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Always send a cover letter. Resumes are form content, by themselves they do not offer enough differentiation from the next joker with a word processor. The cove

Always send a cover letter. Resumes are form content, by themselves they do not offer enough differentiation from the next joker with a word processor. The cover letter is the easiest and most traditional way to define yourself as more than a bunch of facts. Part of working at a company is getting good at written communication. It should not be a lot of work to whip up a personalized cover letter for each company you apply to, assuming you're not just putting your resume on blast. If it feels like it is, then you should work on those skills rather than just cop out of the responsibility.

vonmoltke 11y ago
I'm probably unusual, but I have major writer's block and anxiety when writing about myself. I can write clear, detailed communications about nearly anything with little effort, but it takes me 45 minutes to write three paragraphs about myself.
- vinceguidry 11y ago
  Don't write about yourself then, write about your enthusiasm for the job.
- fancy_pantser 11y ago
  Well, the beauty is that you only have to do it once. Nobody that receives a cover letter from you is likely to see another one you ever send out, so it's okay if they have some of the same content. I personally keep each cover letter I write in a Google doc. When I have to whip up a new one I just go back and find some useful bits that apply to the position I'm interested in. That gets the ball rolling enough that the last 15% is easy to get through. I only have so many skills I want to highlight in a cover letter, so having 10-15 sentences already laying around to cherry pick from gets me 80% of the way there on new letters.
PretzelPirate 11y ago
I'm interested in how recent college grads handle this. From what I read on Reddit, its normal now to apply to ~200 positions during your senior year before you find a job. I would never want to write 200 cover letters (or even apply to 200 places). When I graduated 6 years ago, I applied to a total of 5 companies.

vonmoltke 11y ago

I'm probably unusual, but I have major writer's block and anxiety when writing about myself. I can write clear, detailed communications about nearly anything with little effort, but it takes me 45 minutes to write three paragraphs about myself.

vinceguidry 11y ago
Don't write about yourself then, write about your enthusiasm for the job.
fancy_pantser 11y ago
Well, the beauty is that you only have to do it once. Nobody that receives a cover letter from you is likely to see another one you ever send out, so it's okay if they have some of the same content. I personally keep each cover letter I write in a Google doc. When I have to whip up a new one I just go back and find some useful bits that apply to the position I'm interested in. That gets the ball rolling enough that the last 15% is easy to get through. I only have so many skills I want to highlight in a cover letter, so having 10-15 sentences already laying around to cherry pick from gets me 80% of the way there on new letters.

PretzelPirate 11y ago

I'm interested in how recent college grads handle this. From what I read on Reddit, its normal now to apply to ~200 positions during your senior year before you find a job. I would never want to write 200 cover letters (or even apply to 200 places). When I graduated 6 years ago, I applied to a total of 5 companies.