Cover Letter advice

[mcleme9]

Wanted to get some experienced writers advice on submitting cover letters. I'm still young and looking to land that first full-time job. I'm asking because I've received tips from two different directions. Some say to show off the creativity in cover letters with clever wordage and alliteration, and I've had others tell me to simple, clear, concise and straightforward.

So what say you, current editors/others who have done this a time or two?

 

[spikechiquet]

Cover letters are to be clear and concise...show your talent in your clips.

 

[joe_schmoe]

If the alliteration and clever wordage doesn't come natural for you and isn't your style, don't do it. The people hiring you hiring you have been in this business for years and can tell almost instantly when you try to force something together.
When I read cover letters that try stuff like that I often want to puke. Cheeze doesn't work in this biz. Period.
Yes the cover letter in a writing business can go a long way toward getting you hired (as it really is the first impression an editor has of your writing), so you want to be able to grab the editors attention. But if it comes across cocky or cheesy it won't do you any good.

Sell yourself as best you can. In your own words just tell the person why they should hire you. If you can sell yourself persuasively you can write.

 

[BillyT]

I do cover letters professionally.

The job of the cover letter is to get them ot look at your resume and put it in the "Look At These" pile.

That is all.

Be simple and concise and have two friends proofread it.

 

[HanSenSE]

This should be in our archives. An excellent treatment of the subject by one of our own:

http://sportsjournalism.org/sports-media-news/on-a-good-little-paper-and-the-lost-art-of-the-cover-letter/

 

[Versatile]

I love writing cover letters. It's your chance to show why you're the best fit for the job. Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Don't overwrite.
2. Don't rehash your resume.
3. Consider as pragmatically as possible your actual experience and clips and resume. Assume there is someone who has a better clip packet, more experience and a better resume than you who is also applying for the job. Then explain why you're still the better hire. In other words, you're not special. Now tell me why you're special.
4. Be polite.
5. Show, even briefly, a knowledge of the place you're applying. Mention a writer or a feature they run.
6. Don't overwrite.

 

[Moderator1]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Hi
Why
Bye


Brief introduction. BRIEF paragraph on why you are IT for this job - your resume and clips will fill in the details. Thanks for your time.

One page. K.I.S.S.

 

[forever_town]

Cover letters are to be clear and concise...show your talent in your clips.

This.

If I'm an editor, I don't have any interest in seeing flowery prose in a cover letter. It will all but guarantee that your fantastic prose will go in my circular file.

Straight and to the point will get me to look at your clips. If your clips blow me away, I'll look back at your cover letter to give you a call to schedule an interview.

 

[trifectarich]

Be perfect with grammar and punctuation. If you can't get it right with something you've been working on for days, I'll assume you have no chance to get it right when your deadline is minutes away. That would be one for the "No" pile.

 

[TrooperBari]

Should cover letters always be separate documents or is it acceptable to put your "Hi, Why, Bye" in the body of the e-mail? I've had a few people tell me they prefer the latter, but they could well be outliers.

 

[mcleme9]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Very useful stuff

 

[reformedhack]

If your method of contact is email, then put the cover letter in the body of the email. If you don't, you're blowing your first impression. It would be fairly odd to receive an email from a job candidate that says "I'm applying for your job opening and my cover letter and resume and clips are attached." Try not to waste the recipient's time -- just get down to business and don't make him/her take an unnecessary step.

Along those lines, this unsolicited tip: If you're attaching a resume, make sure it's a .PDF document. It would suck to spend a lot of time "beautifully" formatting your resume in Word, then later discover that the recipient uses a different program or has a variation of Helvetica on his/her machine and sees nothing but a scrawling mess when he/she opens your document. (This is especially true when one person has a Mac and other has a PC.) As a hiring editor myself, I cannot begin to tell you how many times candidates haven't taken this into consideration. I try not to hold it against them, but if the resume is difficult to read, I won't spend a whole lot of time with it.

 

[spikechiquet]

If your method of contact is email, then put the cover letter in the body of the email. If you don't, you're blowing your first impression. It would be fairly odd to receive an email from a job candidate that says "I'm applying for your job opening and my cover letter and resume and clips are attached." Try not to waste the recipient's time -- just get down to business and don't make him/her take an unnecessary step.

Along those lines, this unsolicited tip: If you're attaching a resume, make sure it's a .PDF document. It would suck to spend a lot of time "beautifully" formatting your resume in Word, then later discover that the recipient uses a different program or has a variation of Helvetica on his/her machine and sees nothing but a scrawling mess when he/she opens your document. (This is especially true when one person has a Mac and other has a PC.) As a hiring editor myself, I cannot begin to tell you how many times candidates haven't taken this into consideration. I try not to hold it against them, but if the resume is difficult to read, I won't spend a whole lot of time with it.

Good points. I usually just throw everything in as text. I think we are past making resumes "pretty". I want to work for a place that likes my clips, not how my resume is formatted.

 

[Versatile]

Formatting a resume maximizes space and makes it more memorable and instantly recognizable. How is that a bad thing? The design should be clean and minimalist, though. No ****ing color.

 

[BillyT]

Should cover letters always be separate documents or is it acceptable to put your "Hi, Why, Bye" in the body of the e-mail? I've had a few people tell me they prefer the latter, but they could well be outliers.

Always separate.

If they get any decent number of resumes, they'll print o0ut the letter and resume and put them together.

You don't want an e-mail sitting on top when you can have a formatted letter.

It also makes it seem as though you are cutting corners.

 

[BillyT]

In response to Spikechiquet:

I understand what you are saying, but at larger papers, those are going to go through HR, and they do care how the letters look.

In addition, it's just another way of representing the fact that you take care in your work. A messed-up cover letter would be like wearing a gold shirt to the interview.

Reformedhack: I am going to politely disagree with "It would be fairly odd to receive an email from a job candidate that says "I'm applying for your job opening and my cover letter and resume and clips are attached."

It is standard -- and sometimes specifically requested -- to "attach cover lette rnad resume."

I have been at this a while, and that's what I recommend anyway.

 

[Versatile]

If you're applying to a large shop and want everyone who interviews you to read your cover letter, then you should attach it. Printed out e-mails are ugly to have at the top of a resume packet.

 

[BB Bobcat]

I believe the last time I applied I did both. The cover letter was in the body of the email, but it was also attached as a nice PDF in case they wanted to print it out.

 

[reformedhack]

Reformedhack: I am going to politely disagree with "It would be fairly odd to receive an email from a job candidate that says "I'm applying for your job opening and my cover letter and resume and clips are attached."

We'll agree to disagree. First impressions are everything.

Speaking as someone who has hired dozens of people over the years, I don't enjoy blind or vague emails from job applicants ... just get to the point. Now, my opinion isn't gospel or law, but why make someone take an extra step to find out who you are and decide whether to look at your resume? I encourage everyone not to waste the opportunity that your initial contact presents.

(Hey, if you want to send a printable cover letter, attach one. But make sure it matches the one in the body of your email ... because I will compare them. )

 

[reformedhack]

Good points. I usually just throw everything in as text. I think we are past making resumes "pretty". I want to work for a place that likes my clips, not how my resume is formatted.

I'm not looking for "pretty" per se, but I am looking for someone who can organize his/her resume. That might be through boldface or italics, or maybe a font that doesn't look like it was typed on an IBM Selectric. No, I don't want clip art or skewed typography. Keep it simple, but put some thought into it.

My key point was that you might choose a nice, simple conservative font that looks good and professional on your computer, but if I don't have Garamond on my computer, your resume might look like graffiti when I open it. So don't take the risk.