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Alumni Association of the University of Michigan

COVER LETTER
GUIDE
INTRODUCTION
While your resume is a summary of your background and qualifications, your cover letter explains why you’re sending
in a resume and should always be included in a job application.

HEADING EXAMPLE
Contact Information Maize A. Blue
  200 Fletcher St
Ann Arbor, 48109 
800 847 4764
Date example@gmail.com
 
Address of the company/organization September 1, 2019
Ms. Smith
If possible, use the name of person in charge of unit or Wolverine Inc.
department/name of Hiring Manager by searching online 1000 Job Rd.
(company website or directory). This signals seriousness of Chicago, IL 62249
intent. If you cannot find a name, Hiring Manager will
suffice.

INTRODUCTION EXAMPLE
Dear Ms. Smith:
Provide greeting to specific person with whom you are
corresponding. If no name available, Dear Hiring Manager
I was elated to hear about your new position of LEAN
will suffice.
Manager from my colleague, Natalia Medina who works
in the St Mary‘s Health System Operations Team, and
State the position you are applying for and how you found
would like to meet with you to discuss this opportunity
out about it. If you heard of the position via a professional
connection, check with them and ask if you might further. With the advent of the Patient Protection and
mention them here. Affordable Care Act, the position presents an excellent
opportunity to work on some of the complex challenges
State how your experience matches the position. Include currently facing the healthcare industry, as well as St
2-3 key qualifications that you will address in the rest of Mary’s. I believe my 10 years’ experience as a healthcare
the letter (these items should match up with your operations consultant and manager have given me both
resume). the depth and breadth of skill and experience needed by
St Mary’s to tackle challenges which include among
others, rising budgetary constraints and system
inefficiencies.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COVER LETTER GUIDE PAGE 2

BODY/ARGUMENT EXAMPLE

Tailor cover letter to company and position to be more After speaking with Ms. Medina, its seems St. Mary’s is
effective (through company research via informational facing some unique goals, which include, St Mary’s goal to
interviews, website review and online reading). Do not increase profit through eliminating waste and reducing
use the same cover letter for different job applications. inefficiencies by reaching a six sigma level of 3.5- an
inspiring organizational goal. My LEAN Six Sigma Master
Recognize organizational need (as mentioned in job Blackbelt certification, as well as 10 years’ experience in
description) and make your claim as to how you can teaching and applying LEAN principles in practice, leads me
help them (that you have the matching skills). to believe my background and skill closely matches this
goal. This can be further illustrated by the 2 year project I
Give specific examples to support your claim lead with the University of Michigan Health System with
regard to inventory management of heart apparatus at the
Refer to your resume (do not repeat it verbatim) Cardiovascular Center. This process improvement project
enabled the organization to save $1.6M per year by
uncovering a series of complex suboptimization flaws and
resulted in a re-engineering of order entry processes.
These skills of data collection, value stream mapping,
advanced root cause analysis and change management will
help St Mary’s achieve both its short term budget
constraints and its long term goal of achieving a 3.5 sigma
level.

CLOSING EXAMPLE

Close with a strong reminder of why you are a good I believe my work experience in LEAN will provide the
match for the job and the organization. leadership needed in your Operations team for St
Mary’s in attain its waste reduction and streamlining
Request an interview in some way. goals. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss the
position and ways I can support St Mary's further. I may
Provide contact information. be reached at 000 000 0000, or by e-mail at
maizeandblue@email.com. Thank you for your time and
Express appreciation for consideration consideration. 

Sign your name and print it underneath. Sincerely,

Maize A. Blue
(Enclosure)

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COVER LETTER GUIDE PAGE 3

 FORMAT AND STRUCTURE BEST PRACTICES

We suggest a conventional approach to cover letters. While there may be creative positions that call for a different
approach, the majority of applications call for a conventional business format. Impress readers with excellent content as
well as elegant, clear formatting.

Single-space your cover letter

Leave a space between each paragraph
Leave three spaces between your closing (such as "Sincerely") and typed name
Leave a space between your heading (contact information) and greeting (such as, "Dear Mr. Smith")
Either align all paragraphs to the left of the page, or indent the first line of each paragraph to the right
Use standard margins for your cover letter, such as one-inch margins on all sides of the document
Center your letter in the middle of the page; in other words, make sure that the space at the top and bottom of the page
is the same
Sign your name between your salutation and typed name 
Include the word Enclosure after your name to indicate the inclusion of a resume
Always match the paper and font style of your resume to your cover letter

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