Letter of Interest Structure

Constructing your 'Letter of Interest'

Letter of Interest Structure

Date

Let’s start with the simple stuff first! (You do know what day it is, right?) You’ll need this only for hard copy letters; in email, the date stamp is fine.

Contact Information

In a hard copy letter, put your contact info here. Include your phone number and email address. In an email, include your contact information after your signature, instead.

(Here’s a tip: You don’t have to put Phone: and Email: in front of your phone number and email address. That’s just clutter. The hiring manager probably won’t have trouble figuring out what that ten-digit number and the thing with the @ symbol are.)

Salutation

Greet the hiring manager or department head by name. And please do your best to find a name.

Avoid To Whom It May Concern. Nobody ever got truly concerned with, or even interested in, an email that began thus.

Opening Paragraph

Briefly introduce yourself and tell the hiring manager why you’re writing. Share your enthusiasm for the company—why do you want to work there?

Qualifications/Experience Paragraph

Talk about what you bring to the table. Let the hiring manager know why hiring you would add value to her team. Demonstrate the qualities you have that mesh well with the company’s mission and culture. (This is why you did all that research!)

(The key to a successful letter of interest is not in showing off what you can do, but in showing what you can do for the company. Think in terms of excitement, not arrogance.)

Close by casting a networking net.

You’re not going to close by saying something like “I hope you’ll keep me in mind if you have an opening in the future,” right?

Never! You’re better than that.

Close by asking for something. Use a call-to-action (CTA) to encourage the hiring manager to connect with you. You might ask for an informational interview—an opportunity for you to sit down with the hiring manager and learn more about the company.

LETTER OF INTEREST EXAMPLE:

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:

I’ve been following the Alpha Beta Company’s trajectory since it launched in 2007. When the company reached 10 million active users last month, I thought about how exciting it would be to be part of a team with the potential to grow that number to 20 million and beyond. I’m writing you to express my interest in joining your team and to learn more about upcoming employment opportunities.

I’ve been a user acquisition manager at XYZ, Inc. for five years. At XYZ, I developed the go-to-market strategy for new apps and performed analysis to calculate how our campaigns influenced user engagement. As you may know, XYZ operates in a smaller niche market. Even so, during my time with them, XYZ’s user base grew from just five hundred beta users to over 3 million today. In the ten years since I graduated with a bachelor of science in business and marketing from Great Big University, I’ve managed and launched hundreds of successful marketing campaigns on channels ranging from print media to social media to videos.

I’m excited by the idea of working in a larger market and for a company that is constantly innovating and recognized as an industry leader. I’ve enclosed my resume, which outlines my experience and skills. I’d love to sit down and talk with you about Alpha Beta’s explosive growth and new user acquisition strategy. Would you be open to meeting with me at your convenience?

Sincerely,

Your Name

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