Cover Letters!
Posted March 24, 2025 by Isabella Rodrigues
Hello everyone! This week I thought I would write about something I hate a lot: Cover letters. Cover letters can be what makes or breaks an application and personally I spend a lot of time perfecting and tweaking it for every job. It is annoying for many reasons, one of which is that new hiring trends use AI to scan cover letters and resumes (what is the point of writing one when a robot determines your value?) Also many organizations have an application portal where you have to input the information found in a cover letter and resume into separate sections anyway. Again I stress: what is the point? Pick one way for me to tell you I worked somewhere for however long and had these responsibilities. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this current process takes a lot of time, way more than sending a quickly edited resume and letter. It drives me nuts.
That being said, cover letters themselves are an art. An art I am not good at because I don’t like talking about myself. I usually think I’m unqualified for every job I apply for until I speak to a friend or coworker and they remind me that most times I’m overqualified (which is another problem.) For some reason, listing my job experience and skills is my biggest weakness. So I might not be the ideal person to give advice but here is what I have learned through my trials and tribulations.
- Talk to your friends. They probably have more confidence in your abilities than you do. It’s also helpful to talk through your responsibilities and work life aloud, especially to a person who isn’t familiar with it. You know more than you think!
- Look at sample cover letters. I don’t mean the cheesy ones you can google. Ask your supervisor, ask your friend with four jobs, ask people you trust.
- Don’t be afraid to ask your professors for help! They want you to succeed!
- Lastly, look at the exact words in the job offer details. Use those exact words and key phrases. My supervisor the other day was looking through cover letters next to me and kept complaining about how people were not literally listing the requirements they met in their letter. If a job posting asks for someone who knows MARC, expliciting state that you know MARC.