The Empowered Job Seeker Series, v.6 - Cover Letter Examples to Help Sophie Make a Positive First Impression on Every Application!

As we can all generally attest to, writing about ourselves for ourselves, can be a bit of challenge. The same was true as we worked through the CMS outplacement program with Sophie.

Sophie worked in IT as an end user support team leader with her previous company. She was well trained in her field and had a long track record in a variety of progressively responsible positions.

Her résumé, once completed, was a testament to her career history and her accomplishments. When it came to the marketing component of the program, it became apparent to Sophie that she needed to develop customized cover letters, depending on the role she was applying for and the audience she was writing to.

As part of our career-transition program at CMS, Sophie was able to see a variety of sample cover letters that she could copy and edit, customizing them for her own purposes.

She personalized our sample letters when applying to online job postings, when connecting with recruiters, and to follow-up with employers after initial interviews. As she practiced, she got pretty good at developing her own writing style and even though she wasn’t a natural writer, she learned a new skill that she could take forward in her life and career.

In one particular instance, Sophie had learned that her brother’s employer was looking for a new IT support team member and she wondered how she could use her brother’s influence to get a shot at the job.

The sample letter that she used in this circumstance was one that referenced a mutual acquaintance. And, with our help, Sophie put together a customized, friendly, and professional cover letter that referenced her desire to join the company and the key contributions she could bring to the role—along with her brother’s name as an immediate reference.

As it turned out, Sophie was granted an initial meeting and was subsequently offered the job after three rounds of interviews. Ultimately, she accepted a role with a different organization that was closer to her home and held more promise for future advancement, but it was clear that had she not used her cover letter to reference her brother, Sophie would not have even had a chance at the job within his company.

Having access to our broad spectrum of sample cover letters which address almost every situation Sophie found herself in over the course of her career transition, was instrumental for her to: 1. strike the right tone, 2. include the required depth of detail, 3. use the proper format, and 4. effectively communicate why she was a good fit for each job.