I was happy to see that this week's readings on writing cover letters were more consistent and less frustrating than last week's frenzy of conflicting resume advice. Week five's cover letter readings presented fairly uniform advice: Successful cover letters use professional, appropriate and personable writing and have a message aimed toward satisfying companies' hiring goals.
While the flaws of the four unsuccessful strategies outlined in "Kairos and the Cover Letter" are obvious, I'm happy they were listed with examples - particularly the first. Although we all should have caught on by now that we should avoid "the me approach," the example showed just how easy it is to fall into that trap. The right information was there, but all it takes is a slight inflection in tone to set off the feeling that a cover letter's author is thinking in "me" terms. I think my job ad analysis said something about me being "well suited" for the position, which came up in this example. I think I can come up with a better phrase.
Something else that came up both in "Junk Letters Kill Good Resumes" and Instructor Blog #3: Cover Letters is researching the company and including in your cover letter information and news that you find. "Junk Letters..." mentions that you could include a congratulations for something like winning a big contract. It's not a bad idea at all, but be careful if you decide to do something like this. The suggestion reminds me of some of the research I did for my job ad analysis. In my case, the company L-3 had just won a big contract. However, the contract was won by a different division of L-3 than the one I'm applying to. I work for a company now with a similar structure. In my experience complementing one division's employees for the success of another division would be like complementing a Purdue Liberal Arts student for the high rankings of Purdue's Engineering program: It doesn't really serve to flatter, and if anything might bring up some unpleasant competitive feelings toward the other division. You don't want unpleasant feelings to come up in your resume reader's mind. It's something to watch out for if you are going for a position with a big company.
One thing I'm counting on my cover letter to do is to take the pressure off of my resume to fully convey why I think my experiences make me a great fit for position the company is looking to fill. This will help me trim some weight off of my career summary section. Other than that, I'll be looking to keep my language conversational and professional while keeping it from being inappropriate or too rigid, and I'll keep my focus on what the company's ad requests, not what I want.
Using Current Information
When I did the readings this week, I thought it was a really good idea to include current information about the company. I had planned on using this strategy in my cover letter. I never even thought about the fact that accomplishments of one division may cause strained relations with the others. I guess this would more depend on the HR rep and whether they were hiring for the company as a whole or for an individual division. I guess this is still a good strategy for smaller companies, but for larger companies I will make sure that I try to find information from the particular division I am applying for.
Using information
I still think it's a great idea. Recruiters will be impressed you did your research however you do it. But I just wanted to say its something you might want to watch out for. If you manage to find news that's from the right company and the right division, then it's like a double bonus! I don't think using current info about another division would hurt, I just think it might not help as much.
Tone of voice
TANoNati, I believe in your last paragraph you were speaking of your tone of voice you plan on using. I totally agree, keep it conversational and professional. One thing I would like to add though. I believe the better the picture you can paint in your readers mind the better your chances are. Use descriptive words that would almost show someone how you are qualified and what sets you apart from everyone else. If you open up someone’s imagination, even just a little bit, you are in to the next step. I'm willing to bet most of these recruiters, when they read something that sounds good they're thinking in their minds, 'All right I could see this guy working here'. I'm sure at that moment they're constructing some kind of image of you working there. So create that image, and I think that should help a lot.