Does anybody really read cover letters?

i think the point of a cover letter is to summarise your experiences & skills in an essay format as opposed to informational – like the resume. proves you can write in "busineseese".

I know my general pattern when looking through a big pile of resumes is to read the resume first, then the cover letter.

If that's the case, I would think it would be especially important to include a cover letter. If I were an employer I would think it weird to have a job applicant who betrayed a reluctance to do the main activity of their previous job.

But mainly don't talk about you, talk about them and how you can help them. Show that you've done some research into their issues.

Do you know the secret National Merit Scholar handshake?

show, don't tell!!!!

I only applied to one job after college, and lo and behold, I'm still here. (God knows why.) So I'm pretty sure I included National Merit on that resume. But I don't know if I'd do so today. When you're in college and still receiving awards/scholarships/etc., it seems natural to include your high school accomplishments on the resume, too. (Although I did eventually whittle out stupid shit like Thespian Society historian.) Now the whole idea of academic awards -- aside from, like, GPA or honors -- seems sort of irrelevant, and listing really old ones is especially sad. As if you're still clinging to them. ("B-b-but my 10th-grade teacher said I was a really good writer!") But it also probably depends on the job you're applying to. If you've won an award in a particular subject or field that has some bearing on the job you want, that's probably okay.

So far in my life the only way I've found jobs/internships is through a combination of "networking" and luck. Actually, that's not entirely true. In Boston I found a job simply by applying and by being the only halfway-decent candidate who was willing to take the job for the salary offered (which I was thrilled to receive).

So, um, I have no advice whatsoever.

felicity, girly sports style mentalist, felicityredwell@yahoo.com
nabisco, serious thread mentalist, ---@notmail.com (email may not work)

Think about it this way (with the same caveat as above, and I could be completely out of my depth cuz I dunno much about yours): Your resume is evidence of what you can bring to an employer. Your cover letter is where you marshal the evidence into an argument about why you want and should get the job.

One good use of a cover letter is to tell the recipient why you are applying to THAT position in particular, e.g.:

"Felicity Redwell suggested I contact you regarding a position in girly sports mentalism. I enclose my blah blah blah. . . ."

or

"As an interweb mentalist with X+ years of experience in blah blah, I write to apply for the position you advertised in the thingamajig as a whatever . . ."

Good luck.

(amst., I'll be your reference any time)

Maybe you want to do something you've never done before? If you think people get jobs solely based on their qualifications, well there's a bridge I'd like to sell you.

So since I haven't heard back from anybody there yet, maybe I'm the one who bought that bridge.

Interests and hobbies on the CV may have a slight relevance to the final position but mostly their a shorthand to say if you can pull or not.

Maybe it has to do with all that cleavage you're always flashing?

not if you are looking for a job in the media, obv.

I've decided not to put any interests on my non-existent CV, because my interests are my own, and not activities I engage in to improve my employment prospects.

Confidential to hstencil: everyone who has given you any advice on this thread is getting kind of shot down by you. If you want to start a thread just to bitch, that's cool, but don't hide in the guise of asking a question. Say "This is the thread where hstencil whines AGAIN about his job situation" or something to that effect. You'll get more sympathy, trust me.

I write customized and specific cover letters, often to the point of making myself sound like I'm only interested in one company (the one getting the letter). I've been very successful basically saying "your company is a perfect match for the kind of design work I do and the kind of atmosphere in which I like to work," and it's not entirely untrue either, since I know I do the best job of selling myself in cover letters written to companies I really am interested in.

I left college and moved to NYC right when the dotcom boom exploded in Silicon Alley. At almost-29, I've had way more jobs than most folks my age (and more stock options even though I still wound up in debt). Even after companies stopped hiring anybody who could speak and liked getting sweatshirts and stressballs with company logos on them, I still had more success when not applying to a specific position. I find companies I like and send a letter that says "here's why you as a company and me as an employee are a good match." The cover letter is a chance to flatter the the folks running the show. You know, while they're still this potentially Good Thing and you can be optimistic. Before they become the folks you want to bitch about on the Bosses: Complete Bastards? thread.

i recommend three paragraphs:

1. i was thrilled to learn the postition was available, as i am ideally suited and uniquely qualified due to my education/experience/whatever.

2. three or four brief sentences on how my amazing background makes me such a brilliant candidate: makes me able to do the job. avoid phrases like "team player".

3. i've always loved your wonderful operation, it's just right for me, i'm sure that i will do a great job, i look forward to meeting you.

the goal is to say that a) you can do the job, and b) you communicate clearly. do that three times in three paragraphs. keep it brief and borderline terse. one simple font, good white paper.

I think the words "confidentiality agreement" are probably the worst things you could put on a resume.

Wha' happened?

But they might work in a cover letter. Especially if you have inside info that someone in HR is into Sigue Sigue Sputnik.

Also - what do people thinking of doubling up and sending TWO resumes/cover letters, one by email, one by fax? Is it annoying? Or enthusiastic and persistent?

I've never not been offered a job, so it must work.

So are you really supposed to write these like the person reading them is some sort of non-human bureaucratic boogeyman that actually believes what you say?

i just say something nice in the email i'm attaching the resume to, tbh

I find cover letters are easier to write if I imagine them as a sort of creative writing exercise with very narrow parameters.

Yeah, that's a great way of thinking about it, and which I think I'm sort of doing.

My stance is kind of have as much fun with it as possible while still being able to get past my grade 10 business class* teacher

*I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but where I live this is a requisite class where they teach you how to be an automaton enough to get past the 7/11 night shift, etc.

I am never having kids.
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 19 May 2003

Heh.

so what do you do if the job posting you're responding to asks for a salary requirement in the cover letter, but the job is a grant-funded, temporary (2 yrs) position? i mean, they only have a finite amount to begin with, no? not really much negotiating room here.

"Negotiable"? I have been told this is much better than putting "none" or "any" but have never done it in practice.

also the more time i spend on a cover letter and reading over the job requirements and trying to cross-ref the two the more i increasingly convince myself that they're not going to want to hire me because i'm deficient in one or two of the qualifications listed and argh i hate this

hate cover letters so much

also the more time i spend on a cover letter and reading over the job requirements and trying to cross-ref the two the more i increasingly convince myself that they're not going to want to hire me because i'm deficient in one or two of the qualifications listed and argh i hate this

― shoggoths in hot weather (donna rouge), Thursday, August 19, 2010 5:21 AM (15 minutes ago)

Just did this exact same thing today. Spent 2hrs on a cover letter and realized that one of their requirements was college teaching experience (for a tech position, wtf) and felt so defeated. Clicked send anyway but fuck a cover letter. Call me on the phone and have a 10 minute conversation, you'll learn more about me.

Well I mean you taught me abt some kickass tunes, while I was in college, so...?

i increasingly convince myself that they're not going to want to hire me because i'm deficient in one or two of the qualifications listed and argh i hate this

― shoggoths in hot weather (donna rouge), Thursday, August 19, 2010 1:21 AM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark

I feel like this is something every person applying to jobs ever also feels?

yeah. just sayin, it sucks