Cover Letters

After five months' unemployment, I checked my email 'sent' folder. I'd sent over 100 applications, and been offered five interviews. I needed a new strategy.

A friend of mine, Mr B, was the man to ask. His experience and qualifications, in bullet points, just about fit onto the two pages of his CV. He came back from uni on Friday, and started a well-paying job on Monday.

In contrast, I pad out my single-page CV with plenty of detail about the few jobs I’ve held, and pointless background statements like: “I’m a keen CD collector.”

I've got a copy. So what?

Mr B quickly spotted a problem: my cover letter should be longer than 27 words.

He sent me an example letter by a friend of his, Mrs X. Apparently, it had gained her plenty of interviews which ‘she really shouldn’t have got’. It was a page long, and full of meaningless statements along the lines of ‘I like your company and want to work for you because what you do is interesting’.

Still, it was quite impressive, and helpful. I finally recognised that my cover letter should explain why I want to do the job, and why I’d be good at it. I’ve updated the letter. It was a bland list of what I’ve been doing for the past year. Now it’s a very immodest mini-essay

I’m keeping it to half a page, though. There were about 70 applications for each graduate job last year, according to a poll. If all cover letters are like Mrs X’s, before getting to the CVs, employers would have to wade through 20,000 words, the equivalent of a mini novel. I doubt employers would want to do this, especially if the novella has 70 unconnected characters and no plot.

Since updating my letter, I’ve sent seven applications, and been offered two interviews. The ratio is improving!

PS: a recent donation to Oxfam included: free tourist brochures, a file of Met Office documents, and a tooth in an envelope