Work On It Wednesday: Why Writing the Cover Letter is the Hardest Part

By Emily Young MA ‘16

I’ve written my fair share of cover letters and yet they can still be challenging.  Why?  Sure you stressed over making your resume look great to highlight your experiences, but when it comes to selling your self and creating a short narrative all you’ve got on your internal monologue is: “Ummmm, I really need this job—I’d actually be pretty great at it.  I’ve already spent forever on this online application and I just really need to get this done.”  

 There are two problems with this scenario:

1) The fact that you feel like you really need this job, as in they need to hire you ASAP, really hinders your ability to write.  You over analyzing every word you write and ultimately feel like your cover letter looks generic when ultimately you really should be hired and have a lot to say.

2) Trying to do the online application and the cover letter all in one sitting is just asking for frustration and writers block.  I like to write a cover letter before I start the online application process or if there is an option to return to the post, I will take a couple days to write the letter.  I think it’s important to take the frustrations of applying online out of your cover letter writing mode.

The Fix:

You need to replace pressure with passion.  If you write from a point of passion I assure you that your cover letter will be so much better.  The tip for this from Muse blogger Alexandra Franzen is to write as if you have already gotten the job and are responding to your soon-to-be boss as to what inspired you to apply for the position.  

Alexandra’s example may be a little over the top, but you get the point.  After reading her blog I finally wrote that one cover letter I put off for almost a week. 

Moral of the Story: 

Cover Letters are hard, but if you write from a point of passion, they’ll become a lot easier.

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