Check the Seven Guidelines. Print your letter; read it aloud. Have it proofread by friends or colleagues.

S T E P 5:

Review your letter.

Copyright © 2015 by SALIENT, INC. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2015 by SALIENT, INC. All rights reserved.

E F F E C T I V E C O V E R L E T T E R S

Tools & Guidelines

Connect, Show Company Knowledge, Show Your Qualifications, Close

S T E P 4:

Draft your letter

Seven Guidelines1. Customize your letter. Rethink your qualifications

for each cover letter, for each position you apply for.2. Be brief. Make every word count.3. Make your letter easy to skim. Craft a letter in

which your main points and qualifications will be spotted even by a barely attentive reader.

4. List specific accomplishments. Pair your qualifica-tions with specific accomplishments—accomplish-ments unique to you.

5. Don’t sound arrogant, self-indulgent, or self-serving. Beware of adjectives that describe your personal-ity. Avoid anything that sounds as though you sit in judgment.

6. Address any gap in your resumé. Address directly anything that could be a disqualifier.

7. Have a native speaker review your letter. Eliminate anything that sounds awkward or unnatural.

A Step-by-Step Approachstep 1: Do homework on the company.

Your homework can take many forms: � Go to the company website. � Dig up news articles and press releases. � Read analysis in business journals. � Attend employer information sessions. � Seek out Wharton students who’ve interned or

worked at the company. � Seek out Wharton alumni who’ve worked there.

step 2: Analyze the job description. Print out the job description, and circle key requirements or expectations.

step 3: Analyze your own qualifications in terms of the job description. Print out your resumé, and then do three things:

� Underline experiences or accomplishments that correspond to the things you circled on the job description.

� In the margins, next to each item you circle, scribble the corresponding term or phrase from the job description.

� Based on your homework on the company, iden-tify any social, geographic, or extracurricular interests with direct relevance to the company.

step 4: Draft your letter. 1) Connect. For your opening salutation, find the

right person and address your letter to him or her. Then, in your opening paragraph—

� Communicate that you’re an MBA student at Wharton, and you may add a single fact with particular relevance to the job description.

� Communicate the specific position or program you’re interested in.

2) Show company knowledge. Your second para-graph should demonstrate:

� your interest in the company or industry; � your knowledge and insight into the company’s

culture, strategy, etc. 3) Show your qualifications. Use a bulleted list:

� Give each bullet a subhead that echoes the language used in the job description.

� Use the balance of each bullet for accomplish-ments that support the claim in the subhead.

4) Close. Indicate your interest in the next step and include a word of thanks.

step 5: Review your letter. Check your letter against the Seven Guidelines. Then print it out; force yourself to read it aloud, slowly. Then find friends or colleagues with impec-cable grammar and spelling skills, and use them.

Richard Armstrong 3211 Pine Street, Apt. 445Philadelphia, PA 19104

TEL: 610.555.0266 EMAIL: richarda@wharton.upenn.edu

October 14, 2011

Ms. Marian Saunders Recruiting Coordinator Monitor Company Group, LP Two Canal Park Cambridge, MA 02141

Dear Ms. Saunders:

As a first-year MBA student at the Wharton School, I am excited to apply for the Graduate Summer Consultant position at Monitor.

At Monitor’s recent Employer Information Session in Philadelphia, I spoke with a number of your colleagues, including Roger Winters, and as a result, I have come to believe that Monitor is an ideal place for me to develop as a business leader. Three things in particular I found striking:

The client relationship. Jim O’Connor summarized the firm’s philosophy thus: “We row in the canoe with the client to help them get there.” Confidence in its consultants. Monitor doesn’t slot consultants into defined industry practices, an approach that allows them to explore and continually add value from a fresh perspective. Entrepreneurial environment. Team members are expected to take initiative.

Prior to Wharton, I worked in a series of positions at NewsBand Global, a venture-backed company with a fast-paced, high-growth environment. Here I honed a set of skills that would enable me to immediately contribute to the team at Monitor:

Leadership and resourcefulness. NewsBand’s campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was key to its entry strategy for Asia but ran into trouble. Our CEO asked me to take over our Asia-Pacific division. Despite my unfamiliarity with the region and language, I led a team of six to create a seamless experience for key clients for the Olympics, like McDonald’s, Adidas, and Samsung, and at the same time harnessed several new business opportunities across Asia. We overcame logistical hurdles and an array of government restrictions to far exceed our revenue targets.Analysis and strategy. As our CEO’s associate in New York, I addressed ambiguous and unstructured business cases across a range of areas including strategic partnerships, resource utilization, and new product development. In one such case, I conducted a competitive benchmarking study and developed an algorithm to price a new product offering, enabling us to optimize price based on dynamic input factors. Communication and client management. My tenure in EU sales covered France, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands, where I regularly met one-on-one with senior executives at Global 500 companies. This challenge included creating excitement about a new idea, bringing clients to our firm, working closely with clients post integration and, ultimately, creating trust-based client relationships.

Monitor is a place where I would be excited to leverage my skills to drive tangible impact and develop into the global business leader I aspire to be. I would welcome the opportunity to interview with Monitor.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Best regards,

Richard Armstrong

2) SHOW COMPANY KNOWLEDGE

Demonstrate both: 1) your interest in the company

or the industry; 2) your knowledge & insight

into the company’s values, culture, strategy, etc.

1) CONNEC T

• Find the right person, and address your letter to him or her.

• Communicate that you’re a Wharton MBA student.

• Communicate the specific position or program you’re interested in.

3) SHOW YOUR QUALIFICATIONS

Use subheads with bullets: • Each subhead echoes re-

quirements language used in the job description.

• The balance of each bullet states accomplishments that support the claim in that subhead.

4 ) C LO S E

• Indicate your interest in the next step.

• Include a word of thanks.

S T E P 2:

Analyze the job description.Get a print-out of the job description, and underline or circle the key words and phrases

Description:Summer Consultant Program 2011

Primary Job Responsibilities:Our programs are typically two months in length and are designed to give Summer Consultants an experience that reflects as much as possible the typical experience of a full-time consultant. Summer Consultants work with Monitor case teams on projects that enhance our clients’ long term competitive position and performance in ways that are distinctive, innovative, and sustainable.

Job Qualifications:Successful candidates will be currently enrolled in a top tier MBA, PhD, MPP or MPA program, have several years of relevant business experience, and the ability to meet each of the following criteria: A strong and demonstrated interest in strategy consulting Background or experience (through coursework or employment) in marketing, quantitative

analysis and financial A base level of knowledge in business strategy, marketing, finance, operations, and data analysis

techniquesExcellent academic credentials for both undergraduate and graduate coursework

Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbalLeadership qualities, project management skills, and the ability to mentorWillingness and ability to take initiative and learn independently

Five Steps to an Effective Cover Letter

Copyright © 2015 by SALIENT, INC. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2015 by SALIENT, INC. All rights reserved.

Suggestions: � Go to the company website. � Dig up news articles and press releases. � Read analysis in business journals. � Attend employer information sessions. � Seek out Wharton alumni who’ve worked at the company.

S T E P 1:

Do homework on the company.Learn everything you can about the company and the industry of which it’s a part

Underline and scribble in the margins

S T E P 3:

Analyze your own qualifications in terms of the job description.