Cover letter for a summer job
Summer work is decided on three things, and none of them is your CV: how early you write, how much of the season you can cover, and how little training you will need before you are useful. Employers hiring for July are protecting themselves against someone who leaves mid-August. A letter that names the full period, in writing, removes the risk they are most worried about.
The letter, in full
Copy it, then replace the facts with your own. The notes below say what each paragraph is there to do.
Version texte, prête à coller
Callum Reid Edinburgh · callum.reid@email.com · 07700 900 741 The Shoreline Hotel Re: application for the position of Seasonal kitchen porter Dear Mr Sinclair, I am applying for seasonal kitchen work this summer. I am available from 24 June to 7 September, the whole period without a break, and I am happy to work evenings and weekends throughout. I worked two summers at the Rosewell Arms, first clearing tables and then in the kitchen. By the second season I was running the pot wash on my own through service, keeping up with two chefs on a sixty-cover Saturday and doing the deep clean at close. I know what a busy pass sounds like and I do not need it explained twice. I hold a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate, taken last September, and I am used to allergen procedure and to recording fridge temperatures at the start and end of a shift. I live fifteen minutes away by bus and the last one is at half past midnight, so late finishes are not a problem. Chef Marino at the Rosewell Arms has agreed to be a referee and I can send his number. Yours sincerely,
What each paragraph does
State the whole period, with dates
From when to when, and say explicitly that there is no gap. Employers have been let down mid-season often enough that a continuous run is worth more to them than a stronger candidate with a fortnight missing in August.
Show you have survived a service before
A sixty-cover Saturday, the pot wash held alone, the deep clean at close: this is the paragraph that says you know what the job costs. Seasonal employers are not afraid of inexperience, they are afraid of surprise.
Name the certificate you actually hold
Food hygiene, a licence, a first-aid card: anything that removes a cost or a delay for the employer. Give the level and the date, because an unnamed certificate reads as an approximation.
Answer the getting-home question
Late finishes are the standard reason seasonal staff drop out. Naming the bus and the last departure time turns your commute from the employer's problem into a settled detail.
The mistakes specific to this case
Writing in June
Most seasonal rotas are built in spring, and by the time term ends the good shifts are gone. A letter in March with slightly less experience will beat yours, so send early and follow up rather than waiting to feel ready.
Leaving a hole in the middle of the season
A family holiday in the first fortnight of August is exactly when the employer needs you most. Say it now if it is fixed; discovering it in July is how a seasonal job ends before it starts.
Applying for “anything going”
It sounds accommodating and reads as indifferent. Name the job you want, then add that you would take other shifts as well — the order carries the meaning.
Frequently asked questions
When should I send it?
March or April for the summer, and earlier for resorts and campsites, which recruit in winter. Late applications are not refused for being late; they are refused because the rota is already full.
I have never worked a season. What do I write?
Say what you can do without training and what you would need shown. Employers hire beginners for seasonal work all the time; what they will not do is discover on the first Saturday that the beginner is not ready to be told.
Should I apply to several places at once?
Yes, but write each one separately, naming the place. Seasonal employers in a small town know each other, and an identical letter that has clearly gone to five addresses is recognised as such.
Do I mention that I am going back to studies in September?
Yes. For seasonal work it is a strength, not a drawback: it explains why your end date is firm, and firm end dates are what a summer rota is built on.
What changes from country to country
United Kingdom
Hospitality and retail take on most seasonal staff between April and June. Naming a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate is worth a paragraph of enthusiasm, because it removes a cost the employer would otherwise carry.
United States
Summer hiring runs earlier still, from February for camps and parks, and often through an application portal. Where a letter is accepted, keep the dates in the first line and expect to be asked for work authorisation.