When Betty first started applying for jobs, she had no cover letter, no motivational letter, no letter of recommendation, just a plain Curriculum Vitae. It should not come as a surprise then, that Betty did not receive any response from her prospective employers.
Although optimistic, Betty’s outlook on job-hunting was naïve. She believed that ‘paper did not matter, only human interaction did.’ Unfortunately Betty had to learn, that in terms of the corporate world, this is not exactly the case. She was completely oblivious to the fact that there is a harsh virtual elimination process she had to go through before she could get anywhere near an interview. This is usually where most people get eliminated and where Betty made it into the rejects pile. But why?
Aside from the fact that she had a shockingly unprofessional CV, her cover letter was a two-paragraph synopsis of her fresh out of university skill-set. In other words, severely lacking. Poor Betty.
How could she possibly stand a chance against the hundreds of applicants who had years of experience? This is what I like to call, the graduate’s dilemma. ‘You can’t get a job, because you don’t have experience, because you can’t get a job.’ So, how do you break away from this vicious cycle?
One option is, internships, but if you are anything like Betty and you support yourself financially, an unpaid internship is largely impossible to carry on your own. After all, you need to survive in the interim and even a 2 minute noodles diet won’t suffice.
This is why, for the independent graduates, I strongly suggest a second option. Tell a story. When you write your cover letter, instead of writing a petty paragraph or two about your lack-of-a-skill-set, rather write a story. Not a sad, sob story about the realities of student loan debt and definitely not a speech like the ones you see at the end of all 90’s, coming-of-age films. Write what you know, write the truth and write about why you love the career you are applying for.
When Betty finally decided to give her shameful cover letter a facelift, in this cut-throat job market, it was her saving grace. Betty wanted to become a writer, an online marketer, a radio presenter, an actress, Betty was desperate. When I asked her what she loved to do, she said to write and communicate. So I told Betty to write about a time, a challenging time, where she used these skills to overcome an obstacle.
We get so caught up in the format and ‘professionalism’ of a cover letter that we often forget that by making it personal is what appeals to the person reading it on the other side. At the end of the day, we are all just humans with elbows and toes, searching for some form of connection.
This is why I can assure you, after reading through piles and piles of the same dull list of accomplishments, a small introductory paragraph with a narrative twist, works wonders!
