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The guidance explains how to demonstrate fit with the advertised position, highlight accomplishments and expertise, maintain a professional confident tone, and avoid common mistakes such as poor tailoring, careless errors, arrogance, rambling, hyperbole, and sloppy presentation. 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It allows you to begin a personal dialogue with the members of the committee. It is one of your best opportunities to frame your candidacy:  \nto explain why you would be an especially attractive hire.  \nA well written letter will:  \n• demonstrate the fit between your background and the advertised position;  \n• single you out as a particularly promising scholar and teacher;  \n• reveal something about the quality of your mind; and  \n• differentiate you from other candidates in the pool.  \nA cover letter isn’t simply a job application: it’s lays out your scholarly agenda and your teaching qualifications; it’s also a writing sample.  \nA cover letter needs to set you apart from other applicants. It should highlight your accomplishments, qualifications, skills, areas of expertise, and potential.  \nHow to Write a Letter that Says: “I Don’t Want this Job.”  \n1. Use Dear Sir or Madam as your Salutation. Address the letter to a specific person, if possible.  \n2. Fail to state which position you are applying for. Remember, departments are often conducting multiple searches simultaneously.  \n3. Allow careless errors to creep into your letter. Search committees consider a shoddy, slipshod, or slapdash letter, replete with typos, a sign of a deeper problem.  \n4. Sound arrogant or overconfident.  \nCover Letters from Hell  \nIt’s easy to tell an effective cover letter from one that is disastrous. A bad cover letter:  \n1. Is presumptuous: It explicitly tells a department the ways you could contribute.  \n2. Is excessively formulaic: It is not tailored to the job you are applying for.  \n3. Rambles.  \n4. Is aggressive or pushy in tone.  \n5. Uses “wimpy” language: It includes phrases like “I feel” or “I believe.”  \n6. Embellishes the applicant’s qualifications.  \n7. Is sloppy in appearance and contains typos or grammatical mistakes.  \nCover Letter Do’s and Don’t’s  \nYour cover letter—along with your c.v. and your letters of recommendation—will determine whether a search committee will pursue your candidacy. As many as half the applicants for a particular job are rejected after the search committee looks at the cover letter. The committee members may conclude that the candidate is not qualified for the job or that the applicant’s work is not engaging. In other words, it is crucial that your letter grab the committee’s interest.  \nAvoid common cover letter gaffes and blunders:  \nDO address the letter to a specific individual.  \nDO be succinct. This is not the place for an overly lengthy discussion of your dissertation.  \nDO be attentive to the difference between research and teaching oriented institutions—though even liberal arts institutions expect you to be engaged in scholarship.  \nThus, for a liberal arts institution you need to recognize the importance of small classes, interactive discussion, mentored research projects, and the value of getting to know students personally.  \nDON’T be too lengthy. Generally two pages is sufficient.  \nDON’T use hyperbole. Be professional in tone.  \nNuts and Bolts  \nLength: Generally no more than two pages.  \nTone: Confidently professional. You want to come across as serious, interesting, collegial, and productive.  \nElements: A cover letter is  \n• part intellectual autobiography  \n• part academic transcript  \n• part a listing of accomplishments  \n• part an analytical discussion of ideas  \nFormat  \nMost cover letters follow a common format. But the execution varies significantly. Don't be generic. Identify those skills and areas of expertise and accomplishment that set you apart from others.  \nParagraph 1: Identify the position you are applying for.  \n\"I would like to be considered for your assistant professorship in....  \nAlso in Paragraph 1: Identify yourself.  \nTake advantage of the fact that you are at Columbia and have studied with recognized faculty mentors.  \n\"I a","cbCaiaXyFsWqWvNw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaXyFsWqWvNw","pdf",53008,6,"English","# Writing a Successful Cover Letter\n## What a Strong Cover Letter Does\n## How to Write a Letter that Says: “I Don’t Want this Job.”\n## Cover Letters from Hell\n## Cover Letter Do’s and Don’ts\n# Nuts and Bolts\n## Length, Tone, Elements\n## Format by Paragraph\n# Sample Cover Letters","[{\"question\":\"What should a successful cover letter accomplish for a search committee?\",\"answer\":\"It should demonstrate fit between the candidate’s background and the position, single out strengths as a scholar and teacher, reveal qualities of thinking, and differentiate the candidate from other applicants.\"},{\"question\":\"Which cover letter mistakes should be avoided?\",\"answer\":\"Avoid being presumptuous, overly formulaic, rambling, aggressive or pushy, using weak “I feel/I believe” language, embellishing qualifications, and submitting a sloppy letter with typos or grammatical errors.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the recommended structure for the cover letter paragraphs?\",\"answer\":\"Paragraph 1 identifies the position and introduces yourself; paragraphs 2–3 describe the dissertation and its significance; paragraph 4 covers expertise breadth; paragraph 5 addresses teaching experience and course range; paragraph 6 highlights distinctive strengths; paragraph 7 addresses fit; paragraph 8 closes and lists enclosed materials and contact details.\"}]","Writing a Successful Cover Letter - Cover Letter Do’s and Don’ts | PDF",1789286792]