Week 13

Topic – Cover Letter

1. Please post your responses (25 sentences or more, website/s used in your discussion will not be counted toward the sentences) on the topic under Discussions – Career Goals on Canvas. Please share your findings, opinions, how the topic/learning changed your view toward the topic now, possible questions, and more with classmates.

First posting due: Thursday, Week 13, 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Canvas

2. Please read your classmates’ responses and add your thoughtful comments or opinions (9 sentences or more each) about TWO of the classmates’ discussion postings.

Two follow-up postings due: Sunday, Week 13, 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Canvas

3. Please pay attention to the Academic Integrity and Plagiarism under the Course Policies of the course

student 1

I believe that I have made a cover letter before, and it was at the same time I created a resume as a junior in high school. I don’t remember a lot about it, but they told us how to create one.

Each workplace will need a separate cover letter, because you’ll want it to be specific to the job you will be doing there. The resume will remain the same but a cover letter is more about you and not your past jobs only.

One of the websites said that you should explain problems that you have solved instead of saying, ‘problem solver.’ So in a way, it’s like the part of the resume that might have your strengths, or just what you would answer in the interview. It also said that you should try to use graphs or diagrams for more of a visual. It would work really well for a job that might be requiring that you know how to create those types of visuals. They will know just from your cover letter.

I think that’s really cool since your past jobs can’t always tell someone what you might have learned in school or other places. The cover letter is definitely helpful for the art careers because you may not have job experience with that kind of thing. Being able to talk about your experiences that may not be listed in the resume itself is really convenient.

There was also information about the tone that you use when writing the cover letter. It should be based on the job you’re applying for so it doesn’t become a bad first impression on the boss or whoever might be reading it. It seems kind of intimidating because you wouldn’t know for sure if the person would read it and be more likely to hire you.

student 2

The class I took in middle school that was meant to prepare us for careers or something like that first introduced me to what a cover letter is. I don’t remember much about what I was taught then. Since then I have not been required to submit a cover letter for the two jobs I have worked at. I have heard a little bit about it before, but not very much. It did seem like a part of the application process that I would not enjoy that much. After watching this week’s videos, I have learned a lot about them. They are quite important as a way to introduce yourself and your personality. I feel a lot more prepared to meet hiring managers’ or recruiters’ expectations, if a job I apply to requires a cover letter.