Social Services Cover Letter Examples & Templates

Use these tips to write your social services cover letter:

• Follow a business letter format with a header, salutation and closing.
• Open with a compelling introduction, including your interest in the role.
• Use storytelling in the body paragraphs to show how you’ve used your hard and soft skills.
• Close the letter by thanking the reader and presenting a call to action, i.e. Thanks for your time, looking forward to your reply.
• Send the social services cover letters as directed in the application description. For example, as a PDF attachment, as the body of an email, or whichever option they provide.
• Use action verbs to empower your qualifications and keywords from the description to demonstrate your attention to detail.
• Build your letter in our Cover Letter Generator, which automatically formats your layouts and provides editable content suggestions according to your industry and career stage.

A combination of hard skills and soft skills help you stand out from other candidates. Match as many skills as possible from the job description. These are only a few examples of good skills for social services jobs.

Hard skills

• Case management
• Resource coordination
• Group facilitation
• Client assessment and evaluation
• Counseling and therapy
• Crisis intervention
• Advocacy and community outreach

Soft skills

• Public speaking
• Service orientation
• Social Perceptiveness
• Time management
• Negotiation 

Interpersonal skills

• Empathy
• Cultural awareness
• Emotional intelligence
• Persuasion
• Relationship building
• Active listening

Qualifications vary according to role and employer. The minimum requisite is a bachelor’s degree in social work, counseling, psychology or a similar field. 

Depending on your role, you could need a license, for example: 

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) 
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) certification.

Beyond that, certifications back up your expertise in a specialized area. Examples of social services certifications include:

• Certified Social Work Manager (CSWM)
• Certified Trauma Professional (CTP)
• Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS)
• Certified Case Manager (CCM) 
• Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) 
• Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these are the median salaries for occupations in social services: 

• Social workers: $58,380 per year
• Social and Community Service Managers: $77,030 per year
• Marriage and family therapists: $58,510 per year
• Rehabilitation counselors: $44,040 per year

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 7% growth for this industry from 2022-2032, with 53,800 expected job openings each year. The nationwide all occupation average is 4%.

The ideal cover letter format is a business letter format. This means using a header with your

• Include a header with your information. You can use the same as your resume header.
• Use 1-inch margins and the same professional resume font.
• Add a salutation using the name of the +hiring manager or, worst case scenario, address the department you’re applying for. 
• Keep the signoff simple by using: “Best regards,” “Regards,” “Respectfully,” or “Sincerely.”