Cover letters (random)
Please do not use cover letters that you copied out of a book. If you write ‘I understand the position also requires a candidate who is team- and detail-oriented, works well under pressure, and is able to deal with people in departments throughout the firm’ then at best people will think you're a bullshit artist and at worst they will think that you were not born with the part of the brain that allows you to form your own thoughts and ideas.With that in mind, here is the cover letter I just wrote for a research staff position at a university...
I have a master's degree in computer science, and have been looking for a job for quite some time. Unfortunately, the private sector job market does not seem to support programmers who have deep experience in a wide variety of useful aspects of computer science, and instead, jobs seem to only exist for people who have had five years of experience in three-year-old buzzwords.Unfortunately, after spending about three hours entering all of my resume information, cover letter, experience, etc., I got rejected out-of-hand by their automated "pre-screening" crap because I "don't have enough experience." Piece of shit. (So I did what everyone probably has to do: game the system, and lie. Meh.)My research interests have been quite varied, including but not limited to computer graphics, database systems, artificial intelligence for intelligent systems and behavioral modeling, computational geometry, networking, collaborative virtual environments, and computer security with a heavy side dish of cryptography.
In addition to that, I am a well-rounded person with interests in photography, drawing, and music, both composition and performance. Unfortunately, private-sector employers seem to be both shocked and amazed that a software engineer would have an artistic side, and I think this is a big turn-off to them as well. Academics, on the other hand, typically appreciate the greater view and chose to integrate, rather than segregate, disparate fields to produce a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
I am a hard worker. I usually bury myself in a problem until I have solved it. If I find myself at an impasse I work on something else until suddenly, a flash of inspiration strikes and I have total clarity, and a solution. To me, "good enough" isn't.
With all that said, I hope you will consider me as a match for your position. I am able to start as soon as the week after you read this letter.
Comments
What most of the complainers miss is that the relationship between hirer and hiree is not balanced. If you want a job, you've got to do it their way. (Though I realize you probably already know all that.)
About your letter...there are a number of changes I'd make. First, never, ever talk about how long you've been looking for work. This sends a message that you're desperate, which, at best, means they can lowball any salary offer.
Next...ditch everything you say that is preceeded by "unfortunately". (i.e. the bulk of paragraph's two and four.) These sections will set off red flags for employers. "Is this guy a complainer?" they'll wonder. It comes of as a bit bitter, which is fine for a blog entry, but for a cover letter, that's a disaster. The bottom line is that employers don't give a shit why you haven't found a job.
A cover letter is a sales document. First, you want to tell them why you in particular are a better candidate. Second, you want to tell them why you'll be a pleasant person to work with. Third, you want to tell them why you want to work for them in particular.
Anything else can only hurt you. Never, ever put anything negative about anything in the cover letter or resume.
In general, any cover letter should exude confidence. It should be the sort of thing that portrays the message that you are convinced that you can do the job, and convinced that you want to do the job.
I'll be honest and say that if I came across a cover letter like this one while sorting through resumes, it'd make me think twice. It comes off as "potential problem employee", i.e. a person that might be a coding star, but might also be a lot of work.
Never weed out employers from the job posting. Use the interview to weed out bad employers.
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C C++ [n+1] YEARS OF EXPERIENCE COBOL
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After that, a clueless HR wonk makes sure the applicant wasn't lying, based solely on what's listed on the resume.
The really weird thing was that many of the "required skills" it was cross-referencing me about weren't even listed in the job description, but looked like boilerplate for a research professor or something, and were skills which would, for the most part, only be attained as a research professor. They were also nebulous, like "organization and presentation of materials to best represent the department at conferences and symposiums" and so on.