Job Search Communications

Cover letters and other career-related messages are as important as resumes and CVs in conveying your value to employers. When contacting prospective employers or hiring managers, always introduce yourself, state your career interests, and highlight your strengths. These communications are also an opportunity to demonstrate good writing skills, courtesy, and professionalism. You may need to develop several types of messages for your job search.

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Guidelines for Writing Job Search Communications

Prepare well-written career-related communications. Describe how your qualifications meet the employer’s hiring needs.

• Convey that you are informed about the organization and enthusiastic about the position.
• Learn the name, title, and pronouns of the person responsible for hiring in the department of interest; address your letter to that person.
• Demonstrate your competency in communicating.

Message Do’s

• Introduce yourself early in the message and state your reason for writing.
• Maintain a professional and positive tone.
• Present yourself in a business-like manner.
• Limit messages to 3–4 short paragraphs.
• Include the addressee’s name in the salutation and use the appropriate honorifics or titles (e.g., “Dear Prof. Park”)
• Attract attention with a strong first paragraph.
• If attaching a resume or CV, refer to the attachment in the body of your message.
• Use specific examples to document skills, experience, and accomplishments.
• Highlight and expand upon the most relevant information in your resume or CV rather than restating everything that can be read in that document. For example, if you are applying for a faculty position, focus more on the “why” and the “impact” of what you did rather than restating what you did. Explain how your work advanced the field.
• For non-academic jobs, emphasize what you can do for the employer, not what you hope to gain.
• For academic jobs, explain why their institution/department is the right place for your future scholarship to flourish, and explain what you can bring to the department or institution.
• Keep the tone positive, natural, and professional. Be persuasive.
• Make sure grammar and sentence structure are correct.
• Have someone proofread letters to make sure they are error-free.

Message Don’ts

• Use the passive voice.
• Include extraneous information.
• Reiterate verbatim what’s in your resume or CV.
• Point out weaknesses or lack of experience. For example, if you lack teaching experience, don’t say “Despite a lack of classroom teaching experience…” Instead, focus on what you have done that translates. This could be presentations you have given, awards you won for those presentations, or training you have done in pedagogy.
• Begin too many sentences and paragraphs with “I.”
• Use jargon or excessive wordiness.
• Assume spellcheck will identify all errors.
• Include an informal or personalized signature at bottom of your message, such as a humorous quote, etc.
• Include any hidden text for AI resume readers.

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Types of Communications

Request for an Informational Interview

Write to a professional working in a career field to request an informational interview, in person or by phone, to learn about the person’s work.

• Make it clear that you are seeking information, not applying for a position.
• State how you identified the person, what you would like to learn, and when/how long you would like to meet or talk with them.
• See Networking to learn more about talking with professionals.

Cover Letter

Write to a prospective employer about a specific job you have seen advertised or have identified through networking. Cover letters should be included whenever possible. They provide a way to personalize your qualifications.  

• Personalize the cover letter for each appointment to demonstrate to the employer that you have researched the employer and position.
• Motivate employers to read your resume through a well-written cover letter.
• Encourage employers to interview you by reading your cover letter and resume.

There are three main parts:

The beginning paragraph should tell the employer who you are, how you heard about the position, why you are interested in the position (be very specific) and summarize your qualifications.

The middle paragraph(s) should provide specific examples to illustrate your qualification that help the employer understand your potential fit with their organization. It should focus on what is not obvious from your resume. For example, you may have many publications, but you should highlight the impact of the work, any specific technologies you developed, your role in leading the team or mentoring, and any other skills or experience that explain your communication, teamwork, or other soft skills the employer is seeking.

The end paragraph should include information about when you are available to start, how to reach you, thank them for their consideration, and any other specifics necessary to help them evaluate you as a candidate.

Follow-Up Email and Thank-You Email

Thank interviewers for meeting with you following information or job interviews.

• Reiterate your interest in the field or the position, and recall aspects of the interview that were especially enlightening.
• Speak with a career advisor if you have concerns about whom to write to if you spoke with more than one person.

Offer-Acceptance Message

Respond to the employer to express your pleasure at receiving the offer.

• Confirm the terms and conditions of your employment, including salary, start date, benefits, etc.
• Request a written confirmation of the detailed offer if you have not received one.

Offer-Decline Message

Decline an offer of employment once you have decided to take another position.

• Thank the employer for the offer and for the opportunity to interview.
• State that your decision is based on careful consideration of your current interests and goals.
• Pave the way for future opportunities with the employer and networking with individuals you met there through a cordial decline letter.