Transcript The Reality of Cover Letters: the You

THE REALITY OF COVER LETTERS:
THE YOU-FOCUS!
By: P.L. Agiarist, edited by MBKirova
FACTS

In today’s crisis-times job market, HR professionals
and hiring managers are being bombed with an
increasing number of applications, resumes, and
cover letters for each opening.

In the USA, that can be literally thousands.

A majority end up in the paper recycling bin. Why?
COMMON MISTAKES ABOUT COVER
LETTERS:
Most people assume that the cover letter is actually
read before the resume.
Wrong.

HR people usually go past the cover letter directly
to the resume and only look at the cover letter if
they are still interested after their initial resume ’30
second scan’.
COMMON MISTAKES ABOUT COVER
LETTERS:
2) People assume that the cover letter should be
about you. Wrong again. It should be about: the
company, your prospect, your target.

Your resume has told them everything they need to
know about you (if it is well written). If you are
interested enough in the company to make the
initial contact, demonstrate this interest by detailing
how you may be able to meet the company’s
needs in your cover letter.
COMMON MISTAKES ABOUT COVER
LETTERS:
3) Many college students use the cover letter/resume
mass mailing/e-mailing/posting as a crutch to
convince themselves that they are actually looking
for a job.
In reality, all they are doing is generating rejection
letters. Mass mailing/e-mailing/posting of your
cover letter and resume has extremely low odds for
success in today’s job market.
DOWN AND DIRTY
Why OH WHY does AUBG stress good English?
Here’s a real sample from a cover letter, posted at
www.killianadvertising.com:

"I'm looking for work because even though my
company was profitable last year, this year they are
expecting a large defecate."

IT GETS WORSE

Below is a recent posted example from a
communications company Ragan (heavily edited by
mbk).
SUBJECT LINE: Question..
Hello, my name is ___________ and I am a senior
undergraduate student at Well Recognized University in
the Midwest, graduating with high honors in May with
bachelor’s degrees in both Journalism/Mass
Communication and Communication Studies. Although
currently I reside and go to school in __________, I am
originally from the Chicago area and am looking to start
my career there in May.
EXCERPT 1
SUBJECT LINE: Question..
Hello, my name is ___________ and I am a senior
undergraduate student at Well Recognized University in
the Midwest, graduating with high honors in May with
bachelor’s degrees in both Journalism/Mass
Communication and XXX Studies. Although currently I
reside in __________, I am originally from the Chicago
area and am looking to start my career there in May.

This is all about what YOU want. In this letter, you use
the word “I” 35 times, “me” six times and “my” 11 times
in 573 words. Since you’re applying to work here, the
subject is also us, and the communication business we
cover.
EXCERPT 2

I cannot express to you how excited I became as I
came across the website for Regan. It is the kind of
company that I have been looking for, and I am
willing to do whatever it takes to obtain a full-time
position at Regan.

You were too excited, apparently, to check the
spelling of the company’s five-letter name.
EXCERPT 3

I am a prominent undergraduate student in the
communication studies department here, and from
time to time even assist graduate students with
brainstorming and analysis.

A “prominent undergraduate,” eh? Your university
has 30,000 undergraduate students, the only
“prominent” ones of which play on the football team.
EXCERPT 4

I want to bring my passion, skill, and knowledge to
Regan. I realize that you may not be the person
that I should be speaking with, but I needed to
contact someone.

Have you considered therapy?
EXCERPT 5

When I do something, I give it everything that I have.
When I am given a task, I get it done better than
expected. The men at the radio station … always said to
me jokingly…“you have the look to get the interview with
men and women alike, the charm to keep the interview,
the intelligence to ask the right questions, the passion to
ask the hard ones, and the innocent smile that gets an
honest answer out of anyone.”

Gack! These “men” at the radio station were about two
ticks away from sexual harassment, girlfriend. A worthy
subject for discussion no doubt, but not in a cover letter,
please. You are also boasting, and it’s ugly.
EXCERPT 6

My resume is attached. Thanks for hearing me out.
I am honestly thrilled to have found this company
and look forward to hearing from you soon. All of
the careers listed on your website are of interest to
me. However, I think that my writing style would be
most applicable to speechwriting or public relations.
Sincerely….

Excellent. Except we don’t do speechwriting or
public relations.
RECAP!

Seriously limit the use of I, me, mine (check your drafts
and count them)

Check your facts!

Check your spelling!

Never make an unsubstantiated claim like ‘prominent’. If
you have something to boast about, prove it by
example.

Check your facts, again. If you aren’t willing to research
what the company actually does, you are wasting
everyone’s time.
WHAT TO DO

Okay – so what can you do as a dedicated job
seeker do to get the attention of an overworked,
overwhelmed, and cranky hiring manager who is
tired of reading the same old boilerplate and
mistake-ridden *bleeep* from graduates?

Stand out by simply by writing a one page letter that
features seven simple steps
7 STEPS
1. Three paragraphs and a single page: your
introduction, your skills, qualifications and
experience, and a request for an interview or
meeting.
2. Three or four well written and structured sentences
in each of these paragraphs. Breaking your letter
down like this will make it much easier to read.
3. Use lots of white space in your Cover Letter. This is
another simple trick to make it easier to read and
understand. Be sure to include large margins and
double space between each paragraph.
7 STEPS
4. Use Bullet points and/or numbered lists whenever
appropriate. This simple technique will help a busy manager
scan your letter quickly and effectively.
5. Use Bold type to emphasize key points. This tip will draw
attention to what you want the reader to see and know.
6. Use Spell check, proper grammar and the correct punctuation.
Check and check again. Nothing will get you ****-canned
faster than a sloppy cover letter with spelling errors and bad
grammar.
7. Use the Name of the Reader and have accurate contact
info. Do your research and find out who will be reading your
cover letter. This is a big mistake that many job seekers
ignore.
WHAT ELSE?

Sigh. True democracy, justice and equality are fine
things. Alas, they are time consuming for
employers.
Thus, if you have pull, use it!
USING PULL

If you’ve been personally referred, use that first
(Through my mother’s friend, Jennifer Horton..)

Use your contacts to ‘sniff around’ and find out what
managerial changes are afoot. The best time to get
into a job is when heads are rolling and new folks
being appointed.

Find out from contacts what’s really involved in the
job you are looking for, and how the position might
be changing. You can use this subtly to your best
advantage.
SELL YOURSELF

A large part of cover letters is having the
opportunity to explain points on your resume that
are relevant to what the employer is looking for.

It is an opportunity for someone to give credit to
their professed skills.
SELL YOURSELF: EX. LEADERSHIP

Ex. Leadership
"I have leadership ability"
vs.
"The experience I gained spearheading the Paperless
Initiative at my school has exercised my leadership
abilities and unfailing enthusiasm that your
company is looking for in a candidate for X
position."
SELL YOURSELF: CUSTOMER RELATIONS
SKILLS

Sometimes, creativity is essential 

Ex. Customer Relations
"caring for my ailing goldfish has given me the
sensitivity to help others in hard situations. This
hyper awareness of feelings has made me a
priceless asset in my former customer relations
positions..."
NOW, LET’S LOOK AT THE SAMPLES!