There are certain parts of the job-searching process that are awesome. Maybe your favorite part is narrowing down your choices, or finding that one job that speaks to your soul.

However, there are also parts in the process that are more unpleasant than others. For some, it’s the interview process. For others, attending career service meetings and info-sessions might be most daunting. But for me, it’s always been the cover letter.

Ahhh, yes, the dreaded cover letter, I thought to myself last Thursday. I’ll just write it over the weekend. I’m not the type to procrastinate, but I could feel my skin crawl with each passing day. I’d stare blankly at the open Pages document, where all I’d written was my name and the date.

Perhaps it was the magnitude of the cover letter that scared me: The cover letter is the ultimate opportunity to tell your story to the company. It’s a chance to tell them why you want to work there and show how you’d be a great fit for their team. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. The cover letter can get a little tricky: You’ve got to highlight your strengths and share about your accomplishments while remaining humble. And on top of it all, you have to be charming!

I really didn’t even know where to get started writing the letter. So, I did what any millennial would do: I perused the Internet for some helpful cover letter inspiration. I hoped that by reading some sample letters, I’d gain a little guidance and
structure to go forward. Using the powerful web, I started writing a first draft. 

It would be an understatement to say this first draft was rough. I felt so defeated by the pitiful excuse for a cover letter; I wanted to delete the document, curl up in a ball and watch Netflix, but I knew I couldn’t do that. I’d already procrastinated so much, and thought that perhaps I could revise the letter with the help of an expert. I dropped in to CP&R for an appointment, and got some really helpful feedback to strengthen the letter, as well as a step-by-step formula for writing more letters to come.

Here are some of my tips for writing a basic cover letter:

1. Create a personalized letter for each company. I can’t stress this enough. Businesses get cover letters all the time. They can sense when you’ve copied and pasted the same formula from one document to the next. So get creative! Companies want to get to know you, and hear why you’re passionate to work for them!
   
2. Do your research. Get to know the companies you’re looking for, and find out what makes  them stand out as businesses. Pick a couple characteristics about the company that really spoke to you, and made you want to apply in the first place!
3. Show companies why you’d be a great fit. Elaborate on a project, class, job or experience that helped you gain the traits necessary to succeed in the position.
4. Make sure you send the right letter to the right company. It’s a first-grade concept, but when life gets really busy, we can make the most obvious mistakes. It would be an absolute nightmare  to send a letter to the wrong employer, so just be on your game and double-check those addresses!
5. Pair your cover letter with your resume. Another pretty basic idea. If you have a website, add the link so companies can learn more about you!
6. Keep it short and sweet – less than a page should do. Be concise and thoughtful and don’t add fluff.
7. Use spell-check and use proper grammar. I found it particularly helpful to read the letter aloud, so that I could catch grammatical mistakes and make the flow more cohesive.

Now that I’ve shared my 2 cents, I want to know: What helps you write a cover letter? How do you get those creative juices flowing?