Cover Letter Graduate Student Engineering

Make sure that your use of written English in your CV and covering letter reassures recruiters that you have these qualities.

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Pick out the key bits that fit with your application and relate them to yourself.

Careers in engineering demand professionalism and accuracy, whether for communicating effectively with clients, suppliers or non-technical colleagues, or for ensuring that calculations are correct.

Nims recommends: 'Start by summarising the main things you did during your work experience. For example, one major engineering recruiter comments that it awards extra points at the applications stage for ‘life experience’.

This can be a real boost if you haven’t been able to secure engineering work experience – and can give you an extra edge if you have.

Likewise, part-time work or summer jobs are worth a brief mention, but focus on the transferable skills you developed that will be useful in your engineering career, rather than listing your responsibilities at length.

Top tips Attainment of academic qualifications is always impressive but, as all other graduates will also have these, it tends to be the extras that make candidates stand out: work experience, voluntary work or extra-curricular activities.

It's a waste of space to say 'Student with great teamworking skills seeks challenging job.' Far better to say 'Final-year mechanical engineering student with particular interest in aerodynamics seeks graduate role in the defence industry.' Your educational history from your university years should include your predicted or actual degree class, information on group projects and your dissertation, any modules relevant to the job, and relevant academic awards.

Engineering employers don’t need to know the specifics of modules that don’t relate to them.

The trick is to have a clear idea as to what the company does and what the job entails, then draw out evidence of your own skills, interests and experience that relate to this.

‘I’m applying to you because you are a vibrant, international company that is a market leader in the automotive industry’ (flattery) won’t get you anywhere.