While a résumé can display your past work experiences, a cover letter is your chance to show prospective employers who you really are and what you bring to the table. Here are The Onion’s tips for writing a memorable cover letter:
- The cover letter is your opportunity to let prospective employers know what you are capable of, particularly in the event that they don’t hire you.
- Customize each cover letter you send, but double-check the details. Nothing’s more embarrassing than addressing a letter to Google when it should have gone directly in the garbage.
- Don’t repeat information that employers have already gleaned from your private social media accounts.
- Have a close friend read over the final product. If it doesn’t convince them to offer you a negotiable $45,000 plus benefits, go back to the drawing board.
- If you’re one of those rare candidates who has proficiency in Microsoft Word, then for God’s sake, mention it.
- Limit yourself to five consecutive uses of the word “please.”
- Before hitting send, check whether the company prefers footnotes or endnotes in cover letters, and if the latter, how they prefer the appendices organized.
- Overall, take this chance to show off the kind of dynamic, creative thinking that you’re highly capable of and will almost certainly never be called upon to use.