Recent Graduate Cover Letter
Sure that a recent graduate cannot compete with a skilled professional? You just do not know all the possibilities of a cover letter! It's time to get things right!
Sure that a recent graduate cannot compete with a skilled professional? You just do not know all the possibilities of a cover letter! It's time to get things right!
Colleges and universities promise you widely open doors in your adult life after graduation. Nevertheless, hunting down an awesome job for newly graduated students can be a cruel challenge. While trying to stand out with your candidacy on the labor market, you’ll face intense professional competition and stereotypes about the incompetence of graduates.
You should be prepared for the fact that you might have to choose between low-paying jobs right after you graduate school. In most cases, a career starts off as an assistant, intern, or junior employee. But if you have enough motivation, you can gain a foothold and become a successful worker in your chosen sphere.
The other challenge is job hunting. Just imagine the total amount of new grad cover letters the hiring managers need to get familiar with every year. This is really enormous! Of course, some labor market issues often depend on the demand for a particular profession at a given moment. But is there an effective recipe for how to increase the chances of your job application not being ignored by recruiters? There is! And we want to share it with you in our guide and tips for writing a great cover letter.
How to Write a Cover Letter for Recent College Graduate
Always respect your reader! You don’t need to make a literary masterpiece out of your cover letter, as it has more informative and less aesthetic functions. Despite the fact that the cover letter is a free-form statement, its writing still has some conventions and laws. The main ones are the presence of mandatory points and a traditional structure. Let's cover what the cover letter for a fresh graduate student should consist of!
Of course, you shouldn’t create your cover letter based on only one template. The main thing is that it must be well-structured and include a set of obligatory document elements. So what are the parts a good cover letter should contain? The GetCoverLetter platform provides a classic, effective recipe for job application document:
Opening
Job skills description
Workstyle description
Personal qualities
Closing
Introduction
The first paragraph of the university or college graduate cover letter should answer the question, who are you. The other blocks should explain why you are the perfect candidate for the position. Start by introducing yourself to your potential employers, just as you would if you were meeting them in person during your future job interview.
Professional Strengths
Here you should mention all the work-related aspects you are really good at. Add examples that show you are hard-working, result-orientated, professionally courteous and attentive to detail. Think about which job skills are the most valued by your future company and focus on those. Don’t be modest! Sell yourself as the best candidate!
Previous Experience
Since you are just starting out your professional career and have very little professional experience, you can put some accents on the achievements of your internship or student projects in your cover letter for fresh graduates without experience. Youngblood employees often achieve success during their first years in the company due to their fresh view of the working process. Represent your youth and energy as advantageous features!
Personal Features
As long as people continue to hire people for jobs, they will always value the mindset and personal skills that a candidate can offer to the company. Even with no professional background, you still have enough life experience to understand which of your strong personal features will be most appreciated by others. In this paragraph, you can point out traits like your great communication skills, natural empathy, problem-solving mindset or your passion for innovations.
Call-to-Action
A powerful closing paragraph is a must for a cover letter for a fresh graduate student. It should contain a clear call-to-action for the reader. Make it a confident statement that will interest your employer.
Sample Cover Letter for Fresh Graduate
For a clearer understanding of the cover letter composing and structuring principles, we have provided you with a couple of examples below. Both letter examples display the applications for entry-level positions and apply for jobs in information technology and healthcare spheres. The samples include the acceptable variants of headers and footers and all required structural elements.
Entry Level Software Developer
212b Lincoln Avenue
8551-055-551 craig.johnson.web@gmail.com Simon Garfunkel
Recruiter, “VRG Soft” Dear Simon, I am writing to apply for the position of an entry-level software developer. Maintaining operating systems and modifying source-codes has always intrigued me. I hope to become a beneficial employee for your company, and I am ready to improve my skills and knowledge. I am able to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of systems, resolve errors, and design programs that are customized to your company's needs. I consider myself a universal soldier of information technologies, due to my multitasking. Thanks to my self-implemented detail orientation, I make significantly fewer mistakes in my work and get perfect results. I am experienced in working with MikroTik equipment and easily deal with routers and wireless systems. Excellent communication, high concentration levels, and good task management are some of my professional advantages. You'll certainly value my problem-solving mindset and passion for innovations. Advanced knowledge of operating systems, which is required for my profession is reinforced with my stress resistance, result orientation, and diplomacy. I look forward to discussing the position in further detail. Feel free to contact me by phone or email. Sincerely yours,
Craig Signature (hard copy letter)
Pharmacy Intern
56\4 Parktown St.
8551-112-223 elling.elizabeth@gmail.com Angela Woods
HR Manager, “Acropolis Pharmacy” Dear Angela, I am greatly interested in the vacant position in “Acropolis Pharmacy” and hope to deliver all my advantageous features and to get professional development and experience. Dealing with medications and prescribing treatment is what I love and can do effectively. Being an ambitious pharmacy intern is impossible without my deep interest in chemistry and my developed empathy from the other side. My educational background allows me to monitor customers’ drug therapies and inform them of any potential side effects. You can rely on my great organizational skills which I apply to complete the operational requirements of the pharmacy, including verifying order entries and maintaining records of controlled substances. In addition, I have proven knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and software applications, often used by pharmacies, such as Meditech and Mediware. I can effortlessly collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, implementing my natural attention to details and time management. When I have to advise patients on the effects of health conditions or treatments, I constantly exhibit friendliness and customer service orientation to become a better specialist. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely yours,
Lisa Signature (hard copy letter)
Tips for Writing a Cover Letter for New Graduate
Recent grad cover letters often contain a set of common mistakes. That is to be expected, as for some of the recent graduate students it can be the first time they have ever composed a cover letter. Let’s point out some important elements to pay special attention to!
Remember that a resume and a cover letter are two different documents! The resume just lists the facts, but the cover letter has to be written in your own voice, speaking directly to your prospective employers and telling them why you’re the best candidate for the position. So don’t just use a reworded variant of resume as your cover letter! There is no need to duplicate the information to the other document.
Aim to tailor the cover letter to the individual job description as much as possible. To prepare yourself to impress the hiring manager, do research on the employer’s web resources and social media. The most successful way to impress is to include keywords from the job description in your cover letter for a recent graduate and use matching language to that used by the company in its official communication.
Be cautious of incorrect addressing in your letter. Among other strictly prohibited words and phrases used in fresh graduate cover letters, the awful spelling construction “To whom it may concern...” is the worst! You can get more information about how to address a cover letter from the useful article for the GetCoverLetter blog dedicated to the art of written appeals.
Beware of the size of the document and manner of speaking! Keep your cover letter short, crisp and to the point. It should be no longer than a single page. Avoid cliches, buzzwords and unprofessional vocabulary. Make sure it is formatted correctly. Always proofread your cover letter for any typos and mistakes before sending it.
Let’s structure our tips and see what’s important:
1.Don’t be ashamed of your lack of working experience.
2.Don’t be too formal in the expression of your thoughts.
3.Keep your cover letter short and crisp.
4.Cater the cover letter to match the job for which you are applying.
5.Avoid cliches, buzzwords, and strictly prohibited phrases.
6.Always proofread your cover letter for typos.
Wrap-Up
The GetCoverLetter editor is open to any goal of the applicant. Whether it be a presentation of a craft professional with a great list of achievements or a cover letter for fresh graduates without experience.
Our cover letter builder will help you make the writing easy and fast. You’ll also discover tips and guides for various professions, templates for job application documents, and useful informative articles in our blog. The start of your career is one of the most significant moments of your life. Take the first steps up your career with confidence!