3 ms·

The death of the cover letter

9 points by ILIKEPONIES 14y ago

adrianhoward 14y ago
If I received this I would be thinking that he author had spent a lot of words telling me: * They like foursquare * They've nearly finished an MBA * They have ideas * They used to play professional poker None of which are useful in any way in understanding whether the author would be any good in a Business Development Manager role (well... maybe the professional poker one... :-) The cover letter is the sales pitch for the resume. It's only purpose is to get me to read that resume in a positive frame of mind. This cover letter says to me "I would really like to be a Business Development Manager at foursquare"... and that's it. It doesn't even let me know that the author has a good understanding of what a Business Development Manager role is (Not saying they don't - just that the letter doesn't demonstrate it. You'll be shocked at the number of applications folk get from people who do not understand what the job role entails.) I don't care about skills. Everybody you're competing with will have the skills. Give me an achievement or three. Something you've actually done that shows you're a good fit for the role. The ideal cover letter should say "I would be a damn good Business Development Manager because I've achieved X, Y and Z" - where X, Y and Z are all accomplishments that show how bloody excellent I am at Business Development Management. [BIAS WARNING: I was a tech reviewer of this book, and have an anecdote in there somewhere about a terribly interview I sat through in the nineties] I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of Andy Lester's "Land the Tech Job You Love". Lots of good advice. It's aimed at devs more than it is other roles - but the advice is general.
- ILIKEPONIES 14y ago
  Appreciate the comment. I was always under the impression that the resume listed most of the skills and accomplishments. I did delete most of the skills bullets that translated to strengths in bd. But I agree that I could do more to show why I rock and understand what the hell bd even is... I'll check out the book. Thanks again for the comment.
  - esharef 14y ago
    Josh, I'm the co-founder of HireArt. We've got a lot of pretty cool biz dev jobs at start-ups on both coasts. You can apply to them through our HireArt application and get to prove your skills. Email me elli@hireart.com

9 points by ILIKEPONIES 14y ago

If I received this I would be thinking that he author had spent a lot of words telling me: * They like foursquare * They've nearly finished an MBA * They have ideas * They used to play professional poker None of which are useful in any way in understanding whether the author would be any good in a Business Development Manager role (well... maybe the professional poker one... :-) The cover letter is the sales pitch for the resume. It's only purpose is to get me to read that resume in a positive frame of mind. This cover letter says to me "I would really like to be a Business Development Manager at foursquare"... and that's it. It doesn't even let me know that the author has a good understanding of what a Business Development Manager role is (Not saying they don't - just that the letter doesn't demonstrate it. You'll be shocked at the number of applications folk get from people who do not understand what the job role entails.) I don't care about skills. Everybody you're competing with will have the skills. Give me an achievement or three. Something you've actually done that shows you're a good fit for the role. The ideal cover letter should say "I would be a damn good Business Development Manager because I've achieved X, Y and Z" - where X, Y and Z are all accomplishments that show how bloody excellent I am at Business Development Management. [BIAS WARNING: I was a tech reviewer of this book, and have an anecdote in there somewhere about a terribly interview I sat through in the nineties] I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of Andy Lester's "Land the Tech Job You Love". Lots of good advice. It's aimed at devs more than it is other roles - but the advice is general.

ILIKEPONIES 14y ago
Appreciate the comment. I was always under the impression that the resume listed most of the skills and accomplishments. I did delete most of the skills bullets that translated to strengths in bd. But I agree that I could do more to show why I rock and understand what the hell bd even is... I'll check out the book. Thanks again for the comment.
- esharef 14y ago
  Josh, I'm the co-founder of HireArt. We've got a lot of pretty cool biz dev jobs at start-ups on both coasts. You can apply to them through our HireArt application and get to prove your skills. Email me elli@hireart.com