• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Cover Letters

kendoiwan

I am Sofa King!!!
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
1,334
MBTI Type
IsTP
Anyone hate having to write these things as much as I do? Any suggestions on how it could suck any less?
 

speculative

Feelin' FiNe
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
927
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Anyone hate having to write these things as much as I do? Any suggestions on how it could suck any less?

I am in the process of writing cover letters also. There's tons of advice on how to write cover letters on the Internet, but it's difficult to know which advice you should take.

My 2 cents is that you should look at a cover letter as an opportunity to highlight skills and experience that closely matches the open position that may not be immediately apparent on your resume. It's also a chance to display your writing/communication skills to a potential employer and also your enthusiasm and charming personality. (And if you don't have a personality - fake it! You can rewrte the cover letter as many times as needed after all. :D )
 

Kyrielle

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,294
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Anyone hate having to write these things as much as I do? Any suggestions on how it could suck any less?

Yes, I hate writing them, too.

But...I have several "types" of cover letters I use as templates depending on the job type, so I don't neccessarily have to write each one completely from scratch. However, there is a considerable amount of editting that goes on so each one sounds right.
 

Nighthawk

New member
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
423
MBTI Type
INTP
I'm not a fan of cover letters either. Fortunately, the IT industry has not required them of me for the last few jobs. I can only echo that they should probably reinforce the qualities you have that apply to the specific job you are targeting ... along with some rah-rah enthusiasm.
 

SerengetiBetty

New member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
230
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w8
it helps to first know the type of position you are going for. take some time to read job descriptions for those positions to get an idea of what types of things employers expect. Come up with a list of 5-10 common requirements of these positions. Next take some time to think of real life examples of how you've done each one in your past. Have 1-2 examples for each one. Also, this information can be used later during interviews in the tell me about yourself and what are your strengths questions.

This information can be the bulk of your cover letter template.Don't use then all in one letter, just pick 3 or 4 of the most relevant. This information goes in the body of your cover letter.

The head of the cover letter should always state why you are contacting them. have you performed the same position in the past?Then say that there.

The end of the cover letter should be how they contact you (phone or email) and any specific details they ask for like availability and salary.

At the end, always thank them for reading.
 

SerengetiBetty

New member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
230
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w8
it helps to first know the type of position you are going for. take some time to read job descriptions for those positions to get an idea of what types of things employers expect. Come up with a list of 5-10 common requirements of these positions. Next take some time to think of real life examples of how you've done each one in your past. Have 1-2 examples for each one. Also, this information can be used later during interviews in the tell me about yourself and what are your strengths questions.

This information can be the bulk of your cover letter template.Don't use then all in one letter, just pick 3 or 4 of the most relevant. This information goes in the body of your cover letter.

The head of the cover letter should always state why you are contacting them. have you performed the same position in the past?Then say that there.

The end of the cover letter should be how they contact you (phone or email) and any specific details they ask for like availability and salary.

At the end, always thank them for reading.
 

Southern Kross

Away with the fairies
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
Messages
2,910
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
^ this is good advice.

Also try looking up templates for them on the net. This can give you a nice structure to build on.
 

NewEra

New member
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
3,104
MBTI Type
I
Yeah I don't like these either. One way you could have more fun with it is just boast and brag - write everything good about yourself. The boring part is finding out more about the company you're applying to.
 

BlueScreen

Fail 2.0
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
2,668
MBTI Type
YMCA
I'm bumping this because I'm currently trying to write cover letters, and just seem to always end up stuck or not satisfied with the result. Any more advice?
 

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
5,059
MBTI Type
INtp
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
Yes, I hate writing them, too.

But...I have several "types" of cover letters I use as templates depending on the job type, so I don't neccessarily have to write each one completely from scratch. However, there is a considerable amount of editting that goes on so each one sounds right.

Yeah, I hate writing them too and I also use templates like you mentioned to help get me started. However, I've found that each job I apply to is different enough that even the template doesn't really cut it so I still feel like I've got to write most of it from scratch for it to be effective.

I also stumbled upon this blog post about cover letters beginning to be a thing of the past:

Stop writing cover letters and you'll get more interviews.

I kind of hope that's going to be the trend because I hate writing cover letters and it feels redundant if its all in the resume anyway. However my job applying experience says otherwise. A majority of the jobs I'm applying to still want a cover letter. If they require a cover letter, I send them one. If they don't require one, I don't.
 
Top