CAREER COACH HANDBOOK - Summer Search

Correspondence Preparation
A. Goals
Create a cover letter that best conveys the student’s interest in and
suitability for a specific job opportunity that she/he has identified.
Continue discussion about relationship between cover letter and resume.
Teach student how to revise and customize cover letters for different job
opportunities.
Practice e-mail correspondence to plan and set up interviews, meetings,
etc.
Practice e-mail correspondence to follow up meetings or calls, such as
thank you notes.
Teach importance of correspondence timeliness and accuracy (e.g., correct
grammar and spelling, no typos).
B. Ideas for Action
• Have student search on internet for a specific job opportunity that interests
him/her. Then, have the student create the first draft of a cover letter for this job.
• Career Coach works with student to revise the letter until both parties are
satisfied with a final draft.
• Career Coach to comment on spelling, grammar and content of letter.
• Have student identify a second job that interests him/her. Then, have student
revise the first cover letter to reflect his/her interest in the job. Career Coach to
comment on spelling, grammar and content of letter.
• Career Coach reinforces/reminds student to check on-line and with college
career center for job postings.
C. Resources
1. Guidelines and Discussion
a. A cover letter is simply a letter that introduces the information you are
sending to another person. Basically, it explains why you are sending it, in
general terms what it contains, and describes any action you are asking
the other person to take upon receiving the information you are sending.
The cover letter for the resume is a special, and critically important, kind of
cover letter and should be given a lot of attention since it is also used to
position you as a strong candidate for the internship or position. Some
other instances when cover letters are appropriate include:
i. When sending follow up information requested by an interviewer or
their representative, sending unsolicited, but relevant, information
related to a topic of discussion (for example, you and the other
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