Sample Cover Letter
Stay Away from Form Letters
If you really want the job, you'll tailor the cover letter to the job ad. Here's an example of an entry level Industrial Design ad that we found on Coroflot and a cover letter applying for the job. You'll note it's specifically tailored to what the employer (Chef'n) is looking for.
The Ad
Job Details
Company |
Chef'n Corporation |
Location: |
US – Seattle, Washington |
Job Level |
Junior Staff |
Field: |
Industrial Design |
Job Functions |
3D Modeling & CAD, Design, Illustration, Model Making & Prototyping, Packaging, Product Development, Research |
Description
• Assist in the design & development of products from start to finish in a team environment.
• Work within a specified timeline to achieve the stated deadlines.
• The ability to work with management and review boards to accurately present and modify designs to achieve the desired end product.
• Openly communicate problems and solutions to the parties involved while working with the team to solve them.
• Develop both personally and professionally
• Can-do, innovative attitude
• Tenacious in the pursuit of a goal
• Schooling and background experience in industrial design
• Experience with Rapid Prototyping- ability to build complex mechanical prototypes, make molds, render ideas and execute them
• Proficiency in 3-D modeling with Solidworks or other CAD software
• Understanding materials and their application as they relate to manufacturing and costs
• High degree of attention to detail and organization Professional attitude and appearance
•Minimum two year Industrial Design or related degree required, four year preferred
• Experience with complex cardboard, CDU display, vacuum-formed blisters and other packaging related items
• Experience with relevant graphical design software (Indeisgn, Freehand, Illustrator, etc.)
Specific Skills
Note that we are looking for a very raw, yet extremely talented individual with tons of upside and potential. This means that if you have very limited experience or are fresh out of school, you are the ideal candidate for us. Senior level or management types seeking a more advanced position with our design team need not apply to this position.
This position is a temporary 3 month employment with the potential to become regular at the end of that period. Anticipated start date for this is early October.
Apply Via Email
Submission Details
Tell us in a cover letter why you would be a great addition to our company. We’re interested in those special attributes you have that will contribute to our team. Please include relevant experience, schooling and salary history. On line or PDF portfolios are also a plus.
Applicants that do not include a cover letter cannot be considered.
No phone calls please!
NOTE:
Candidates who are not US citizens or permanent residents need to have authorization to work in the US in order to apply.
The Letter
Since they've asked that we reply via e-mail, we put a short message in the body of the e-mail.
Dear Sir or Madam
In response to your ad on Coroflot, I've attached my cover letter, resume, and several samples of my work. I look forward to discussing the opportunity to join the Chef'n design team.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Normally, we'd never say "Sir or Madam," but for these purposes, we'll assume that
- our attempts to search the Web site for the right name
- our networking attempts to suss out the name
were unsuccesful.
Then, we'd typeset a cover letter, a résumé, design some sample pages, and include those in ONE pdf document labeled with your name. Do not label your pdfs "cover letter," "application," or anything similar. They'll get plenty of those and will have to rename your files. This is a small detail, but you want to stand out as the applicant who DOESN'T create more work for them.
The Letter
My Name
My Street Address
My Town, State, and Zip
Today's Date
Chef'n Corporation
1520 Fourth Avenue, Third Floor
Seattle, WA 98101
I was excited to find your advertisement for Junior Industrial Designer on the Coroflot Web site. As both industrial designer and amateur chef feel strongly about kitchen products being aesthetically interesting and extremely functional. I am enthusiastic about Chef’n products not just for their usability but for their sense of playfulness and sophistication. These are two characteristics I incorporate into my own projects whenever appropriate. I am a graduating senior in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and feel my education, my can-do approach, attention to detail, and enthusiasm for kitchen gadgets and collaboration would make me an ideal candidate for the Chef'n design team.
Many of my projects have included working as part of a team to create innovative solutions to design problems on deadline. I’ve covered the elements of branding and design from concept to completion. My team conducted market research, competitive benchmarking, color studies, ergonomic studies, created sketches, branding, blue and balsa foam models, and rendered models using Solidworks and Photoshop. For preliminary research, we held intake conversations with client committees – acquiring company background and project needs and our team presented the research, models, and solutions to the committee.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss joining the Chef'n team. I have attached my resume and several samples of my projects. Please let me know if I can provide you with any other information or references, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
My Name