How to write a cover letter that will land in the “yes” pile
By Marlee Baldridge
In my time as a writing tutor at the University of Missouri, I must have worked with more than 200 students on cover letters. I did the math. One thing I learned during that time: There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Or write a fantastic cover letter.
These days there are more listicles about cover letters than you could shake a stick at, but this is the No. 1 idea: Write yourself into the club. Don’t wait until they ask for work samples or for your first day of reporting to prove what a great writer you are. A great letter always demonstrates that not only are you a great writer — you understand the organization’s needs and can fix them. This is how you make a case for yourself.
First, the easy questions:
Should you include an address? Not unless you want to stay near that address.
How long should it be? If they give you a prompt, answer the prompt, never in more than a page. If they ask for a “succinct” cover letter, no longer than 300 words.
Should you sign the letter? I never have.
Who do I write it to? “Dear hiring committee;” unless they give you the name of the person who does the hiring. Then write it to them.
Do I include contact information in my final paragraph? Your contact information should be on your resume, so don’t bother. It eats up precious word space.
Breaking it down:
Beginning with, “I’m writing to apply to the summer 2019 editorial internship,” is a nonstarter. The reader already knows what you’re applying for, and it should have been in the subject line of the email you sent. However, “Waitressing isn’t the most glamorous start to a journalism career. But it was the job that cemented for me the importance of reporting and holding power accountable,” is a much meatier first line.
Jake Grovum, head of U.S. audience engagement at the Financial Times, offered his advice through email when applying to a specific job. “Addressing the letter to [the hiring manager] is always nice, but there's more than that,” he said. “Do you have people in common in your networks? Have they publicly discussed their team or overall strategy? Have they been vocal about advocating for diversity in media? Those things can be really useful in how you write a cover letter (and helping you decide whether you'd want to work with that person).”
Then wrap up the first paragraph with something clean and declarative, like: “These earned skills would make the summer editorial internship a great place to start my journalism education.”
Explain why you are applying for this internship (or job) before the end of the first paragraph. This should be 25 percent of your cover letter. Center the “why” on core values, experiences and desires, but be succinct!
This runs counter to how some cover letter writers might tell you to do it, but Christine Schmidt at Nieman Lab says being able to tie the organization’s story to your own is important. She helped Nieman comb through nearly 200 applications for the Google News Lab Fellowship last year.
“The letters that stood out wove a story with the applicants and the mission of the organization intertwined,” Schmidt said in an email. “I don't mean that it should start with ‘once upon a time’ or end with ‘happily ever after,’ but a cover letter that knocks it out of the park can be a good read that demonstrates you care about the work you'd be doing AND you'd be good at it.”
The next paragraph is the bit where you do not recite your resume, but rather, explain. “In the summer of 2018, I worked as a waitress while freelancing for a local arts blog,” is reciting. “After I began waitressing, I sought out local opportunities to start writing and found El Sol. I would start my days as an arts columnist and end them as a waitress at the drive-in, working and talking with the city’s affluent and disenfranchised alike,” is a good way to explain why waitressing was a valuable use of your time.
Grovum said it’s also important to show that you have translatable skills. “I spent most of my pre-FT career as a political reporter, so I used the fact that I had written a lot about policy, data and economics from that point of view to explain why I was qualified to work here,” he said.
This middle bit (35 percent of your letter) should read like a testimony to the first paragraph. You’ve said journalism is important to you; now you prove it.
The last paragraph (another 25 percent) is where people tend to stumble. Some are tempted to beg for the internship and some are tempted to explain why they’re applying (don’t leave your “why” for the end!). This paragraph is where you cement the case for yourself.
Talk about the publication you’re applying for. What do you bring to the table that the dozens and dozens of other applicants can’t? Include keywords from their mission statement. What local issues are you eager to take on if hired? What can you do for this publication that no other intern can?
Finally, salutations. This should be the last 15 percent of the letter. In my mind it’s the least important, but it should cover the basics: Reiterate that you’d be a good fit for this internship, thank the reader for their time, and end on a note of hope. I always end with some variation of: “I’ve sat on the sidelines of this conversation for a long time, and this fellowship offers me the chance to take part in the conversation with an actionable solution. Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.”
You might follow every bit of good cover letter advice to the letter (no pun intended). You might have written the best technical cover letter of all time, but it needs to land in front of the right person and resonate with the right people. When I wrote my cover letter for the Google News Lab Fellowship, I wrote it in a day at my grandparents’ kitchen counter. Christine Schmidt read it and thought it was worth keeping in the “maybe” pile of resumes. If I had landed in front of another person at Nieman Lab, I might have been shuffled into the rejection pile.
When I got the phone interview, I told myself there was no way I’d get the fellowship — but I’d never have this chance to talk to Nieman Lab’s director again, so I might as well have a good conversation. Turns out we were both from small towns, and we were both invested in journalism’s class problem. I ended the phone call feeling like I had learned something and was grateful for the chance to talk. Chance and luck are all we get sometimes, but usually it’s all we need.
Marlee Baldridge is a graduate student at the University of Missouri studying how newsroom diversity makes journalism more sustainable. Previously, she’s interned at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Nieman Lab. She still catches typos in her cover letters.
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