The Only Red Car

When the Lights Go On Again by @spacecasewriter13

Synopsis:

It is May of 1946, over a year after his fall from the Hydra train and losing his left arm, and James "Bucky" Barnes is struggling to adjust. Working as an analyst at the New York City SSR branch, Bucky tries to put the war and all of its sorted memories behind him. However, try as he might he is plagued by thoughts of Magdalene "Maggie" Ramirez, a Women's Army Corps (WAC) Corporal he met in London and hasn't spoken to since before his fall in January of 1945. Little does he know that Maggie, in her struggle to put the war behind her, has moved to the city and looking for a job with the New York Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard operator. Now, by sheer dumb luck, they are reunited as they both fight come to terms with what they were to one another during the war, and work to figure out how to move forward in a world that was unprepared to deal with the consequences of war in the unsteady peace.

Chapter 40: Time For Things

Synopsis: Now that they’re cleared to fraternize Maggie Ramirez and Bucky Barnes muddle through what all of this might mean for their future while also trying to find time to celebrate the little things.

Excerpt:

"When the lights go on again, all over the world. And the boys are home again, all over the world, and rain or snow is all that may fall from the sky above…" Maggie hummed under her breath, watching people walk past the window of the automat.

The street lights were already flickering on as the sun faded quickly in the late February sky. It wasn't snowing as it had been last Friday, but the snow drifts lingered in thick piles on the sidewalk—the weather was bitterly cold.

She paused, her pen poised over a thin page of stationery paper, and surveyed what she had written.

"Dear Pai,

I'm sorry I haven't written. Things were busy ahead of my friend Sarah's wedding, and I've only now had more than two minutes strung together to sit and write to you, Nelly, and Ingrid. We're well. The weather has been bitterly cold. We got almost a foot of snow last weekend, which has made our commute to work miserable. We hope that you are having an easier winter, and that Charlie and Lizzie can make good use of all this snow, and that everyone is in good health.

Daniel and I are already thinking of warmer weather and hope to make it up to Taunton for Easter."

It was there that the words had failed her. Well…not exactly failed her. She knew what she wanted to write next. She and James had talked about it on Friday. It was the next logical step. Only…only she wasn't sure if it was the right one.

What did that even mean anymore? What could that possibly mean anymore?

Maggie sighed, setting down her pen, and removed a note from her bag and re-read it for probably the 100th time.

"Meet me after work Wednesday at L&L Automat. ~P.C."

Nothing more. Nothing Less. Turning over the now-tattered stationery a few times in her hands, she returned it to its place.

Friday. She'd seen James Friday, and now, only six days later, Peggy wanted to talk. Well, that wasn't quite true. Peggy had sent the note sometime on Saturday or Monday, so Maggie received it on Tuesday. Meaning Peggy had intended to send the note before Maggie had gone to see James on Friday, or work had somehow caught wind of her visit to the Barnes household, and now Agent Carter was going to warn her against such imprudent behavior.

I signed the paperwork. I was cleared to see him. I haven't done anything wrong.

Not that it would matter. Right or wrong, she was only allowed to fraternize with James Barnes because the U.S. Government thought it was beneficial for her to do so at present. Any change in that evaluation…well, Maggie shuddered at the thought.

I was trained in the dark arts of the cover letter by my mother, who is a hiring manager. And her training has paid off: I've been consistently told my cover letters are excellent. Let me pass on the wisdom.

The job of a cover letter is to give a prospective employer strictly more information than is on the resume. This is where you take the resume contents and put them into context. You look at the job requirements (you are looking at the job requirements before applying, right?) and look at your resume and ask the question (in your head) "why would a person think this candidate would be good for this job?" and your cover letter is the answer to that question. If you don't answer that question, the hiring manager is going to have to do it themselves, and you have way more information to work with than they do.

This is especially important if you're moving from one industry to another, because then the relevant connections aren't obvious. It's also very important if you're overqualified, because then you can use the letter to say "I know it looks like this job would be too entry-level for me, but I'm interested to pursue it for reasons x, y, and z". You can also use this space to explain away something that might otherwise be disqualifying, like job-hopping or a long break in employment. The tone to strike here is always matter-of-fact and constrained to topic - don't go into detail about health stuff or personal tragedy, just tell them what they need to hear: that this period of your resume was affected by [bad thing] but that it's now in the past and you're looking forward to the next chapter. Remember, one of the things they're trying to learn is whether you'd be content in this role, or whether you'd be miserable and leave after 2 months, which would force them to do all the work of hiring again. You're trying to establish that you will fit right in and not cause problems. Knowing what drew you to this job in particular (and don't just say 'money', that's true for everyone) helps with that.

