Ending Your Cover Letter the Right Way

Hi friend,

You’re at the bottom of your cover letter now, if you’ve been following along about how to start your cover letter and what to include in the middle of your cover letter. So how do you close your cover letter? 

If you google it, you’ll probably end up with some mash up of: “Please find my resume enclosed. I can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX or generic.email@gmail.com; I look forward to discussing the [Position Name] more.” The nicest thing I have to say about it is that there’s nothing offensive about it, but the generic vagities undermine the impact of the rest of your cover letter.

Enough about what not to do though— let’s get to the details: the last paragraph of your cover letter only needs to be two sentences, maybe three. The purpose of the closing paragraph of your cover letter is to help the reader imagine a future where you are working at their company in this role. In other words, it’s forward looking.

The only other forward looking sentence in your cover letter at this point (if you’ve been following along with me), is at the end of your first paragraph. Here’s an example first paragraph sentence as a reminder:

I am excited to... explore career paths adjacent to medicine like the [Position Name], where I can combine my interests in microbiology with my experience in program management, and further develop my event planning skills.

Let’s imagine we have just written a cover letter explaining this person’s program management and microbiology skills, and that they are applying for a position planning events for microbiologists. A great way to transition from the middle of your cover letter to the end is with an opinion statement:

I believe that bringing scientists together through events helps them learn more and retain information better than simply reading academic journals; additionally, events foster collaboration in research, which is vital for making medical advancements. 

Notice how this opinion explains why this person believes in or cares about the position. This is essentially the answer to: “Why are you interested in this position?” and it neatly connects to the last sentence imagining a shared future. I find it easiest to write an “I look forward to…” statement here:

I look forward to supporting you and the International Microbiology Exchange community through the Community Forum and other event programming in 2021.

I look forward to working with [Company Name] to find a cure for cancer through supporting collaboration with researchers around the world.

And you’re done! Sign your name and set it aside for a day before coming back to proofread and make adjustments.

Happy Tuesday,

Karissa

P.S. Great job finishing your cover letter! :)