible from your experiences. Starting early will give you time to think about what you’ve written for a few days, go back and revise, and feel comfortable that you’ve said all that you want to say. You’ll also have ample time to fix any mistakes you might have made, which brings me to my final point.

11.  Check for errors! And then check again. And again – You get the idea. Make sure that your essay is as error-free as possible. Check punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and sentence structure over and over to be sure you catch any mistakes. If you’re not someone who excels at editing, or even just to get a fresh pair of eyes on your essay, ask you parent, teacher, or friend to read it for you. Having them read it out loud is even better, as you’ll be able to hear how someone other than you interprets what you’ve written, and you might change your mind about how you phrase something. At the end of the day, if you still have a few small mistakes in your essay, it’s not the end of the world. Putting in the extra effort just shows that you used your time wisely, and the big mistakes will have been discovered, so hopefully you’ll just have a few commas out of place, which isn’t at all unusual.

-Hope Swedeen

In what instances have you needed to write a personal essay? What are some tips you’d suggest for writing them? 

Across the country, schools have been experimenting with ditching the five-day week and substituting it with a four-day week instead, giving students and teachers an extra day off. While this change is taken place largely in rural school districts, it’s uncertain whether this change could positively affect urban schools. However, clear benefits and drawbacks can be seen in the changes made at various schools as well as in the research that has been conducted related to the four-day week, and it is not unlikely that research will be done in the near future that evaluates the effects on urban school districts.

In a study published in 2013, the effects of four-day weeks on student achievement were evaluated by assessing the math and reading scores of fourth- and fifth-grade students. The study included scores from 2000-2010 at 15 schools using the traditional five-day schedule and 14 schools that had switched to four-day weeks. The schools were chosen based on similarities in size and school characteristics, including socioeconomic characteristics and ethnic demographics of the school areas, and the number of students enrolled in free or reduced lunch programs, according to an article written by a one of the researchers heading up the study, Mary Beth Walker. The study was also completed using only school districts in Colorado to avoid differences in state standards and education requirements, and the state allowed for a large pool of schools from which to choose, as more than one-third of Colorado’s school districts operate using the four-day week schedule.

Overall, the research seems to indicate that a four-day school week improves math scores, and reading scores were not affected. Essentially, the study found that the four-day week does not have discernable negative impacts on student achievement but rather improves one area while the other remains the same or only slightly improved. However, test scores, and this study alone, are not enough to create a need or desire for national changes in education systems.

A school in Chattooga County, Georgia, has adopted this four-day schedule, and, so far, the school district seems to be mostly benefiting from the change, especially financially. The school has saved money on bus transportation, substitute teachers, electricity, and other expenditures, allowing them to save almost $800,000 annually after switching to a four-day school week in 2010. Saving this much money allows the school to keep electives and sports that other schools have found themselves forced to cut. Students’ test scores have also increased in the district, raising it above the state average for test scores. The district has even seen a drastic decrease in the frequency of discipline referrals by 73 percent. All of that said, with the change in the number of school days comes a change in the length of school days. This district begins classes Monday through Thursday at 7:40 a.m. and ends the day at 3:45 p.m. to make sure that it’s meeting the 150 hour-per-year minimum as outlined by the state and also keeping its old vacation schedules without extending the school year further into summer time.

There are several schools with similar stories to that of the Chattooga district, but there is still the potential for this new four-day fad to disappoint. Schools will be looking to this change as a means of cutting costs, as Chattooga did, but it’s not clear how effective this will be in all types of areas. It has mainly been tested in rural areas, and there have been no studies regarding the use of four-day weeks in urban districts at all. However, there are some pros and cons that the 2013 study discovered, which may or may not hold true for urban schools in the future but can certainly provide some perspective on why it might be a good idea for school districts to at least consider the possibility of change.

Pros for Teachers

Longer class periods allow for greater flexibility in how lessons are organized and what material can be covered each day, potentially allowing for more varied teaching methods.

The day off can be devoted to teacher planning or conferences on days that teachers will not have to plan around and let affect schedules or lesson plans.

It can reduce turnover and absenteeism, and higher teacher turnover rates have been proven to negatively impact student achievement.

It may lead to higher productivity if teacher have three days off to recuperate from the week.  

Cons for Teachers

Teachers might face difficulties initially adapting their lesson plans or their teaching styles to the schedule change.

There is the possibility that teachers would respond poorly to the longer days and shortened weeks, adding greater stress and fatigue.

Pros for Students

Better attendance; higher student attendance rates have been associated with better test scores. Students will have a day to schedule medical and other essential appointments on their day off rather than during their school week, allowing them to miss fewer classes.

The study showed that students were less distracted, exhibited an improved morale, and behaved better.

With a three-day weekend, students gain an extra day to do homework and to prepare for classes.