If you don't know how to write a cover letter, here's a very basic template:

Start: letter-style salutation. If you don't know who the hiring manager is, "hiring team" or similar is fine.

Introduction paragraph: who are you, what job this is, why you are interested in it

Paragraph 1: take one part of the job description and explain how your previous experience and skills would make you good at this aspect of the position you are applying for. This should involve a brief description of what you have done previously (in a job, in education, in volunteer work, etc.), not belaboring the point, and then how those skills apply. Talk a little about how those skills have helped you in a previous position while explaining those duties. This is also where you would explain if you have transferrable skills! Say you haven't worked in this exact field before, but you have skills (so-called hard skills OR soft skills) that apply to this position. This is where you convince the hiring team that these skills apply to what you are applying for.

Paragraph 2: basically the same as Paragraph 1, but with a different part of the job description. Try for something with a different skillset.

Paragraph 3: same as above. You don't need as many as three paragraphs. You can have as few as one. It all depends on the job and how much you have to say about it.

Closing paragraph: Conclude as to why you would be a good fit for the job. Thank the hiring team for considering you and re-emphasize why you want to work there. Sum yourself up in a punchy one-sentence conclusion. Sign off like a letter.

This should all be about a page of text, as the OP mentioned. It's not rehashing your resume, but explaining those skills, elaborating on them, and convincing the person or people reading these letters that you should be interviewed because you are a good fit. (Don't say that in so many words -- "I would be a good fit because...." but rather do it professionally, like "I would bring my passion for and previously strong results in teen literacy to [teen literacy librarian role]")

It's also okay to write a few basic templates for yourself! Just be very very careful to tailor them to each position, and don't accidentally send the template itself or the exact same cover letter to multiple places (or worse, the same place multiple times). (When I was most recently job hunting I accidentally sent a cover letter with the name of a different place because I copy/pasted and didn't proofread closely enough..... don't be me LMAO)

When the Lights Go On Again by @spacecasewriter13

Synopsis:

It is May of 1946, over a year after his fall from the Hydra train and losing his left arm, and James "Bucky" Barnes is struggling to adjust. Working as an analyst at the New York City SSR branch, Bucky tries to put the war and all of its sorted memories behind him. However, try as he might he is plagued by thoughts of Magdalene "Maggie" Ramirez, a Women's Army Corps (WAC) Corporal he met in London and hasn't spoken to since before his fall in January of 1945. Little does he know that Maggie, in her struggle to put the war behind her, has moved to the city and looking for a job with the New York Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard operator. Now, by sheer dumb luck, they are reunited as they both fight come to terms with what they were to one another during the war, and work to figure out how to move forward in a world that was unprepared to deal with the consequences of war in the unsteady peace.

Chapter 40: Time For Things

Synopsis: Now that they’re cleared to fraternize Maggie Ramirez and Bucky Barnes muddle through what all of this might mean for their future while also trying to find time to celebrate the little things.

Excerpt:

"When the lights go on again, all over the world. And the boys are home again, all over the world, and rain or snow is all that may fall from the sky above…" Maggie hummed under her breath, watching people walk past the window of the automat.

The street lights were already flickering on as the sun faded quickly in the late February sky. It wasn't snowing as it had been last Friday, but the snow drifts lingered in thick piles on the sidewalk—the weather was bitterly cold.

She paused, her pen poised over a thin page of stationery paper, and surveyed what she had written.

"Dear Pai,

I'm sorry I haven't written. Things were busy ahead of my friend Sarah's wedding, and I've only now had more than two minutes strung together to sit and write to you, Nelly, and Ingrid. We're well. The weather has been bitterly cold. We got almost a foot of snow last weekend, which has made our commute to work miserable. We hope that you are having an easier winter, and that Charlie and Lizzie can make good use of all this snow, and that everyone is in good health.

Daniel and I are already thinking of warmer weather and hope to make it up to Taunton for Easter."

