I have actually never written a cover letter, thus I am on a new adventure! Upon reading these articles a few points clearly stood out regarding cover letters. Though they may not always be read or considered these letters aren’t by any means pointless and they may gain or cost you a position.
As discussed in “Junk Cover Letters Kill Good Resumes”, the cover letter will take time and development, just as our resumes themselves did. This article conveys a message of importance regarding the use of “stock” cover letters. I have taken this as; each cover letter must be specifically tailored to the company to whom it is being sent. Another important aspect along those lines would be to use the recipient’s name within the greeting if possible. This use of recipient’s name is mentioned in both this article and the instructor’s blog. This simple addition of a name seems it would add that important personal feel to the cover letter.
Some other information I have gathered within these articles regarding cover letters will affect the tone and formal approach I will use to write my own. It is mentioned in both articles that professionalism is important, but in the “Junk Cover Letters Kill Good Resumes” article it is stated that a conversational tone should be used. This mixture of conversational tone and formal writing will be a challenge, but I intend on implementing it into my letter. Conciseness and keywords are also recommended by both articles. It seems obvious that the same information from your resume should not be restated, but job specific keywords are still very important. A concise cover letter also has a better chance of being read, thus I will make sure mine is to the point and that it hopefully has just the right amount of information.
Thanks
JFlitt
Catering to the Audience
I agree that using a conversational tone in conjunction with formal writing will be challenging. From the readings, it's my understanding that these cover letters are most likely to be read by the human resources department. To me, this poses a challenge because expanding upon previous job experiences in engineering usually entails various technical terms that may not be understood by a non-engineer. I think that the hardest part of the cover letter will be trying to speak technically while still holding a conversational tone. In my field, I feel that the letter must suit HR, but also be formal enough in case it gets passed on to an engineering manager.
Conversational tone with formal writing
I think one of the biggest things with the conversational tone comes down to just being genuine. We may not need to relax our writing style, or use this "conversational" tone, but we do need to be conscious of whether or not we're trying to "trump up" our tone. I think a lot of lies in our word choice. We shouldn't start using words in our cover letter that we wouldn't use on a daily basis, and same goes with the technical engineering terms, I think. Don't start throwing around technical terms just to show that you're qualified for the job. If you legitimately need to discuss them in your letter, then yes, I think it's ok to put them in. More likely than not, the HR person has probably been trained to review cover letters and resumes for these types of jobs, and will have at least a cursory knowledge of what's required and qualifies a candidate (which may include at least knowing the names of the technical terms you might drop).
Kristin
Cover Letters: The Struggle
I think you did well in emphasizing the important attributes that must be considered when writing a cover letter. Although many points were offered in this week’s suggested readings, some of the ones that were stressed and imposed upon us include tailoring the letter to each job, greetings, tone, formality, and keywords. Much like you, I have not drafted a cover letter prior to this one and it has been a challenge trying to decide exactly what to include and how to present it. As both jrdavies and Kristin mentioned before me, the conversational tone you implement will have a major impact on how your cover letter is received. The tone, for me in particular, proved the most challenging to satisfy. However, all of the aforementioned aspects should be used in parallel throughout your draft which further complicates the overall process.
Cover similar to speeches?
I have noticed a lot of people including myself questioning how to be conversational while still be professional. This may or may not work, and I would certainly look for input, but I imagine writing a cover letter in a similar fashion to giving a speech. You would obviously cut out the filler words and audience reaction, but I imagine it should have a similar feel to a speech given to around twenty people or so. It may be beneficial to make a short PowerPoint slide, as mentioned earlier as an outlining technique. That being said I have yet to write a cover letter so I really don’t know how well it would work.
HR name is important
I think it will be a challenging factor trying to use conversational tone, while still making it professional. However, Kristin made a valid point on just trying to use more daily basis vocabulary rather than talking like a butler or “trump” tone. Most people try to use the technical terms to try to convey the employer they are qualify for the job position.
From the instructors blog #3, addressing a name for your cover letter is vital. Addressing your cover letter with a person from the the HR department, does make it more personal. Not to mention, when you follow up on your application, it's good to know a person that your speaking with read your resume personally(hopefully).
Cover letter to Resume
You mentioned a lot of points brought up in the reading. Tailoring your cover letter is just one of those points. You aslo said adding the employers name in you cover letter is a good technique to use. It seems to me that sending out "50" resumes and cover letters is a lot more difficult task than I originally expected. (and I didn't originally expect it to be easy) If we are supposed to tailor both our resume and cover letter as well as research and implement knowledge of the companies, than that is a lot of work. Hopefully when you are sending out 50 resumes that they are all for a similar position that why a few minor changes here and there will tailor to each companies needs.
50! Wat!
I agree on the difficulty level of drafting so many different resumes and cover letters. I don’t see how anyone could really draft every application document they send out regarding many different positions within different companies. I suppose it all comes down to your level of desperation and/or commitment to the job seeking process. If someone has been very successful in the past with their cover letter and resume, or one or the other, then I could never see them just doing this as a standard practice. For those who have had many unsuccessful attempts with their application documents, maybe this is the only (and best) option.
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