Re: Cover Letters

[Janet Valade <jvalade -at- PLUTO -dot- CALSTATELA -dot- EDU>]

In-Reply-To: Re: Cover Letters, From: Dave Prior <triton!


>The cover letter was very straightforward.  An opening paragraph stating
>the ad title and where I saw it.  The second paragraph what a header, in
>bold, stating: "Your Requirements".  It was followed by the string of
>requirements from the ad which I knew I could match or "over match" and in
>the order of "strength" as I could fulfill them.  The third paragraph was a
>header, in bold, stating: "My qualifications".  It was followed by no more
>than four bullets of no more than four lines each which matched the
>requirements.  The fourth paragraph mentioned something about how
>significant a contribution I would make to the company.

I like this idea.  It sounds like you did it well.  I am currently reading
resumes (not for a tech writing position) and my attention was captured by a
cover letter similar to this.  This person had actually organized it in two
columns, one labeled your needs, the one beside it labeled my qualifications.
It was a section in the middle of his cover letter and was slightly smaller
type so the columns would fit.  The "need" and matching "qualification"
started on the same horizontal line. It definitely caught my eye and created a
favorable impression. ...until I read it. The "your needs" column had
absolutely nothing to do with my ad.  It was for entirely different job.
 I think he must have written the "Qualifications" column first and then made
up a "needs" section to match the qualifications, not to match the job for
which he was applying.  The letter was, therefore, as are most of them, an
"all-purpose" letter, not useful to me at all, and not creating a positive
impression for the applicant.  The result of this person's letter, which
could have been quite positive if it were even faintly relevant to the job I
am trying to fill, was actually negative.

Janet
jvalade -at- calstatela -dot- edu