résumé good enough? Your résumé is a list of accomplishments broken down by job. Your biggest accomplishments may have to do with building a team to create a new feature, or resolving an issue with a major supplier. That lets the recruiter know that you can accomplish great things, but it doesn’t necessarily inform her of your specific, relevant skills. She may be looking for data modeling, or statistical analysis, or something more “warm and fuzzy” like strong management skills.
Your résumé lets her know that you can get things done; your cover letter demonstrates your relevance to the job. Essentially, it’s a teaser. It’s a way to say, “I have what you’re looking for, now open my résumé to see what I’ve accomplished.”
Additionally, in writing-heavy roles, your cover letter is a way for the company to see your writing skills. Why not just come out and ask for a writing sample? Well, first, there’s no reason to have you provide a make-believe business writing sample, as though you were some second grader writing a letter to the president. Second, it allows you to manufacture it too much. They want to see how you write “in the wild.” You’d take extra special care to write well if you knew they were examining your every word. (And now, hopefully, you will.)
The Three Types of Cover Letter
Whether your cover letter is solicited, unsolicited, or “broadcasted,” it will follow a similar format and will have similar goals. Your goal is still to excite the reader enough that he puts down your cover letter and picks up your résumé—and, hopefully, the phone. The difference lies in the degree to which the cover letter can be targeted.
Solicited Cover Letter
Most cover letters are solicited; that is, the cover letter is responding to a specific job opening advertised online, on your campus, or anywhere else. The job opening likely lists specific skills or backgrounds desired, and you need to appeal to those specific attributes. Your cover letter should explain exactly how you match those qualities, and should provide evidence using your prior experience.
“If you don’t exactly match every requirement, don’t let that stop you,” says Matt, a former Apple recruiter. “Sometimes ads are written by recruiters or managers who don’t understand that the combination of skills they want is impossible or very unlikely. Or sometimes you have other skills that may compensate for your weaknesses.”
Unsolicited Cover Letter/Cold Call Letter
An unsolicited cover letter taps the hidden job market by contacting recruiters about positions that may not be advertised. Obviously, getting a job through these means is more challenging, but not at all impossible. Sometimes positions are created only when a sufficiently good candidate comes along, as is often the case with start-ups. Or other times, a friend inside the company might be able to tip you off to a new opening that has only been advertised internally.
Either way, your approach is the same: you need to identify what you think the company would want and match that. You can often extrapolate the company’s needs from looking at the company’s other job ads, or from looking at ads for the equivalent job at other companies.
If you think this approach seems hard, you’re right. But the good news is that you will have substantially less competition if you pursue it.
Broadcast Letter
While all cover letters should be tailored, sometimes you have no choice but to create a general cover letter. This is often the case when using online job boards. The job board might encourage you to post a cover letter along with your résumé.
What to do? You should be as specific as possible, while not excluding yourself from any desired positions. If you’re looking for a sales or customer support role, emphasize the skills that those positions have in common (communication, etc.).
Recruiters won’t expect your cover letter to be very specific but will
Your résumé lets her know that you can get things done; your cover letter demonstrates your relevance to the job. Essentially, it’s a teaser. It’s a way to say, “I have what you’re looking for, now open my résumé to see what I’ve accomplished.”
Additionally, in writing-heavy roles, your cover letter is a way for the company to see your writing skills. Why not just come out and ask for a writing sample? Well, first, there’s no reason to have you provide a make-believe business writing sample, as though you were some second grader writing a letter to the president. Second, it allows you to manufacture it too much. They want to see how you write “in the wild.” You’d take extra special care to write well if you knew they were examining your every word. (And now, hopefully, you will.)
The Three Types of Cover Letter
Whether your cover letter is solicited, unsolicited, or “broadcasted,” it will follow a similar format and will have similar goals. Your goal is still to excite the reader enough that he puts down your cover letter and picks up your résumé—and, hopefully, the phone. The difference lies in the degree to which the cover letter can be targeted.
Solicited Cover Letter
Most cover letters are solicited; that is, the cover letter is responding to a specific job opening advertised online, on your campus, or anywhere else. The job opening likely lists specific skills or backgrounds desired, and you need to appeal to those specific attributes. Your cover letter should explain exactly how you match those qualities, and should provide evidence using your prior experience.
“If you don’t exactly match every requirement, don’t let that stop you,” says Matt, a former Apple recruiter. “Sometimes ads are written by recruiters or managers who don’t understand that the combination of skills they want is impossible or very unlikely. Or sometimes you have other skills that may compensate for your weaknesses.”
Unsolicited Cover Letter/Cold Call Letter
An unsolicited cover letter taps the hidden job market by contacting recruiters about positions that may not be advertised. Obviously, getting a job through these means is more challenging, but not at all impossible. Sometimes positions are created only when a sufficiently good candidate comes along, as is often the case with start-ups. Or other times, a friend inside the company might be able to tip you off to a new opening that has only been advertised internally.
Either way, your approach is the same: you need to identify what you think the company would want and match that. You can often extrapolate the company’s needs from looking at the company’s other job ads, or from looking at ads for the equivalent job at other companies.
If you think this approach seems hard, you’re right. But the good news is that you will have substantially less competition if you pursue it.
Broadcast Letter
While all cover letters should be tailored, sometimes you have no choice but to create a general cover letter. This is often the case when using online job boards. The job board might encourage you to post a cover letter along with your résumé.
What to do? You should be as specific as possible, while not excluding yourself from any desired positions. If you’re looking for a sales or customer support role, emphasize the skills that those positions have in common (communication, etc.).
Recruiters won’t expect your cover letter to be very specific but will
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