Cover Letters: Putting YOU attitude into a letter about yourself

Putting YOU attitude into a letter about yourself.

It is a difficult task to write an application cover letter ‘selling’ your skills while making the reader’s needs the most important.

Rule # 1: Begin by saying something nice about the reader’s organization. For example: ” The Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialty Hospital has an excellent reputation for providing the best care with the latest technology available and the opportunity to a part of your team while completing my education is exciting.”

Rule # 2:  Eliminate the ‘me’ pronouns. My trick is to write the letter – then, I bold all the “I” /”me”/ “mine” pronouns and edit with an eye to eliminate as many as possible. This involves rephrasing many sentences.

EXAMPLE to follow:

Missing YOU attitude:

“Please consider my application for a Registered Veterinary Technician, as advertised on bbvsh.com. I am a fourth year undergraduate student, studying Biological Sciences at the University of British Columbia. My long term goals involve pursuing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in the next 5 years. I am very passionate about caring for animals, and my past experience working for Peace Arch Veterinary Hospital and Veterinary Dermatology and Ear Referral Clinic has enabled me to gain knowledge about many of the same responsibilities that are involved with this position.

Rewrite: With YOU attitude:

Please consider this application for a Registered Veterinary Technician, as advertised on bbvsh.com. The Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialty Hospital has an excellent reputation for providing the best care with the latest technology available and the opportunity to be a part of your team while completing my education is exciting. Presently, I am completing an undergraduate degree and gaining experience working part-time with the Peace Arch Veterinary Hospital and the Veterinary Dermatology and Ear Referral Clinic and volunteering for the Surrey Memorial Hospital in the Emergency Care Unit. The goal is to begin a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine after completing my Biology degree with UBC in December.