General Discussions

UPDATED THREAD: "Everybody" puts this on their cover letter but nobody believes it, so don't do it

UPDATED THREAD: "Everybody" puts this on their cover letter but nobody believes it, so don't do it

by Linda Andrews -
Number of replies: 2

I strongly despise cover letters, because they are so ......unhelpful and often just plain silly.  Some people prefer them, so just here are a few hints to keep them from making those who read it nauseated. I'll add some of my thoughts when I see these comments.  Your goal is to have a MATURE approach as compared to a silly one.

"I'm a very fast learner."   ---totally meaningless and nobody believes it

"I passed all my classes with flying colors."  ---okay, so the training you got must not have been very good. I don't want someone who passed with flying colors. I want someone who went to a very tough, challenging course and STRUGGLED and was successful IN SPITE OF how hard it was.

"I'm exactly what you need."    ---I'll be the judge of that, and I am not interested in anyone who pretends to know exactly what I need.

"I love your company and that's why I applied to work for you." ---No, you don't and you didn't. That's really silly.

Re: "Everybody" puts this on their cover letter but nobody believes it, so don't do it

by Glenda Hickman -

One helpful thing to add in your cover letter, however, is what position you are applying for and where you found the listing for it, if you aren't just submitting your resume cold.

Also, coding students/graduates, be sure to list which certifications you already have.  If you've scheduled a test date that is falling sometime after you're submitting your application, or if you haven't gotten your results back yet, you can include that information in your cover letter as well.  I would not recommend including anything like, "I plan to take the CCS (or CPC) exam soon," if you don't have concrete information about when that will be, however. 

Your cover letter does not need to be long, and it does not need to repeat the information in your resume for the most part.  Just include one or two short paragraphs about what you're applying for and reinforce your objective credentials/background (but not subjective qualities), add a polite "Thank you for your consideration" statement, and let the resume speak for itself.

-Glenda