I attended the Rose Seminar last Thursday “The Secret Behind the Cover Letter.” Although I have written cover letters in the past, the seminar definitely added to my understanding and changed my mind on certain things when it comes to writing cover letters. The seminar was presented by Dr. Cynthia Hill and GRF Shiv, and they gave us some helpful tips and insight into writing an effective cover letter.
One of the biggest things I took away from the Rose Seminar was the manner in which Dr. Hill and Shiv suggested we approach submitting a cover letter. Dr. Hill likened the process to speed-dating, in that you have a limited amount of time to make a good impression. She said that in the time and energy a potential employer allocates to looking through potential hires is such that by tailoring your cover letter and resume effectively will convey your strengths and demonstrate how you are the best fit for the position, the employer will want to “swipe right” (although she added that Tinder was perhaps not the best analogy). Having a “master resume”, one with all of your achievements and qualifications, is important so that you have all of your information down in one place.
When it comes time to present your resume, you want it to be as concise as possible. Thus, taking note on what is useful for your particular application and tailor the resume (and by extension, the cover letter) you submit to present your best self. The things on your “master resume” that are most applicable should be the ones you put down, and take away the rest. Say, for example, that you are applying for a job that requires knowledge of a certain computer language. You don’t know that language, but you do speak 3 languages. Dr. Hill said that you could spin this so that even though you may not have a certain qualification, your ability to speak 3 languages attests for your ability to learn things and you can say that you can learn fast and on the job. In conclusion, I found the seminar to be very interesting and informative, and look forward to attending more in the future.
The comparison Dr. Hill made was very interesting. I remember hearing that employers only look at your resume for anywhere from 5 to 15 to at most maybe 30 seconds but that is stretching in. Its no different than say Tinder where we naturally just swipe left or right in a matter of seconds or like Dr. Hill’s example speed dating.