Cover Letter for Resedential Volunteer ( Farmer- Chef) at Heifer International Farm

To Whom it May Concern:

I was excited to see available openings for residential volunteers, and I hope to be invited for an interview.

My background includes working as a as an ESL teacher and as a museum intern. Most recently, I was part of the English Opens Doors program, where I taught ESL to vulnerable municipal school students in Chile. My responsibilities in the classroom included independently working with groups of up to 25 students, ranging in age from 14 to 18.I also worked both collaboratively with the English department, and independently to plan and carry out lessons. Outside the classroom, I developed and carried out extra-curricular activities for after school English Club.

Previously, I worked as an interpretation intern at Old Sturbridge Village. My responsibilities included engaging visitors, responding to visitor questions and carrying out daily garden, laundry, cooking and cheese making demonstrations. In these positions, I demonstrated the ability to engage a public audience of many different age groups and knowledge levels. I also gained skills in hearth cooking, cheese making and working in both flower and vegetable gardens.

In addition to this experience, I gained considerable customer service skills during my previous employment as a receptionist for F.W. Sims.

I also bring to the table language skills in French and Spanish as well as a B.A. in International Relations. Please see my accompanying resume for details of my experience and education.

Danielle, your cover letter should follow the same format as any application cover letter. That means it should also indicate where you came across the job openings, mention the specific position you are applying for, and then present your relevant skills in bullet form.

In as much as giving complete description of your skills in the cover letter is something that you believe can be beneficial to you, it actually doesn't. You are supposed to only give an overview of your skills. No mention of actual experience required. Mostly because the actual experience required will be better analyzed by the HR as part of the long form documents you submitted with the application.

The reference to the receptionist job is not really developed at all and does not help the essay improve your image as a job applicant. You should definitely highlight your language skills and BA in international relations in the cover letter though. If these are the most relevant skills you have for the job, then make sure to mention these early on in the cover letter, before your skills bullet points. It may just make your letter more impressive to the reviewer.