Writing a Cover Letter

As a student, you might not have a lot of formal job experience, but a well-written cover letter is the perfect way to convince employers that you’re worth hiring.

A great cover letter highlights your work ethic, passion, and the valuable skills you acquired from other real-life experiences, such as school courses, extracurricular activities, or volunteer work. Screen Shot 2020-12-03 at 12.20.49 PM.png

Here are a few tips for crafting the perfect high school student cover letter:

Highlight your high school student skills

Use your cover letter to showcase any relevant skills that show employers you’re a great fit for the job.

Despite limited work experience, there are a variety of skills that many high school students have that are still valuable to employers. You can talk about skills such as: teamwork, time management, attention to detail, open-mindedness, and technology based skills.

Be sure to provide real-life examples of your accomplishments to demonstrate your skills. For instance, if you’re applying for an management position, talk about how you put your strong organizational skills to work by putting together a fundraising event at school.

Open with a strong introduction

Understanding how to write an attention-grabbing cover letter introduction is especially important for job-seekers with little or no experience. Since you don’t have much work experience to highlight, crafting a strong introduction is the best way to give employers a better sense of your passion, and how you can contribute to their organization.

Here are tips on how to write an impactful intro paragraph:

Show your enthusiasm for the company or role
Lead with an impressive achievement that highlights skills that are essential to the job
Research the company to show initiative, but be strategic with how you incorporate this information in your cover letter. You can position your talents in alignment with their long-term goals, or bring up any recent news and connect it back to why you’re interested in working for the company.

Show your passion for the industry

Employers want to hire someone who’s going to be genuinely excited to be there. People who are passionate about their jobs are more likely to have a positive attitude, stronger work ethic, and enhanced productivity.

Here are some ways that you can show your passion on a cover letter:

Show your enthusiasm for the role with a professional but personable tone.
Don’t just say you’re interested in the job, explain why you’re interested.
Connect a personal passion to the job to prove you’re committed to making an impact. For example, if you’re applying for a tutoring position, you can talk about how you had a wonderful tutor during your childhood who supported your academic growth in elementary school, and how you want to do the same for someone else.

If you are wanting extra help working on your cover letter, contact Jeff in the Future Center.

Looking for an example of a cover letter? Here is a great option for a high school cover letter can look like. Please note that your cover letter does not need to match the example perfectly.

High-School-Cover-Letter-Cosmopolitan_Original.docx