It permits flexibility in the event of school cancellations, particularly weather-related. Schools can reschedule missed days without increasing the length of the school year and can reschedule classes before test days rather than after, making sure students are not cheated out of class time to prepare.

Test scores fall for high school students with minimal time between testing. While students have less time to recover between days during the school week, a longer weekend might enhance student performance on tests, as it’s been shown in various studies that test scores, especially for high school students, fall when students have minimal time to prepare.

Cons for Students

It has been conjectured that it would be difficult for students to retain subject matter when given an extra day off. Although the study suggests that this is not the case, further research needs to be done to assess whether this differs for students in different demographics.

Longer school days require added focus and attention, which could be an especially difficult adjustment for younger students with shorter attention spans.

Parents might need to find a daycare service or after school program for their youth to attend on their days off if there is not a parent home on that day. While this might not be necessary for high school students, it is still debated whether finding alternative arrangements for their days off will negatively affect students.

-Hope Swedeen

What do you think of the four-day week? How could this change positively or negatively affect you?

Homework has been a thorn in my side for years. It’s something that found me in elementary school, and it’s followed me around ever since. To my dismay, homework has gotten harder and more time-consuming the longer it’s been with me, and I’m not the first to have asked, “Is this really necessary?” In fact, in the last 5-10 years, there has been a slew of research conducted regarding the value (and lack thereof) of homework.

Research regarding the value of homework has yielded positive and negative results, some of which contradict each other or create further questions about homework’s worth. There are a variety of types of homework that all have varying effects, and these can be academic or nonacademic. In a study conducted by the Center for Public Education (CPE), several benefits were discovered that are not directly related to academic achievement. Homework was seen to improve communication between students and parents, encourage students to work and socialize with peers, improve task- and time-management skills, establish routines and study habits, and increase determination to follow through on a task.

These benefits are often a product of homework that is designed with a view of enhancing nonacademic achievement rather than being directly related to what students are learning in school. According to the study, homework that enhances what you might call “life skills” rather than academic learning goals is most beneficial for younger students in elementary and middle school. These students’ basic habits and skills are being shaped by their assignments, and their ability to ignore irrelevant information, focus on tasks, and avoid distractions is much lower than that of older students. A Washington Post article addresses studies that show no benefits to assigning course-related homework to elementary students, and even middle school students should have little academic homework.

In the CPE study, the effects of homework that is related to or expands upon what students learn in school were also evaluated. These assignments often include practicing a task learned in class, preparing for upcoming course work, applying class material to new contexts and situations, or combining skills learned in class with other skills. These types of assignments are more beneficial for high school students, but it is unclear to what extent or in what situations. According to the Washington Post article, studies have been done that show a correlation between increased homework and standardized test scores, but the correlation is not very strong, and there is no evidence to say that homework actually causes better test scores. Several studies also concluded that math homework has a better effect than most other types, especially reading and writing.

In terms of class grades, there does not seem to be any evidence to suggest that students who complete homework earn higher grades than those who do not if homework completion is not factored into class grades. Students who prepare less outside of class are actually shown to receive higher grades, according to the CPE study.

Studies conducted point to several negative effects of course-related homework, and in the CPE study, it was shown that homework can negatively affect students’ attitudes toward school, increase boredom, exhaustion and frustration, limit the amount of leisure time students can enjoy outside of their 6.5-7 hour school days, lead to family conflicts, and create a lack of interest in learning. The Washington Post article states: “Six hours a day of academics are enough, and kids should have the chance after school to explore other interests and develop in other ways — or be able simply to relax in the same way that most adults like to relax after work, and… the decision about what kids do during family time should be made by families, not schools.”

While research on the benefits and drawbacks of homework is not conclusive, there are a few overarching viewpoints that have come out of these studies. According to the CPE study, older students benefit more from completing homework on a regular basis, especially when the homework relates to upcoming course work or review of material that has not been covered recently rather than assignments that repeat what was learned earlier in the day. However, the optimum amount of time to spend on homework was found to be between 1.5 and 2.5 hours for high school students and 1 hour or less for middle school students, which is much lower than the amount of time that many students need to work on homework each night to complete all of their assignments. It also appears that homework assignments that require parent or peer participation are more likely to be completed, and an article on theatlantic.com shows that students who have a choice in the type and content of homework given have a greater interest in assignments.

These studies mainly address the subject matter, amount, and nature of homework, but there are also home or community factors related to parent involvement, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status that affect academic success that have not been studied closely enough to determine their impacts on the effects of homework. There are no definitive results, and these studies are by no means the be-all, end-all, but they’re beginning to paint a picture of what the future of homework might be like based on its current and past effectiveness.

-Hope Swedeen

What are your views on the value of homework? What are the pros and cons that you have observed?