This document provides guidance on customizing cover letters for job applications. It outlines the typical cover letter format, including introducing where the job was advertised, listing relevant skills, experiences, and competencies. It also includes sample responses to two job advertisements, addressing the qualifications, language requirements, experience, skills, and competencies listed. Tips are provided on adhering to application requirements, identifying suitable jobs, tracking applications, and completing free online courses to enhance one's skills.

1. Customizing your cover letters
to your job applications
Dr Barbara Burmen
Medical Doctor, Researcher, Epidemiologist, Public
Health Specialist, Consultant, Writer, Editor, Mentor
EIDER Africa, 28th August 2020

2. Outline
• Purpose
• Format
• Sample adverts
• Response to sample adverts
• Tips
• Q & A

3. Activity Purpose: Tailor you’re the
content of your:
• Cover letter
• CV/Resume
• Recommendation letters
• Interview responses
• Other applications

4. Cover letter Format
• 1st paragraph: Where you heard the advert
• 2nd paragraph: Skills & training courses
• 3rd paragraph: Experiences
• 4th paragraph: Competencies
• 5th paragraph: Enclosures
• 6th paragraph: Undertaking
• Sample job application

5. Advert 1
• KEMRI Site Supervisors Advertisement

6. Introductory Paragraph
• In response to a call for applications placed on
xxx, I hereby wish to be considered for the
above post. I believe my education and
experience have appropriately prepared me
for this post

7. • I am a 27 year old male, proficient in both oral
and written English, Swahili and Dholuo
languages. I attained a mean grade of xxx in
the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
(KCSE) from xxx High School in 2005.
• I have over 2 years’ experience in conducting
interviews and collecting data in the health
facilities and at community level.

10. • In both my previous placements, my duties have included
screening and recruitments of eligible participants,
recruitment, tracking and retention of participants,
coordination of specimen collection and tracking, basic
interpretation of results, tracking and recording
participants vital data, ensuring study forms are accurately
completed by the clinicians, preparing weekly and
monthly reports for the study coordinator, being a
custodian of the study supplies, receipt and documentation
of all communications regarding the study, attending facility
multidisciplinary team meetings and study meetings on
time and resolving all data discrepancies in data collected
together with immediate supervisors.

11. • All this required the ability to multi-task,
attention to detail, communication, team
work, interpersonal skills and ensuring the
confidentiality of participants

12. Experiences
• my duties have included screening and recruitments of
eligible participants, recruitment, tracking and
retention of participants, coordination of specimen
collection and tracking, basic interpretation of results,
tracking and recording participants vital data, ensuring
study forms are accurately completed by the
clinicians, preparing weekly and monthly reports for
the study coordinator, being a custodian of the study
supplies, receipt and documentation of all
communications regarding the study, attending facility
multidisciplinary team meetings and study meetings
on time and resolving all data discrepancies in data
collected together with immediate supervisors

13. Advert 2: Excerpts

14. Qualifications required
• Qualifications required:
• Essential: Master’s degree in public health or
social science
• Desirable: Training on epidemiology, public health
or a related discipline.
• Response: I am a holder of Doctorate degree in
Public Health and Community Development,
Master’s degree in public health (Advanced
Epidemiology and Statistics for Public Health
Research) and Bachelors’ degree in Human
Medicine and Surgery.

15. Language requirements
• Required: expert knowledge of English
• Desirable: basic knowledge of French or
another UN language
• Response
• I am fluent in spoken and written English (C2
proficient equivalent to that of a native
speaker) and have basic knowledge of French.

16. Experience required
• Essential: 5-7 years working experience in
academic writing, editing and/or publishing on
epidemiological and public health topics. A
track record of publications of articles in
academic journals
• Response: I have 30 publications and have
made 25 presentations at international
conferences. I have over 10 years’ experience
in scientific writing initially as a …….

17. Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:
• Skill: Advanced knowledge of MS office
applications
• Response: I am conversant with the use of Ms
Office and statistical analysis software to
analyze qualitative and quantitative data.

18. Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:
• Advanced knowledge of MS office applications
• Response:
• I am conversant with the use of Ms Office and
statistical analysis software to analyze
qualitative and quantitative data.

19. Competencies
• UN Competency framework
• (https://www.unicef.org/UNICEF_Competenci
es.pdf)
• Competencies listing
• https://usm.maine.edu/sites/default/files/hu
man-
resources/behavior_based_questions.pdf

20. • Contracted by UNAIDS, I complied the Kenya AIDS
Response progress report of 2018
• Fluent in English; conversant in quantitative and
qualitative data analysis; 30 publications; 25
international conference presentations.

21. • Innovation: My innovations in health have
earned me numerous international awards.
• Innovation: funded opportunities to support
professional development; 30 travel grants for
participation in international conferences and
courses & program innovation

22. • Networking & partnerships: Worked with
policy makers, non-governmental
organizations & international partners
• Working in an international context:
Experiences at CDC-KEMRI, UNAIDS-NACC, IAS

23. • Results focus: I have led teams to successfully
implement research projects from concept
development, funding application to results
presentation by the use of tracking tools

24. Competencies
• The official EF SET English test | EF SET
• (https://www.efset.org/free-english-test/)

25. Enclosures/Undertaking
I have enclosed my resume and testimonials and
names of two referees who am confident can
vouch for my competence in the above post.
Kindly consider my request.
Yours faithfully,
Name Surname Credentials etc

26. Others tips-1
• Adherence to requirements
– Word count size & no. of numbers; preferably 1
– Enclosures e.g. certificates, reference letters
– Other text in the advert
– addressing on-going education
– Taking up short courses to meet requirements
– Indicating your availability

27. Others tips-2
• How to identify jobs you qualify for
• Keeping track of your different job
applications
• What are transferrable skills
• How to quantify experiences
– Ratio Applications: Interviews: Jobs (100:10:1)
This is not true!!!

28. Sites for free online courses
• UNICEF Agora
• WHO
• AuthorAid
• etc

29. Acknowledgements
ICF study team
Mentees
Mentors
Eider Africa
Mr. Chege Kamau
High School English
Teacher
Grad Eng MN Burmen
(1946-1998)

30. End