Cover letter length
I get two different answers.
1. Follow the diagram off Vault, Monster, Career Center meaning make it like 3-4 paragraphs.
2. Ibankingfaqs tell me to make it short and sweet. 1-2 paragraphs. They assume that the recruiters read the cover letters over there blackberrys and want it short.
Any suggestions of which choice? From previous posts it seems as though cover letters do more harm then good.
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so just strict 2 paragraphs
so just strict 2 paragraphs about your previous experience and why you want the internship/job?
Definitely 2
Your job is to get your point across while being as concise as possible.
Do you guys include a header
Do you guys include a header on your cover letter? For example, I use the exact same header I used on my resume, which lists name, address, email, etc, and put it at the top of my cover letter. Do you think this is too much or is it standard?
header is fine
header is fine
have you spoken with them?
blackberry comment is one to take heed of. ideally, you should've already spoken to the person you are sending your info to - in that case, your cover letter can be one quick paragraph. one and done.
cover letters on the whole
Are honestly pretty pointless, MOST of the time; sometimes they're just necessary, and then you need to throw it in, using (2) as a better frame for it. But personally, whenever I review resumes for potential analyst candidates, I do not look at cover letters. That said, here are mistakes I have seen:
1) Using phrasing like "After my summer analyst stint, I learned the entire deal execution process..."; "I am extremely proficient in excel and financial modeling..."; you get the idea; be confident, but don't over-emphasize anything out of the scope of your ability to speak to it.
2) Not enough emphasis on teamwork; this is important, people should know that you are able to work with others, this is easy to incorporate, just give a brief two sentence overview of what your team structure was and why it made sense.
3) Sometimes bullet points help; personally, I would always rather look at something that makes it even easier for me to figure out what the applicant is trying to say. Some people may disagree with me on this; the few times I have seen this however, I have been pleasantly surprised.
Will follow-up with more info on this.
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Short and Sweet
What you really want people to be looking at is the resume, and the longer your cover letter is the larger the chance is that you'll have a typo or say something stupid. Just tell them what job you're applying for, who you've been in touch with at the firm, and maybe a few sentences about your qualifications and lock up the deal with a solid resume.