Do You Sound Like Grandpa Simpson in Your Cover Letter?

Grandpa Simpson from the hit cartoon comedy The Simpsons is one of my favourite characters. The flaw in his character is that he cannot seem to give a straight answer to the simplest question and the result is that he always manages to alienate those around him.

Writing a lot in your cover letter can be as bad, or worse, as not writing enough. I won't bore you with an example because I want you to read to the end. But just imagine a novel like document filled with paragraph after paragraph of superfluous  information about the work experience of a complete stranger. Now, insert that document amongst sixty other job applications and you have the proverbial literacy sleeping pill.

It is ironic that the incredible effort that the job candidate exerted writing the extra long cover letter actually results in alienating the reader. It is not because the reader does not recognize the additional effort, it is that the reader has a different perspective. You see the reader, aka the employer, is looking for a very specific type of person.

Imagine that you are recruiting in the insect world for the position of ‘army ant'. Your four applications include; a bull ant, a white ant, an army ant and a fire ant. Whilst the other types of ants may be larger, stronger or more aggressive the ‘army ant' stands out as the most suitable. Why? Because you were looking for a very specific type of ant.

Ok, that wasn't the most elegant example ever. But I hope that you understand the point. Responding directly to the criteria in the job application is of utmost importance. If you do not address the key points in the job advertisement you have not written enough and if you are adding additional unrelated information you are rambling.

I agree that there is a fine line between too little and too much. Finding the right balance can be tricky but here is a little technique that might help you to self assess the quality (and quantity) of your cover letter content.

· Write down each key criteria in the job application
· For each criteria, find the paragraph in your cover letter that addresses that criteria and ensure that it is relevant, concise and making a strong argument for your case.
· Repeat step two for each key criteria until all key points are covered.

By the way, this is also an easy way to write a cover letter. Just group all your criteria responses, add an introduction and a conclusion and…bammo – instant cover letter!

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Having the right Cover Letter Structure is half of the battle.

If you would like to see an example, find a Network Administrator Cover Letter here.