Do you have any general tips for writing a cover letter? I have no idea how to do it. I am applying for minimum wage entry-level jobs but they still ask for cover letters at some places and I need a job badly.
My friend Melissa told me that a brassy attitude can work wonders in a cover letter. I started applying that method ever since she told me this lil nugget of advice. Although it was a little rough and sorta hokey originally, I started to get the hang of it. I managed to do it well enough for Huffington Post and gURL.com to contact me for an interview so hopefully it’ll work for you too!
Seriously, like, tell them about yourself in a way that isn’t boring. For example, this was what I wrote for the intro of my gURL.com cover letter:
Back in the early 2000s, when I was a pre-teen dividing my time between TRL, Now CDs, and Neopets, Gurl.com (gURL dot com) was like a dirty little secret. I’d log onto AOL and check out the site, with its black background and brightly colored text enticing me between regular intervals spent looking over my shoulder. It was like another world, a realm where girls weren’t only interested in the hottest pedal pushers and ‘N Sync (it was the early 00s, okay). On Gurl.com girls had weird nipples, cut their legs shaving, weren’t as carefree about tampons as the girls in the commercials, and even had something called a clitoris. I started off the new millennium with a wealth of knowledge to oblige my burgeoning interest with my body and myself. But as the years passed, as tampons became a little less scary, as breasts evened out, and as school and other interests dominated my life, my little—not so dirty anymore—secret fell to the wayside. Well, until now.
Then I got to the nitty gritty of why I would be an awesome intern/addition to their team. To be fair, I have a little bit of leeway with these cover letters because I’m in a creative field, but the spirit should be the same for all your cover letters. Sell yourself in a way that is fun, in a way that makes them know that you deserve to be a part of what they have going on. Not only will it help your cover letter stand out (if it is even read, that is), but it’ll also be more fun to put together.
Have a standard skeleton: Intro, here’s why I’d be awesome for this position, explaining each of your points, then a conclusion. P much like a standard essay, just way shorter.
If you’re not having a lil fun writing it, why the hell do you think they’ll have fun reading it? Of course, people get jobs with boring cover letters too, but this is a tough job market and you want to do whatever you can to get an edge out over everyone else.
I hope some of this helped? Again, I’m really not an expert, but cover letters are starting to get easier and a little more fun by implementing these tips. ♡