It was there that the words had failed her. Well…not exactly failed her. She knew what she wanted to write next. She and James had talked about it on Friday. It was the next logical step. Only…only she wasn't sure if it was the right one.

What did that even mean anymore? What could that possibly mean anymore?

Maggie sighed, setting down her pen, and removed a note from her bag and re-read it for probably the 100th time.

"Meet me after work Wednesday at L&L Automat. ~P.C."

Nothing more. Nothing Less. Turning over the now-tattered stationery a few times in her hands, she returned it to its place.

Friday. She'd seen James Friday, and now, only six days later, Peggy wanted to talk. Well, that wasn't quite true. Peggy had sent the note sometime on Saturday or Monday, so Maggie received it on Tuesday. Meaning Peggy had intended to send the note before Maggie had gone to see James on Friday, or work had somehow caught wind of her visit to the Barnes household, and now Agent Carter was going to warn her against such imprudent behavior.

I signed the paperwork. I was cleared to see him. I haven't done anything wrong.

Not that it would matter. Right or wrong, she was only allowed to fraternize with James Barnes because the U.S. Government thought it was beneficial for her to do so at present. Any change in that evaluation…well, Maggie shuddered at the thought.

When the Lights Go On Again by @spacecasewriter13

Synopsis:

It is May of 1946, over a year after his fall from the Hydra train and losing his left arm, and James "Bucky" Barnes is struggling to adjust. Working as an analyst at the New York City SSR branch, Bucky tries to put the war and all of its sorted memories behind him. However, try as he might he is plagued by thoughts of Magdalene "Maggie" Ramirez, a Women's Army Corps (WAC) Corporal he met in London and hasn't spoken to since before his fall in January of 1945. Little does he know that Maggie, in her struggle to put the war behind her, has moved to the city and looking for a job with the New York Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard operator. Now, by sheer dumb luck, they are reunited as they both fight come to terms with what they were to one another during the war, and work to figure out how to move forward in a world that was unprepared to deal with the consequences of war in the unsteady peace.

Chapter 40: Time For Things

Synopsis: Now that they’re cleared to fraternize Maggie Ramirez and Bucky Barnes muddle through what all of this might mean for their future while also trying to find time to celebrate the little things.

Excerpt:

"When the lights go on again, all over the world. And the boys are home again, all over the world, and rain or snow is all that may fall from the sky above…" Maggie hummed under her breath, watching people walk past the window of the automat.

The street lights were already flickering on as the sun faded quickly in the late February sky. It wasn't snowing as it had been last Friday, but the snow drifts lingered in thick piles on the sidewalk—the weather was bitterly cold.

She paused, her pen poised over a thin page of stationery paper, and surveyed what she had written.

"Dear Pai,

I'm sorry I haven't written. Things were busy ahead of my friend Sarah's wedding, and I've only now had more than two minutes strung together to sit and write to you, Nelly, and Ingrid. We're well. The weather has been bitterly cold. We got almost a foot of snow last weekend, which has made our commute to work miserable. We hope that you are having an easier winter, and that Charlie and Lizzie can make good use of all this snow, and that everyone is in good health.

Daniel and I are already thinking of warmer weather and hope to make it up to Taunton for Easter."

It was there that the words had failed her. Well…not exactly failed her. She knew what she wanted to write next. She and James had talked about it on Friday. It was the next logical step. Only…only she wasn't sure if it was the right one.

What did that even mean anymore? What could that possibly mean anymore?

Maggie sighed, setting down her pen, and removed a note from her bag and re-read it for probably the 100th time.

"Meet me after work Wednesday at L&L Automat. ~P.C."

Nothing more. Nothing Less. Turning over the now-tattered stationery a few times in her hands, she returned it to its place.

Friday. She'd seen James Friday, and now, only six days later, Peggy wanted to talk. Well, that wasn't quite true. Peggy had sent the note sometime on Saturday or Monday, so Maggie received it on Tuesday. Meaning Peggy had intended to send the note before Maggie had gone to see James on Friday, or work had somehow caught wind of her visit to the Barnes household, and now Agent Carter was going to warn her against such imprudent behavior.

I signed the paperwork. I was cleared to see him. I haven't done anything wrong.

Not that it would matter. Right or wrong, she was only allowed to fraternize with James Barnes because the U.S. Government thought it was beneficial for her to do so at present. Any change in that evaluation…well, Maggie shuddered at the thought.