Cover letters

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Cover letter phrasesVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Listen: a hiring manager's tipsListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11A networking messageGrammar exercise
12. 12To + verb or -ing?Grammar rule
13. 13Choose the right formGrammar exercise
14. 14A letter of inquiryGrammar exercise
15. 15Say it naturallySpeaking practice
16. 16Plan your letter with a mentorSpeaking practice
17. 17Let's discussDiscussion
18. 18Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: your cover letterDiscussion

Words

• hiring manager/ˈhaɪərɪŋ ˌmænɪdʒər/

  the person who decides who gets a job, often the new employee's future boss

• position/pəˈzɪʃn/

  a job in a company (a more formal word for job)

• opening/ˈoʊpnɪŋ/

  a job that is available, so a company is looking for someone (also job opening)

• advertise/ˈædvərtaɪz/

  to tell people about a job, a product or a service, for example online (an ad: the noun)

• contact/ˈkɑːntækt/

  a person you know who can help you or give you information at work (also a verb: to call or write to someone)

• hear back/ˌhɪr ˈbæk/

  to get an answer from someone you wrote to or spoke to (hear back from someone)

• highlight/ˈhaɪlaɪt/

  to show that something is important, so that people notice it

• eager/ˈiːɡər/

  wanting very much to do something (eager to + verb)

• referral/rɪˈfɜːrəl/

  when someone recommends you for a job, or sends you to a person who can help (refer: the verb)

• get your foot in the door/ˌɡet jər ˌfʊt ɪn ðə ˈdɔːr/

  to get a first chance in a company or a field, often in a small way

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about applying for jobs.

1. Have you ever written a cover letter, in English or in your language?
2. How do people usually find jobs in your field: ads, recruiters or people they know?
3. If you could work for any company in the world, which one would you choose? Why?

Grammar rule

To + verb or -ing?

Some words are followed by to + verb, and others by verb + -ing. Learn the word together with the form after it.

After…	use…	Examples
want, would like, would love, hope, plan, decide, manage, promise, offer	to + verb	We hope to hire three engineers. She offered to help.
enjoy, finish, avoid, consider, keep, don't mind	verb + -ing	He finished painting the kitchen. I don't mind waiting.
a preposition: interested in, good at, thank you for, look forward to, before, after	verb + -ing	She's interested in learning Python. After graduating, he moved to Ohio.
an adjective: happy, excited, eager, willing	to + verb	I'm happy to answer any questions.
a noun: the chance, the opportunity, a way	to + verb	It's a great way to meet people.
the reason for doing something	to + verb	I'm calling to confirm the time.

In look forward to, to is a preposition, so -ing comes after it: I look forward to meeting you.

Like, love, hate and start can take both, with almost no change in meaning: I like working with people. / I like to work with people. But would like and would love take to: I would love to see your new office.

The negative goes before to: She decided not to apply.

Not I look forward to meet you, I enjoy to work or I would like working. A few verbs, like stop and remember, change their meaning with to or -ing: you will meet them later in the course.