Cover Letter Guide

📄✨ A cover letter should complement your resume by adding narrative and context. Use it to highlight how your experience and skills solve real-world problems with data, communicate your interest in the role, and align with the employer’s needs.

Cover Letter Sections & What to Include

This section breaks down the standard parts of a cover letter and explains what each should accomplish.

Greeting

Address the letter to a specific person when possible to personalize your message and show attention to detail.

Use

  • âś… “Dear [Hiring Manager’s First and Last Name],”

If unknown

  • âś… “Dear [Team Name] Hiring Team,” (e.g., “Data Science Hiring Team”)

Avoid

  • 🙅‍♂️ “To Whom It May Concern”
  • 🙅‍♂️ “Dear Sir/Madam”

Intro Paragraph - What and Why

Begin with what position you’re applying for and a concise statement on why you’re interested and qualified.

Include

  • âś… The job title.
  • âś… A hook or standout skill/project that aligns with the job.
  • âś… Why this company or role is a fit for your interests.
Example
  • As an MS in Data Science student with experience building time series models and visualizing health data in Tableau, I was excited to see your opening for a Data Analyst Intern at XYZ Health. The role’s focus on using data to inform community-level decisions aligns with both my project work and career goals.

Body Paragraph - Evidence and Skills

Provide one or two concrete examples of your skills and accomplishments that align with the job.

Include

  • âś… Stories/examples of how you solved a problem with data and/or how you developed the experience/skills/competencies the job description highlights.
  • âś… Specific tools or methods you used (Python, SQL, Tableau, etc.).
  • âś… Your impact, insight, or takeaway.
Example
  • In my capstone project, I cleaned and analyzed 200K+ rows of CDC health data using Python and Pandas to identify geographic trends in vaccine uptake. The resulting visualizations, which I built in Tableau, were used by a nonprofit partner to prioritize outreach strategies. This experience sharpened my ability to wrangle messy data and present findings to leadership in a clear and concise manner.

Closing Paragraph - Next Steps

Reaffirm your interest, express enthusiasm, and indicate your availability for an interview or further discussion.

Include

  • âś… Enthusiasm about the role.
  • âś… A quick reminder of your qualifications.
  • âś… A thank-you.
Example
  • I would welcome the chance to contribute my technical and analytical skills to your team and learn from XYZ’s innovative approach to community health data. Thank you for your time and consideration.

How to Use Generative AI Tools

Use AI tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm, polish, and refine, but not to generate generic text. Be mindful of the fact that employers do NOT like getting letters they perceive to have been written by AI. Rather than give you an advantage, an AI-generated letter will hurt your candidacy.

Do

  • âś… Tell it to give you competencies the job description prioritizes and those to address in the letter.
  • âś… Use it to identify better ways to frame your experience as it relates to a particular job.
  • âś… Request edits to improve grammar or to provide options on how to write a specific sentence.

Don’t

  • ❌ Use an AI-generated letter (it often sounds vague or robotic, even if you tailor it).
  • ❌ Exaggerate achievements or skills.

Cover Letter Quick Tips

A checklist of practical dos and don’ts to help ensure your cover letter is clear, compelling, and error-free.

Do

  • âś… Tailor each letter to the specific job.
  • âś… Use key words from the job posting.
  • âś… Keep it to one page.
  • âś… Align the formatting with your resume (the resume and cover letter should look like a matched set).
  • âś… Write in your own voice.

Don’t

  • ❌ Rehash your entire resume.
  • ❌ Start every sentence with “I”.
  • ❌ Use overly formal or generic language.
  • ❌ Include typos or forget to proofread (you can use AI to detect typos).