Reflection On My Cover Letter

Reflection

The job that I applied for was an unpaid internship, at the Grameen Foundation in Seattle, WA. The job ad specifically stated what they are looking for in a candidate. I used what they posted in the ad, as a framework for my letter. Since they were looking for someone who has strong analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to work both in a team and work independently, I made sure to provide examples of those qualities. Applying for this position helped me understand that I need to develop my networking skills more. Knowing someone from this company, which I could mention in my cover letter, would have strengthened my ethos.

The most effective design aspect of my cover letter is the block paragraphs. This design is both modern and more readable. For my resume, I chose not to use underline, italic, or bold excessively. By making this minimalist decision, the reader’s eyes go to the most important information. I also chose to make an academic achievement section that isn’t normally included in resumes. I chose to do this because my biggest strengths are my achievements in school, rather than through past work experience.

The most challenging document to produce was the cover letter.

This was the most difficult to write because you want to impress the reader with your writing skills as well as your qualifications. One major revision that I made was moving some of the information from my resume to my cover letter and vice versa. During this revision, I moved a sentence that stated previous courses to my resume. This was more conventional for a resume because it can be stated in one bullet rather than take up space on the cover letter. Additionally, I elaborated on my photography business because it allowed me to show that I have the ability to work

independently.
Since I applied for an internship my audience expects to see an emphasis on education and not as much on experience. This is why I chose to use the functional resume format instead of the chronological. I didn’t add any elaboration of the responsibilities or duties of my past job experience because it wouldn’t be relevant to the job that I was applying for. These jobs are restaurant or fast food places so like Scott explained to our class, details or these jobs are common knowledge so they don’t need to be listed.
I think that I worked hard on this project. I started it early so I wasn’t rushed at the end. However, it took me a while to find an internship to apply for. I was hoping to find an internship locally but there just wasn’t any available. I would have chosen a different internship or job to apply for because the one that I chose didn’t have a name or a reference number that I could address my cover letter to. The peer feedback helped me by pointing out flaws that I had overlooked. I welcomed feedback from my peers and sought others to help me revise my cover letter and resume. During the peer review day, I was able to see how some of my classmates approached the assignment which, in turn, helped me to reflect on how I did.