Writing “I Rock” over and over again does not constitute a cover letter…
What could be more ingratiating as to write a cover letter for a job? Why should I have to put down my life story? I mean, I’ve got the degree, I’ve got the damn diploma, I’ve made my resume – why don’t they just give me my desk, my phone and my swingline stapler and throw in a big pile of money to boot? Can’t they just trust that I’m cool enough, that I did enough in high school or whatever I’m supposed to talk about?
The short answer is, you’re not running for president. Oh, how much happier the world would be if only the presidential candidates had to write cover letters. But they don’t, so, there you go. You do have to write one, though – because a company needs to know that they are hiring more than just a body, a diploma and a resume. They can safely assume if you’ve spelled your name correctly on both your application and your resume that you probably have a brain and a body. Unless you’re a complete idiot, (see the part about having a brain) you won’t lie about your degree or about having a diploma… so what does a cover letter give them after the resume has provided them with those cold hard facts?
A cover letter gives you a soul
The reason cover letters are so important is because you are not just a collection of skills, jobs, responsibilities, achievements, education, and abilities with a common name. A cover letter allows you to tell the story of your successes… to manage your impressions, to discuss your strengths and your weaknesses, and to give yourself a voice before you ever walk in the door.
Cover letters have to tell a story, albeit a very short, focused, specific story. A good cover letter should do three things:
Introduce yourself (in your own voice) to a future employer
Explain why you believe you are a good fit for the job
Ask for an interview
That’s not so hard, now, is it? Those three pieces make up the entire cover letter. That’s only three paragraphs if you’re a minimalist. I recommend keeping your cover letter short – one page, no more, no less. Too little says that you don’t care enough or don’t think enough about yourself to write a decent cover letter. More than one page tells the potential employer that you’re Cher.
Keep a cover letter simple, to the point, and honest. Fill in the gaps your resume leaves out – your interests, your personality, your style. Have an employment history gap because you’re using the funkylogical resume style? No worries, you can include more of your employment history.
Oh yeah, and name your cover letter something like FirstName_LastName_CoverLetter.doc. This keeps your cover letter easy to find in a myriad of other documents.
Keep reading to find out how to style and prepare to create your cover letter.
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Psychotic Resumes 101
Psychotic Resumes is a Gen-Y (Millennial) job survival guide created by Nick Armstrong to help new professionals build stronger resumes and cover letters so they can find a better job. It's our goal to help Gen-Y do better at interviews and on the job, promoting strong leadership, entrepreneurship, and common sense.
Cover Letter Basics
The short answer is, you’re not running for president. Oh, how much happier the world would be if only the presidential candidates had to write cover letters. But they don’t, so, there you go. You do have to write one, though – because a company needs to know that they are hiring more than just a body, a diploma and a resume. They can safely assume if you’ve spelled your name correctly on both your application and your resume that you probably have a brain and a body. Unless you’re a complete idiot, (see the part about having a brain) you won’t lie about your degree or about having a diploma… so what does a cover letter give them after the resume has provided them with those cold hard facts?
The reason cover letters are so important is because you are not just a collection of skills, jobs, responsibilities, achievements, education, and abilities with a common name. A cover letter allows you to tell the story of your successes… to manage your impressions, to discuss your strengths and your weaknesses, and to give yourself a voice before you ever walk in the door.
Cover letters have to tell a story, albeit a very short, focused, specific story. A good cover letter should do three things:
That’s not so hard, now, is it? Those three pieces make up the entire cover letter. That’s only three paragraphs if you’re a minimalist. I recommend keeping your cover letter short – one page, no more, no less. Too little says that you don’t care enough or don’t think enough about yourself to write a decent cover letter. More than one page tells the potential employer that you’re Cher.
Keep a cover letter simple, to the point, and honest. Fill in the gaps your resume leaves out – your interests, your personality, your style. Have an employment history gap because you’re using the funkylogical resume style? No worries, you can include more of your employment history.
Oh yeah, and name your cover letter something like FirstName_LastName_CoverLetter.doc. This keeps your cover letter easy to find in a myriad of other documents.
Keep reading to find out how to style and prepare to create your cover letter.