How To Write A Cover Letter With No Experience

If you are reading this article, you are probably a recent grad looking for your first job out of college or a job seeker trying to change career paths. No matter where you hail from, finding a new job with little to no industry experience can be scary.

Luckily for you, we’ve collected all the information you need to write a stellar cover letter for a job you have no experience in so that you can improve your chances of getting that coveted interview.

Here are the main takeaways for writing a cover letter for a job with no experience:

• Brainstorm and highlight transferable skills from previous experiences and jobs

• Showcase deliverables from school and work projects and how those successes can be transferred to the new job

• Detail how the company fits you well as a person

Why Cover Letters Are Important

Cover letters are often required parts of the application process. They may seem tedious and boring, but hiring managers take them seriously. Cover letters are important because they give voice to you as a worker and as a person.

Essentially, cover letters exist to prove that you are not a robot. You have a personality, and you did your homework about the company/job profile and this gives you the chance to show hiring managers what you think is the most important takeaway to remember about you.

You might be feeling concerned about this process because you don’t have any experience in the field of the job you are applying for. But remember, cover letters are not the same thing as resumes.

Cover letters are where the personality comes in on paper. When writing a cover letter for a job with no experience, you will be selling yourself as the perfect person for the job versus the ideal worker.

What do we mean by that, exactly? Remember that every worker started in your position. At some point, everyone has applied for a job with no experience. So how did they land the gig?

For many entry-level positions, hiring managers are not so worried about the experience as much about the person they are hiring and their ability to adapt and learn to fit the position.

That’s why it’s called entry-level. You have some kind of background or transferable skills, but more than anything else, you are a worker ready to be molded into the perfect employee for that specific company — hiring managers would love that.

So your job when writing this cover letter is to explain how you, as a person, fit well into the company and how you have a track record to show you can adapt well to new challenges and use transferable skills in this new role.

That’s why before you start writing this cover letter, think about why you, as a person, should be hired and how that will make you into a great worker for the company.

What to Include in a Cover Letter if You Have No Experience

Naturally, this cover letter should still be professional and career-oriented and not a page about how you have great taste in music and can make a killer playlist for the workspace.

So what should you include in a cover letter if you have no experience? When planning to write this cover letter, you should brainstorm two major ideas: what skills you have from other industries and experiences that are transferable to this job and why you would fit in well with the company.

For example, if you are applying for a position as a sales representative and have worked in a clinic check-in desk position, there are a ton of transferable skills you can use. You can talk about customer service skills, communication skills, and organization skills.

You can talk about how learning new coding and insurance rules each year has made you comfortable with adapting to new work environments.

No matter where you have worked in the past (or collaborated in group projects at school), you probably have had to use organization and communication skills, both of which are crucial for many jobs.

How to Organize a Cover Letter

Once you’ve brainstormed how your old jobs and experiences can relate to the new job you are applying for and have decided how you best could fit into the company, it’s time to sit down and write the cover letter.

Organize your cover letter into major paragraphs. The first paragraph should introduce yourself, the second should discuss your skills and related experience, and the third should discuss your qualities and why you’d be a good fit for the company.

Finally, a fourth paragraph completes your cover letter, and it’s commonly known as the call to action. That is where you will talk about the next steps.

When writing the first paragraph, you can talk about your educational history, your overarching interests related to the job, and your interest in the position itself.

The second paragraph should include skills and accomplishments. You can include the related skills and experience that can be transferable to the current job position you brainstormed earlier. Make sure to showcase any deliverables you’ve accomplished from previous experience.

The third paragraph should highlight why you are the perfect fit for the job and company and explain other assets you have to bring to the position. Again, your brainstorm comes in handy.

And finally, a fourth paragraph completes your cover letter with a call to action statement. The purpose of this paragraph is to remind the reader why you’re interested in the position, that you will follow up (unless it says you cannot on the application), and thank the reader. Call to action statements include phrases like:

• Based on my track record to adapt to new work environments and my transferable skills outlined above, I believe I’d make an excellent addition to (Name) company. Thank you for your time in reading my application, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

• Thank you for taking the time to read my application. I believe my keen interest in (subject), as demonstrated by my commitment to (experience) would make me a strong addition to your team. Please let me know if I can provide you with any further details, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Cover Letter Structure At a Glance

Now that you’ve read all about what to include in a cover letter with no experience and a basic breakdown of each cover letter paragraph, you can see an overview of the entire process. Cover letters generally follow a basic cadence. Here is the breakdown in order:

• Contact section that includes your email, phone number, and LinkedIn URL

• The date

• Address of the company

• Salutation or greeting to the person who will read your cover letter, if known. If not known, you can use generic greetings like the ones in this article

• An introductory paragraph about yourself and your education

• A paragraph that details any transferable skills or experience that would fit the job description

• A paragraph about why you are the perfect fit for the company and the role

• A final paragraph that includes a call to action about the next steps and a closing statement that pulls it all together

• A final closing remark and your signature or typed name

Final Thoughts

Writing a cover letter can seem daunting if you don’t know how to market yourself — experience or with no experience. With the guide outlined above, we hope you’ll be well on your way to your next job.

Some final tips to keep in mind as you polish off your cover letter is to make each of your cover letters specific for each job — you don’t want employers to think that you are sending the same cover letter out for every job application.

You can consider adding a P.S. to the end of the cover letter to create an even stronger finish. You can add a deliverable from previous experience that you’d like to transfer to the new job.

And with that, we wish you good luck. If you’re stumped on how to write a resume for a job with no experience, you can check out this article.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.