Cover Letters - Necessary or Not? - April 16, 2024

We missed you! 🤗 We’re back with yet another email of our best tips, tricks and insights, and this time we’re talking about cover letters — aka the bane of every jobseeker’s existence. internal screaming

In today’s edition:

• Do cover letters still have a place in 2024? →

• Jobseekers rely too much on AI →

• A cover letter template up for grabs →

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Is a cover letter necessary in 2024?

Let’s face it: writing a cover letter is boring! 😅

You’re essentially taking out information from your résumé and expanding on it. And once you’ve spent hours trying to impress a hiring manager through your cover letter, you’re left wondering if they even bother to read it.

We’re here to tell you that cover letters are as necessary as they always were. In fact, in such a crowded market, it’s your one chance to impress the hiring manager and secure the interview. ✅

🤝 TOGETHER WITH NEURODOSES

Don't let this hinder your career success…

Do you have ambitious career goals but struggle to stay focused or clear-minded enough to make them happen (or simply get through the day without your productivity spiraling into chaos)?

Even with a killer resume, top-notch work ethic, and solid productivity tactics, sometimes the biggest roadblock to career success? Your brain 🧠.

Imagine sitting down at your desk in the morning, you feel ready to tackle the work day, but your brain has a completely different plan for you.

You find yourself:

❌ Scatterbrained, foggy, and feeling “off”

❌ Overwhelmed by all of the tasks on your to-do list

❌ Mentally tired and sluggish (despite copious amounts of caffeine)

❌ Inattentive and lost in a forever daydream

❌ Burnt out, unmotivated, and stuck in a vicious cycle of procrastination!

This is when your brain shifts from being an asset to a liability.

No matter how many hours you grind (or how many motivational quotes are plastered on your desktop monitor), your brain's health and cognitive strength reign supreme for your success!

When your brain isn't firing on all cylinders, everything else takes a hit.

Our friend Onjae, a holistic brain health coach, created a handy guide – The Top 5 Brain-Boosting Supplements to Get Sh*t Done – to help you naturally regain your focus and clear brain fog (within minutes) so you can win the day!

His guide is a must if you want to:

✅ Experience all-day energy without the jitteriness or crashes of caffeine

✅ Enhance your capacity to learn new things quickly and effortlessly (so you can get ahead of the game)

✅ Tap into a calm focus at any hour of the day, especially when it matters most (like a looming deadline)

✅ Boost your motivation and enthusiasm for your work, kick procrastination to the curb, and give it your all

✅ Increase your work output so you can have more time and energy to enjoy the other pleasures of life — mastering that work-life balance like a pro!

DAILY INSPO

TODAY’S ADVICE

Thank us later for these cover letter hacks!

Writing a cover letter can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Not when you know how to go about things.

Your mission here (besides introducing yourself to an employer, showing your interest in the position and their company, and proving how and why you’re a good fit) is to do what every other applicant is probably not doing: being unique.

And these five little hacks will help you do just that:

👋 Grab the hiring manager’s attention from the get-go. Don’t start your first sentence with “My name is…”. Instead, find a way to tailor your opening to the job you’re applying for and the skills and traits the employer is looking for.

🛠️ Show (don’t tell) hiring managers your skills. Speaking of skills, don’t just mention you have “excellent communication skills”. Instead, provide evidence with specific examples and scenarios where you used those skills.

📰 Discuss a news story about the company. This helps you reinforce your knowledge of the company and makes you stand out from the competition. But make sure to use positive media coverage, like the company’s charity work.

💬 Repeat a phase from the job ad. If the company is looking for someone who’s a “tech-loving wordsmith”, find a way to work that three-word phrase into your letter. Look for other keywords you can incorporate as well — but be strategic.

✔️ Proofread a printed copy. Prolonged use of screens can cause eye strain, so printing a copy of your cover letter will help you spot any typos or grammar errors you might’ve missed. Also ask a friend to go over it too.

WEEKLY GIFT

Steal this cover letter template… We dare you!

We double-dare you! Okay, you got us: we want you to steal this Cover Letter Template, because we want you to land that job you’re applying for. Featuring a clean, simplistic design, it comes complete with tips and instructions to help you make your cover letter shine!

Stay tuned for more awesome gifts.

WHAT WE’RE READING

101 Best Cover Letters by Jay Block and Michael Betrus

You know what helps when writing a cover letter? Reviewing examples of cover letters by professionals with similar experience as you. And this collection of 101 letters is bound to feature something that will inspire you!

BREAK ROOM

Catch you on the next one :)

Did you find today’s newsletter useful?

🧡🧡🧡 Yes, loved it!
💩 Nope, could have been better…

Created with care by Chris Leitch, Joanna Zambas, and Electra Michaelidou.