That Dress Is Too Fancy

Hey!

Did you ever write a cover letter??? (confused on why I titled about a dress? keep reading you’ll see)

I wrote a cover letter over break! It was pretty difficult but I hope it ends up working out. Writing a Cover letter is an awesome way to show an employer just how sincere you are. Seriously, anyone can apply to a job; submitting a resume doesn’t take too much extra effort. Actually sitting down and creating a cover letter for one company, related to just one job post, to one person, now that takes dedication. Hopefully enough to earn an interview and get that job!

I always felt that cover letters were a lot of effort but I didn’t realize exactly how much effort until I finally wrote one. Writing a good cover is a lot like shopping for a good dress. Ready for the comparison?

I’ll make the parallel with what I am used to first. A resume is a lot like a suit. When buying a suit you know that you plan on wearing that suit to just about every formal occasion, interviews, weddings, presentations, etc. When writing your resume you know that you plan on shuffling that out for just about any company. A suit is very versatile and good for almost any occasion just like your resume for a job post. Realistically when wearing a suit multiple times once in a while something really subtle changes like maybe a tie based on the occasion. That’s the same idea with a resume. Ideally something really subtle changes for the job post; most likely the objective statement on your resume changes so that it is geared to a specific job or company.

Now a dress: Most people when they buy their dress the amount of effort put into the shopping is borderline ridiculous. When people buy a dress they tend to buy the dress for one event, that happens once in their lives, and never really plan on reusing the dress. That’s the type of effort that needs to be put into cover letters. For the most part, cover letters for similar jobs (like dresses for similar occasions) have lots of similarities but there are key things about them that really make them different and not too reusable.

If you want more information on cover letters and how to write one check out our website: http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/CDC/coverletters.html that link will get you started. If you’re not up for reading or want more there is an event coming up :Top 5 Cover Letter Tips, Monday, 12/9/2013, 5:00 PM-5:30 PM, Salisbury Laboratories, 402

Then once you make your cover letter, just like a resume, bring it to the career development center (CDC) and get it critiqued!!

So yeah, the next time you go to turn in a job application, think about how much better it would look with a fancy dress!

http://blog.stylevise.com/2010/03/15/donate-a-dress-and-get-something-new-at-saks-fifth-avenue/

For other advices visit my homies’ blogs!

Thanks for stoppin’ by
-Sam