Ultimate Guide for Creating Engineering Cover Letters

Preface

There are many articles on the internet detailing how to make great cover letters and resumes, which is why I’m not going to tell you exactly how to make these documents. Instead, I will provide you with my very own examples, and give you pointers on what to focus on when making yours. The examples provided at the link above are cover letters that I not only created, but have also used. A detailed analysis of both of these cover letters are available in article form here and here.

Before we get started, let’s consider a few questions. What is a cover letter, how is it going to be used, who is the intended audience, and what are you trying to convey? Answering these questions is the key to understanding how to make a great cover letter. In order to truly excel in the game of job hunting, and all of the tasks associated with it, you need to have a sales and marketing mindset, where YOU are the product. For motivation and information on this topic, check out my articles on The Sales and Marketing Mindset to Job Hunting and The Robert Kiyosaki, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” Sales and Marketing Mindset for Success.

Without further ado, let’s dive in, and look at the fundamentals you should consider when making a cover letter! Use one of my cover letters from the links above to follow along as guidance.

Getting Started

In many of my resume and cover letter articles, all of which you can find at the links here and here, I’ve described resumes and cover letters as marketing tools for the advertisement of YOU as a marketable product. You will use both of these items to gain the attraction of your audience to YOU. If you think about your resume like a datasheet for a product, then you should think about your cover letter as the commercial that gets potential customers to check out that datasheet before buying the product. 

What does this mean? It means that before you make your cover letter, you really need to have a resume filled with marketable content already created. If you need help making marketable content for a resume, check out my article on How to Create Marketable Content for Your Resume. In this article, I state that focusing on content creation to capture your audience’s attention is the most important, and easily one of the hardest things you can do in the game of creating a marketable resume designed for success. 

Your resume should be full of details about where you graduated from, what kind of certifications you have, where you have worked and positions you’ve held over the years with time frames, and also detail your responsibilities and accomplishments. If you are part of a professional organization, you volunteer your time for a charity or other various things in your community, or you tinker on different projects during your spare time, you should definitely detail these on your resume as well.

To create your commercial (cover letter), you will pull details from your resume just as you would from a flyer or product datasheet. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Although we aren’t necessarily adding pictures to our cover letter, many commercials are usually very descriptive in terms of getting the message of a product across. In order to be completely descriptive in your cover letter, you will have to fill it out with complete sentences, since most of your resume details will likely be represented using incomplete sentences and formatted with bulleted lists.

Cover Letter Content Creation

Now that you have a resume (product flyer/datasheet) filled with marketable content, and the basic theory of what a cover letter represents (a commercial that attracts an audience to your product), what should actually go into your cover letter from your resume? Let’s take a closer look by diving into the latest examples of my very own resume and cover letter.

Addressing the Recipient

Just as you would an actual letter or email, address the recipient of your cover letter in a formal manner. If you’ve done some research on the individual you’re contacting, address them with the proper title, especially if they come from academia or are in the military. Otherwise, a simple To Whom It May Concern, is sufficient enough. 

Opening Statement

Tell the reader who you are, and why you are reaching out to them. It may also be beneficial to let them know the specific job you are applying to, since they most likely have many open positions.

Introduction to YOU

From here to the end of the cover letter, you really want to focus on giving the reader details about you. In this introductory section, briefly provide the reader with basic professional background information about yourself, like where you received your degree from, and whether or not you hold any certifications. 

The Meat and Potatoes

The meat and potatoes section is where you are really going to want to paint the picture of what your capabilities are. This is by far the most important section of your cover letter and should contain the most attention grabbing content. From the commercial analogy, this is the portion of your commercial that truly draws the potential customer to buying your product. In a few paragraphs, briefly detail your capabilities by pulling directly from your resume. Capitalize on responsibilities and accomplishments that showcase your technical, leadership, teamwork, and multitasking capabilities.

In this section, you can also describe any kind of “extracurricular” type of stuff you might do that is relevant to the position you are applying to. Ideally, these should also highlight technical, leadership, teamwork, and multitasking capabilities.

Closing Remarks and Signature

In ending your letter, simply thank the reader for their time, restate your interest, point the reader to your resume, and leave the door open for future discussion by providing a method for the reader to contact you (email address and phone number). 

Final Words

Before closing, I would like to impart a few last pieces of advice to you. The more upfront effort you put into this venture, the easier it will be to not only do again in the future, but also to use in your current endeavors: internal cover letters, interviews, and even for completing mid/end of year performance reviews. Always keep in mind that you are trying to sell an overall set of products. From a professional perspective, these products are your experiences, technical expertise, communication skills, leadership abilities, etc. Documents like your resume and cover letter are marketing tools for your products. These documents are like brochures that you give to a customer to see if they are interested in buying your products. You should think about this entire process as more than just a writing drill; instead, think of it as a skill building exercise, where the skills you are learning are content creation, sales, and marketing.