Covering letters
In brief
A covering letter is part of the job application process that accompanies a CV. The covering letter introduces you to the company and covers your suitability for the job role as well as your motivations for applying.
More specifically, a typical covering letter will communicate 3 key points:
- Why you're interested in working in this sector
- Why you're interested in this employer and this specific role
- The relevant skills and experience you have that make you a good candidate for the role.
Useful links
In depth: covering letters
Covering letter tips
- Format your covering letter in a formal way with addresses and a date.
- You may want to contact the company to ask who to write to. Make sure that you address them correctly with their correct titles (use Ms for a woman unless you know for definite that they use the title Miss, Mrs or Dr) or just write to Dear Sir/ Madam if you haven’t found anyone suitable to address it to.
- Start by introducing yourself and stating exactly what you are applying for.
- Use the first main paragraph to say exactly why you are interested in working for that company and in that role. Be specific and personal so they really understand what has driven you to apply.
- Use the person specification to understand which key skills the employer will be looking for and highlight where you have developed and used these exact skills.
- End simply and positively.
- Use ‘Yours sincerely’ if you have written to a named person. If you have just written to ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’ then end with ‘Yours faithfully’.
Example Covering Letter
Ian Goodwin,
Apt 1A Future Street,
Coventry,
CV4 1AA
Ms Sarah Porteous,
Mallard Books,
24 Copy Street,
London,
SW6 6TA
25/06/24
Dear Ms Porteous,
I am a final year Chemistry student at the University of Warwick and would like to apply for the publishing internship within your Children’s Books division as advertised on MyAdvantage.
Having volunteered for the past 2 years as a reading mentor with primary aged students, I have become very interested in children’s publishing and especially with the readings schemes currently being developed. Although I’ve used several different schemes with local schools, I have found Mallard Books’ reading scheme ‘Read With Tom’ to be the most engaging for the children I have worked with as well as still being fun for the adults supporting them. I would be really interested in gaining a fuller insight into the development of this scheme from working with the authors and commissioning editors through to how the scheme is published and marketed to schools. I would also be interested in getting involved in other aspects of the division and learning from experienced staff regarding children’s publishing as a whole. Having read the ‘Watson Prize for Children’s Fiction’ shortlist with some of the children I work with, I was excited to see that your author, Kay Boffin, won the overall prize for her novel, ‘The Adventures of Jonathan Panda’ as I felt it was a book of great depth and intrigue for the pre-teen audience. I would be excited to learn more about the process of publishing children’s fiction and support the work being done by your current and upcoming authors.
I feel that I have the skills and experience to take on this internship and make a positive impact during my time with Mallard Books. I am able to work in teams of many different sizes and have enjoyed working within small groups during my laboratory research as well as working with much larger teams of students and staff during university open days. I feel that I am able to integrate into teams very quickly and enjoy working with new people. I have developed strong communication skills through my work as both a tour guide for prospective students and their families at the university as well as my summer work in a front of house role for a classical music festival. In both of these roles, I am able to adapt how I communicate depending on the person I am speaking to and am able to make effective judgements as to the most successful way to engage different people, whether just in conversation or when giving out information. Through my high academic workload as well as my work volunteering in local schools, I have developed a strong ability to manage my time very effectively and prioritise what I am doing to enable me to perform to the best of my ability.
I am very excited by this opportunity and hope that you will consider me to be a good candidate for the internship position.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Goodwin
FAQs
How do I write about my motivations in a covering letter?
This section is about explaining why you’re interested in the job you’re applying for and the employer. Keep the ideas that you discuss here specific as this will show that you have taken the time to research the employer, that you understand why you want to work for them and in this specific role and will make your covering letter unique so your application stands out.
Take the time to research that employer: what projects have they been working on recently? What are their key concerns right now? Who is their key client base? What really appeals to you about this employer over any others in this sector? What makes them unique? If you have researched the employer then you have reasons that you can include to evidence the motivations you discuss in a covering letter.
Our how to research an employer webpages can help to get you started with this.
As you write about your motivations, keep asking yourself ‘why does this matter to me?’. For example, if you have said that you value an employer’s sustainability efforts, why is this? What have you done recently that demonstrates your interest in sustainability? There is the opportunity when discussing your motivations to link yourself with that employer so be sure to provide reasons and examples for the points you make.
How can I discuss my eligibility to work with a graduate visa in my covering letter?
Our Immigration Team have suggested the following phrasing to discuss your eligibility to work with a graduate visa in order to provide information to an employer in your covering letter:
‘The graduate route is an unsponsored route for Internationals to work in the UK. It was launched in February 2020. This enables international students to remain in the UK and work at any skill level for two years after they have completed their studies (or three years if they have a PhD). This student will be eligible to apply under this route once their degree has been conferred. After the course end date, students can start working full-time on their student visa and will have right to continue while their graduate route application is being processed by the UKVI’.