The Art of the Successful Cover Letter

I'm not picking on you Hacker but your post brought up something that goes in direct contrast with what I have been told to do in cover letter. I have always been told to use words like "hard-working" and "passionate" and "dedicated" because those are the words people doing the hiring want to hear. Of course as I have been learning the things I have been told are have been wrong.

I go back to I hate talking about myself and selling myself. I am passionate and dedicated because if you aren't then the job isn't worth doing and you end up with a lot of poor writing and reporting, but I suppose that could also be considered a cliche' as well.

 

A lot of good advice in this thread, Ragu. The part about thinking of the process as a sales job reminded me about a friend who's trying to get into graduate school in a very competitive field. She recently went on four interviews at colleges and approached the process as them trying to find out about her, rather than her trying to sell herself as a good choice. She didn't get into any of the four schools. You've got to sell yourself, even if it's uncomfortable.

 

Good advice here from Ragu and others. I'll add a few points:

-- There's a fine line between confident and arrogant. Don't cross it.

-- You can use your cover letter as a way to show off your intangible skills. You can give examples of how you handled a situation or a client or solved a problem or tackled a project, things you can't really show on a straightforward resume.

-- Regarding the cliches, Kelly Cutrone (a fashion publicist of reality show fame) had a great section of her book that dealt with this:

I know none of us are seeking jobs in the fashion industry, but the advice is still valid. Part of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/If-You-Have-Cry-Outside/dp/0061930938">her book</a> does a great job of explaining to young people how to be a good employee, which is why I recommend it (and the other part of the book is Hollywood crap, but still).

 

This has been a great, informative thread. I appreciate all the responses and it has motivated me to once again edit my cover letter and get back to the application grind.

To TheHacker: Can you post some of those cover letters that you found obnoxious and well below your expectations?

 

Is it a good idea to tell personal anecdotes about what you have done at various jobs in your cover letter. Like something really hard you had to do to produce great work, but doing it subtly that way?

Like, if for instance you covered a school shooting, talking about how you were at the scene for it and had to dodge bullets while taking notes of facts? (I didn't do this, just using it as an example.)

 

The title says it all: "art of ..." Not a science. If I know the paper, I am not afraid to swing for a home run. I've had a couple interviews for jobs I wasn't all that qualified for because my cover letters were substantive and provocative. One editor at a paper two hours away, but whose paper I'd read often over the years, said, "You probably won't get this job, but I have to meet you." I didn't get the job (city editor), and the editor died a year or two later. There was some journalism chemistry there. But you can't really fake it. If I don't feel anything, I just write the usual. Sometimes that works, too.

 

So, anecdotes: Yes or no?

 

I've always struggled in writing cover letters -- not because they're necessarily not good, but because it feels awkward to sell yourself without coming off corny.

But as someone who had to recently hire someone, let me tell you, you almost can't go wrong being direct and erring on the side of boring. I saw a ton of cover letters that were either boilerplate ("dear employer...") and/or so overwritten that I knew right away I couldn't hire that person for a writing job.

The ones that were simple and direct got me to click on their resume and clips. The ones that were not did not. None of the letters was amazing, but the ones that got me to keep looking at the person as a viable candidate obviously did their jobs. To a large extent, that is the only point of the cover letter: Here's who I am, here's why I'd be good (specifically) at this job, here's why I'm interested. If your cover letter is more than a few short grafs, you've done it wrong (usually -- i'm sure there are exceptions).

 

I should have quoted this in my last post. Frank's reference to the occasional swing for the fences is totally right -- when it's right. Just don't turn into Rob Deer trying it with every job you apply for.