Customizing your cover letters

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 24, 2010

I saved one basic template letter, made copies of it and tweaked it for each facility. I also saved copies of every letter I made so if I went for a different job in the same facility, I only had to make minor adjustments.

Like it or not, good cover letters are going to take up time.

Best of luck.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 25, 2010

Yes, it's all very time consuming. I just wish I had some way of knowing whether any of this time and effort was paying off... I send off online applications and get no feedback whatsoever. At this point I'm just filling out any application, anywhere, for "nurse residency."

StarryEyed, RN · Oct 25, 2010

I did what Meriwhen did, also. When I had the basic template I would just really need to go in and change Hospital Name, Address, Recruiter, Specialty, Shift, and several adjectives/nouns that were part of the specific hospital's mission/values. If it was a unit I had some sort of additional non-generic experience in I would add that also.

However, after MONTHS of applications, I just stopped doing cover letters at all. The interviews I landed I hadn't written cover letters for. I also got the jobs.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 25, 2010

That's great! You got interviews without cover letters at all? I'm trying to do everything "right" in my application process and scared that skipping a step might cost me a job.

Right now my cover letter goes something like this:

I am a recent graduate of BLANK. I would love to begin my career in BLANK. It would be a great opportunity for me to work in a facility with a reputation as BLANK. I am especially impressed with BLANK. I believe I can play a vital role in helping the hospital meet their goal of BLANK.

I have worked as a volunteer in BLANK (customize experience for job). As a nursing student, both in the classroom and clinical areas, I have distinguished myself as a hard-working, successful student who is not afraid to take on a challenge. I am ready to begin my career as a member of the team at BLANK.

Thank you for considering me for this position. I look forward to discussing this position with you in more depth.

caliotter3 · Oct 25, 2010

I get my jobs by applying in person. Online applications have gone ignored. No cover letters at all. Resumes not needed, I have provided them on my own, in addition to filling out the application. Only one employer has ever asked me for a resume.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 25, 2010

I get my jobs by applying in person. Online applications have gone ignored. No cover letters at all. Resumes not needed, I have provided them on my own, in addition to filling out the application. Only one employer has ever asked me for a resume.

Many places won't even let you in the door... especially when you are a new grad.

NightNurse876 · Oct 25, 2010

Some hospitals ONLY take online apps. Also when you apply at one hospital apply to every position you can period! I didnt upload cover letters just letters of recommendation that I asked for in electronic form as well as my resume. I made a section on my resume for my senior practicum, I was in the ICU and really did a lot so I think it helped my resume a bit. The job I recently landed I applied for back in August, like the 4th or 5th and didn't hear back until the 23rd of September so it takes a while for some places. I also called the hospitals to see who takes new grads if they had programs for new grads the dates etc. And the ones that say yes we take new grads got mutliple applications from me. Also if it says exp preferred I applied! Also trying to talk to the nurse managers on the floor you applied to helps tons. Just call ask to be transferred to the medsurg floor, etc and then ask to speak to the NM and let them know ur name, that you applied and was wondering what time urgency of need was and what they are looking for. Looking for work is full time work. Don't get discourraged! You can and will get work, when the time is right. Patience my dear! It'll happen b4 you know it

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 25, 2010

Two votes so far for "don't waste time with cover letters." Anyone else want to weigh in?

StarryEyed, RN · Oct 25, 2010

Just another thing to consider when sending in multiple apps to a single hospital. I got a phone call from a very nice recruiter in HR who called to personally inform me that they were going w/someone else(instead of a form 2 sentence email). She told me that even though the application didn't state experience required, it really was because the manager had told her that's all they would look at. In some cases they even wanted unit-specific exp. Anyhow, she gave me her personal line and said before I apply to positions there I could give her a call to see if the managers were looking for more than advertised and if I should apply so I "could keep my record more clean". She said it doesn't look quite so good when there are Tons of apps that one is not qualified for on your record, or just lots being turned down all the time. She said better to apply to where you r likely to be picked to be a stronger candidate. I suppose its true, andif u have applied to every single unit in the same time frame then it doesn't look liketheres someone you REALLY want to be and I think managers want someone who really wants to be there.

I'm sure different HRs are different but I tried to follow it w/certain hospitals especially.

NightNurse876 · Oct 25, 2010

Just another thing to consider when sending in multiple apps to a single hospital. I got a phone call from a very nice recruiter in HR who called to personally inform me that they were going w/someone else(instead of a form 2 sentence email). She told me that even though the application didn't state experience required, it really was because the manager had told her that's all they would look at. In some cases they even wanted unit-specific exp. Anyhow, she gave me her personal line and said before I apply to positions there I could give her a call to see if the managers were looking for more than advertised and if I should apply so I "could keep my record more clean". She said it doesn't look quite so good when there are Tons of apps that one is not qualified for on your record, or just lots being turned down all the time. She said better to apply to where you r likely to be picked to be a stronger candidate. I suppose its true, andif u have applied to every single unit in the same time frame then it doesn't look liketheres someone you REALLY want to be and I think managers want someone who really wants to be there.
I'm sure different HRs are different but I tried to follow it w/certain hospitals especially.

Ok, point taken. Well more specifically if there are openings for medsurg, telemetry and ortho (all floors a med surg nurse would float to) Why not apply to them? And if an application doesn't state experience required...why not apply? I think applying to mutliple positions within the same level of difficulty/knowledge base is sticking to where you are a strong candidate....

Anyways. I applied to mutliple positions at one hospital, I was called for an interview in telemetry but when I got there they offered me medsurg. And when after a week later they still could not decide on a candidate, I applied to an ortho position...I got the medsurg position tho : ) Every hospital is different, so like I said... Give them a call it can't hurt but this is my first time hearing of too many applications tainting you...I've actually heard the opposite and even read post on allnurses of people applying to ICU where it said 2 years exp req'd and they still got the job!

But, in the end. You must do what is right for you! In this current market, 9 times out of 10 the go-getter gets the position bc they are so many people looking for work!

gobananas15 · Oct 26, 2010

I hear so many different things about cover letters. Some people say they are useless and some people say thats what gets you an interview. I am no expert, I just wrote my first ones about a month or two ago. But the way I went about it is that I created one letter, and I wrote it out in general (not specific to a certain area like ER, OR, or whatever). I wrote a little about my nursing experience, and then wrote about my goals and such. I decided not to stick to a certain format for writing it because I think that is where people start thinking they are useless because people follow formats and write the same information. Then I fell into the same issue about making it specific for hospitals. What I did, is as I applied to different places, I just went in and added the hospital name (ex: I would love to being my career at XYZ Hospital...). I did not bother with recruiter or manager names because in this tech world the process is so impersonal until you land an interview and its too difficult to gather that much info from each hospital. I address mine as to whom it may concern.

So basically I have a few copies of the same letter with various hospital names inserted. I also started saving a few that had additional information about me/my experience in regards to certain departments if I was applying to a specific residency. So I don't know if any of this is helpful, I graduate in Dec and I am still job hunting and one interview so far. Good luck!