A cover letter, covering letter, motivation letter, motivational letter, or a letter of motivation is a
letter of introduction attached to or accompanying another
document
A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" o ...
such as a
résumé
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of rea ...
or a
.
For employment
Job seekers frequently send a cover letter along with their
or applications for employment as a way of introducing themselves to potential employers and explaining their suitability for the desired positions.
Employers may look for individualized and thoughtfully written cover letters as one method of screening out applicants who are not sufficiently interested in their positions and/or lack the necessary basic skills.
Cover letters are typically categorized according to two purposes:
* applying for a specific, advertised opening ('letter of application')
* expressing interest in an organization when the job seeker is uncertain whether there are current openings ('letter of inquiry').
According to studies, a good cover letter should:
* be specific and up-to-date,
*be well punctuated and spelled, and grammatically correct. It should be free of mistakes and typos,
* use timelines to highlight chronological information,
* reference to the latest job positions, most closely related to the position for which one is demanding,
* contain numbers (stark facts highlight one's achievements).
For internship
Students are often asked to submit a cover letter for an internship application. Such cover letters should include examples of extracurricular and academic experiences. Despite this specific information, cover letters for internships should have a
standard business letter format.
* The ', responds to a known job opening.
* The ', inquires about possible positions.
Other uses
Résumé cover letters may also serve as
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
devices for prospective job seekers. Cover letters are used in connection with many business documents such as loan applications (
mortgage loan
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...
), contract drafts and proposals, and executed documents.
Cover letters may serve the purpose of trying to catch the reader's interest or persuade the reader of something, or they may simply be an inventory or summary of the documents included along with a discussion of the expected future actions the sender or recipient will take in connection with the documents.
References
Further reading
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Letters (message)
Recruitment