Congratulations. You’ve mustered up the energy to write a badass resume and spend your Saturday applying for new jobs. Maybe you just saw Kylie Jenner’s Forbes cover (that lucky betch) and realized that in order to get out of the career slump you’re currently residing in, you’ll have to find a new place to work. As you’re trying to get your ducks in a row and take some job application sites by f*cking storm, you are probably wondering: are cover letters still a thing?!
Here’s the deal: It’s not like every hiring manager and company is going to force you to send in a cover letter. In fact, you can probably press send on that job application without one. BUT, if you write one well (i.e. no typos and sh*t), you will literally break the internet job application site you are applying to. And I want that for you, I really do.
If your job involves any sort of writing, (like, more than emails), you must send in a cover letter. Because you know, you need to show those b*tches on the other end that you can like, write. And I desperately want you to ditch Susan from HR, so we’ve included an all-inclusive guide to cover letters. Now you can get off to your fifth mimosa SoulCycle instead of spending your Saturday bored AF doing work. You’re welcome, babe. If you want more career advice (and you’ve literally been living under a rock), check out our latest book, When’s Happy Hour?
How To Write A Cover Letter
When I first sat down to write a cover letter, TBH, I was completely stuck. Cover letters are odd because you don’t want to simply restate your resume, but also don’t have much else to share. I mean I could share that I’m REALLY good at chugging a Veuve-filled Chambong or may have won my Bachelor Fantasy league, but I’m not really sure a hiring manager would care about that.
Here is an easy-to-follow (even if your drunk off last night’s tequila shots) cover letter format:
Header: Personally, I love a good header tucked in the corner of a cover letter so someone knows how to contact me. If you want to be fancy, consider embedding a link to your LinkedIn. Whoever is reading this is probably on their phone or computer, and will click right through it and will scroll through all of your amazing accomplishments that way. Overall, your header should include your name, phone number, email and LinkedIn.
Intro Statement: First of all, always address a cover letter to SOMEONE. Don’t just say, “to whom it may concern”. There’s a little thing called the internet (you may have heard of it) that allows you to find out a recruiter or hiring manager’s name. In your intro statement, assume that you are in a stack on someone’s desk, so you should state the job you are applying to and a bit about yourself. This could be the fact that your a self-starter, proactive, hard worker, love vodka…whatever!
A Sentence On Your Accomplishments: Without *just* restating your ahhhmazing resume, add a sentence or two on what you’ve done that is awesome AF. Maybe your background includes creating processes, coming up with strategies, growing revenue, business terms blah blah blah. The more specific you can get here, the better! You can say something like, “my background varies from [insert accomplishment here] to [insert accomplishment here].
A Sentence On Why You Would Be Perfect For The Job: This is the moment where your milkshake cover letter brings all the boys companies to your figurative yard. State your value proposition of why this company should literally (not literally) suck your d*ck to have you working there. Ask yourself, what problems can I solve? What value will I bring? Write this out and trust me, it will work.
Sign-Off: Sayonara b*ches, state a little “very best” or “sincerely” and send that cover letter off.
TBH, I’m pretty disappointed people don’t deliver their cover letter in person anymore, or else I would suggest pulling a full-on Elle Woods and spraying your letter with perfume.
Now go get back to applying for that job so you can get tf away from HR Susan. Mostly, I want you to be able to have a drink or three tonight. Better opportunities are right around the corner and with these cover letter tips, see you there!
Images: Giphy (1); Ella Jardim/Unsplash
