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Karen Russell is one of several teachers I’ve met online and off that have a passion for social media and bridging the gap between practitioners and students.Yeah, students are digital natives, but that doesn’t mean they’re born with a blog and Twitter account.
Via Colin McKay, I saw Karen’s request for “a dozen things I wish PR pros would blog about.”
So I picked “3 things you should know before you write a cover letter.” It’s been a long time since I wrote a cover letter. But I’ve read hundreds scanned thousands and they’re a pitch.
1) Making the Cut: The first person to read your cover letter is looking for a reason to NOT interview you. Any good job has a stack of resumes and cover letters sent in for consideration. The first pass at that stack is designed to eliminate those that are not qualified.
2) Going Beyond the Degree: A resume is an emotional document. We sweat every line and our degree is the crown jewel of this document. But I have to tell you a not-so-secret. While your degree is hard-earned, and expensive as hell, everyone trying to get the job you’re applying for has one. You probably won’t get an interview without one, but you need to demonstrate the skills and experience you’ve gained during school.
3) Selling Yourself: The cover letter is to the pitch as the resume is to the news release. Both should stand on their own but the cover letter should be highly customized. Make sure keywords from the job description that align with your experience are used in the first two paragraphs.
Bonus points for also showing you know something about the company. It’s called Google, people. Use it. Oh and stay away from paper tricks – colors, flecks and non-traditional stocks are not recommended.
Think in short bullet points about what you’ve done that makes you qualified for the job. And if you were too busy working full-time while attending school (financing your degree) to get relevant experience? You’ve clearly demonstrated your work ethic and ability to multitask.
What Say You?So Karen Russell gives PR bloggers homework and we gladly turn in our assignments? THAT’S the sign of a real teacher! What else should we mention about cover letters based on YOUR experience?
20070707_0848 Letter uploaded by williewonker tags | public relations | PR | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | Karen Russell | UGAConnect07
11 comments:
I like when someone can show the beginnings of strategic thinking. They've figured out what my company does, who we rep and how their skills not just "fit" but could be an asset. I love when someone doesn't just tell me they interned someplace cool, but that some specific work they did at a cool internship "matches" the kind of work we do for one of my clients.
Every time I read a statement like that in cover letter, I think "here's someone who we can train on strategic thinking instead of logistics."
And that saves everyone time.
Great post. I used to work closely with the intern coordinator at my old corp comm job.
Too many times I think people just re-write their resume for the cover letter. NO NO NO!
If you're reading comment, take Kevin's advice - throw in specifics about your experiences. Related to this, don't say, "I am good in crisis situations" ... instead say, "In my current position, I was a member of a team that responded to X crisis. During this time, I was in charge of Y & Z." Demonstrate the skills they ask for in the job call with anecdotes from your own experiences.
And ... resumes should be 1 page. Cover letters should be 1 page (that includes all the formating too!). Only your mother wants to read pages & pages about you :)
Kevin, you'll be getting an A on this assignment. :)
Jay and Kaye - Thanks for the additions.
Karen - So you were grading on a curve then? Excellent!
Tip: If your name is Kitty, Kryssi, Lynzi or Buffy, change it. Just change it. I want to throw up every time another manager wants to bring in a new blonde who wants to be a fashion PR party girl and will bide her time in the consumer practice until Lizzy Grubman comes calling.
Great post! I vow to never again recycle a cover letter! I'm a college senior studying PR and recently our class debated the importance of cover letters. It's nice to know employers are actually reading them!
The single most egregious cover letter faux pas is not doing th absolute minimum — finding out to whom to address the letter. I have had recent grads, people with master's degrees and folks with 20 years' experience send me a "To Whom It May." It gets either the instant wastebasket treatment or, depending on my mood and workload I respond with a nasty form letter.
I was part of the hiring team at a PR agency in Detroit. Well-written cover letters with personality had a huge advantage over those that read like a template in a career book. Don't be afraid to spice it up and show your creativity through writing and work experience regardless of career length.
When I speak to PR classes, I'm usually more suprised by how little most of them know about technology. Most of them know Facebook. That's it. (In the classes, I talked to, admittedly - which is not a statistically significant number, but was still signifying to me.)
I always find it helpful to start writing a cover letter with a sample. There's some good ones online at http://www.samplecoverletter.info. Maybe others will benefit as well.
sample really helps But points explaining them are also good. thanks.
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