I’ve read hundreds of cover letters in my career (so far) and here are some things to think about when crafting your own letter.

This is important. The cover letter is very important. In some ways, it’s the most important document as it can be the first thing the committee will look at. You need to write it with this mindset: “If this is the only thing they look at in my application, what do I want them to know?” The cover letter guides the committee through the narrative of who you are and why you are a good fit for their school, so put the time in to make it a really good document.

It can be longer than one page. Unless the school specifically requests the letter be one page, you do not have to fit it on one page. Two pages are perfectly reasonable and normal, although do not add fluff to get it longer. You are much better off taking the space to make a compelling argument for your candidacy than cutting stuff out to make it fit on a page.

Talk about your achievements Don’t assume the search committee will go through your resume to look at all your achievements. If you have significant accomplishments you want to make sure they know about, talk about them in your cover letter, too.

Make it specific. Keep in mind that the committee is reading many, many letters. I have read many hundreds of cover letters. After a while, the ones that aren’t specific all start to sound alike. You need to give specific examples that define your teaching effectiveness, specifics about how you approach your work, perhaps how your research informs your teaching and that kind of thing.

Research the school. You can write a boilerplate version and use that to start the process of writing for each school, but reserve sections of the letter to write about why you think you would be a good fit there. Research the school, the art department, the curriculum, their gallery, and whatever you can find. While you’re researching, take notes about anything that sticks out to you as a reason why you want that particular job – that’s good information for your cover letter. Trust me, it will be noticed that you did the research. If you get an interview, then you take a deep dive into researching the school.

Research, Teaching, and Service. If it’s an academic teaching job, you’ll want to have a section of your letter about each of the three main categories: research (sometimes called “scholarship”), teaching, and service (if you have any). If you are coming out of graduate school or haven’t been in positions to do service, that’s understandable, but you might take that part of your letter to discuss activities you’ve done that are related. For example, have you helped manage a studio, helped order supplies, or assisted with other administrative functions at schools you’ve been at? You can talk about that, even though not all of it would normally be categorized as “service”. For the teaching section, don’t just copy and paste out of your teaching philosophy (if they ask for a teaching philosophy in the application). You need to reword it so it’s not a word-for-word copy. The same goes for your artist statement.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion. In your letter, it is important to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in your teaching and artistic practice. Universities are rightly focused on creating inclusive environments, so it’s important to show your commitment to these values. In addition to articulating your values, you should write about any specifics that illustrate how you put those values into practice. Do they come through in the projects you teach, the artists you show in your classes, your own background, initiatives you’ve been involved in, or anything along those lines? If so, give examples in your letter.

Introduction and ending. You need to have appropriate headings, intro, ending, and signature/contact information. This is a formal document and will be looked at with particular importance. Address it to the committee, include all your contact information, and if you have a digital signature, use that at the end.

Collaboration / community involvement. The committee will be looking for information that will help them determine if you will be a good colleague. Much of that happens during the interview process, but nobody wants to get stuck with a bad colleague, especially in a university situation where you can end up spending a significant part of your life with the person. So, if you have collaborative projects or community involvement work you’ve done, talk about those in your letter. Especially if they are sustained projects. Community engagement is also a big talking point at universities (and some even do some community engagement), so you’ll want to talk about any projects that align with that. Collaborative projects are similar – there’s a lot more talking about it than actually doing it, but if you have collaborative projects, make sure to talk about your specific role in the project.

Professionalism. One thing that is often surprising to people after they get a university teaching job is how much writing you do. Certainly, nobody told me about that. In this letter, it is very important to write with clarity and clearly spell out (without typos) why you are the best person for the job. Writing is obviously a learned skill, so it’s okay if you’re not the best writer now – if you get the job, you’ll have plenty of time to practice. Regardless, you need to have people who are better writers that you proofread your letter and give you feedback about whether or not it reads clearly.

I hope this helps. These suggestions come from the experience of being on search committees and trying to make the best decisions for our students, our school, and our community. The process of making those decisions is tough, and often agonizing, so do whatever you can to make their decision easier by clearly articulating why you are awesome.

— Brian Harper