What Is a Cover Letter?

An effective cover letter is just as important to your job search as is an effective resume.

You have written your resume as a document that represents you and the employer has written a job description that reflects its needs. A cover letter ties those two documents together. A cover letter is more specific than the resume and specifically highlights one of your projects or programs that aligns with the needs of the job.

That is why there is no such a thing as a good generic cover letter; while you are still the same person, each job you apply for calls for a unique demonstration of how your qualifications fit with what the employer is looking for.

A good cover letter will demonstrate to the employer immediately that you have read its job description, that you understand what the job is about, that you understand the basic qualifications for the job and that you meet those, and that you understand something about the business the employer is in. A general-purpose cover letter cannot do that, and will be much less effective in your job search.

While you might want to draft a basic “shell” with a few pertinent paragraphs or sentences to build from, be very careful how you cut and paste and edit. Don’t submit a cover letter to BU, for example, that says you can’t wait to work at Northeastern (this really happened) or submit a cover letter for a position in a career office that says you are looking forward to this opportunity to work in pharmaceutical sales (this really happened, too.)