Writing cover letters is sucking away my will to live. Of course, if something comes of them, I’ll be thrilled. But I’m rather pessimistic about that happening, which makes the act of crafting these letters (and the time it takes me) even more irksome. I’m not sure if I’m writing too much, or too little, or repeating too much of my resume, or being dull, or flippant, or whether I’m making it clear that my experience and skills are a perfect match for the job posting.
April 5, 2008
April 5, 2008 at 5:14 am
Uggh. I’m not looking forward to cover letters when I can finally look for a real job. *Please! Pick me!!! I’m so great!!!* Difficult to do when you feel like you have no useful job skills, few publications, and no book deal to back up your claim of greatness.
Give me a holler if you want another set of eyes on them. I’ll be in Orlando from Sun-Tues. afternoon, but then back for a while.
April 5, 2008 at 5:34 am
Thanks JG. I may take you up on that. The first letter I sent out, I sent without anyone reading it except me (though I read it 500 times). Today, I’ve been emailing my letters to KV. She gave me excellent feedback on the first one I sent. So much so that I decided not to apply for the job after all. (It was a PR job, and some of her suggestions were based on what she sees the PR folks in her office doing. This reminded me that I’m really not interested in dealing with the public any more than necessary.)
April 13, 2008 at 1:04 am
I know the feeling. Amy and I just did a set for a late job opening, and nothing kills me more than doing that. I feel like such a phony selling myself in that way, even though I’m being perfectly honest in the work. It’s why I hate teaching business writing–I feel like I’m teaching my students to be deceitful, and that offends my soul. I’m not doing that, not really, but it’s still icky.