Cover Letter

Categories: Regulations, Bonds

Apply for a job and you'll need a few items for your initial application. First, there's the resume. This includes a list of your previous employers and a rundown of your education. Second, there are your references. These are the people you used to work with (or for) who can still, uh...stand to speak to you. Then there's the cover letter.

The cover letter is like a self-introduction that you provide a prospective employer. Probably no one will read it and, even if they do, it will likely only impact your hiring chances if you come off like a lunatic and pre-convince the company to keep you as far away from them as possible (e.g. "some of my proudest accomplishments came in the service of a certain para-military organization that I'm bound by blood oath not to mention here").

Still, companies want to see a cover letter. It's a tradition. Plus, they can see if you write in full sentences and understand the basics of punctuation.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)