{"id":6831,"date":"2018-08-13T12:56:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T18:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/?p=6831"},"modified":"2018-08-23T16:20:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T22:20:48","slug":"the-cover-letter-formula-that-skyrocketed-my-interviews-from-0-to-55","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/the-cover-letter-formula-that-skyrocketed-my-interviews-from-0-to-55\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cover Letter Formula That Skyrocketed My Interviews From 0% to 55%"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cover Letter Formula That Skyrocketed My Interviews From 0% to 55%
\nRe-posted from The Muse<\/a> \/\/ By Lisa Siva<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note from the Career Center: Remember, this is just one way to approach a cover letter! The most important thing is that you’re expressing interest and fit in the position, and that you tailor the letter for each and every position that you apply to.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I first moved to New York, I was a\u00a0cover letter\u00a0machine<\/em><\/a>. I wrote to every sir or madam with a job opening. I expressed my interest in positions for which I had none. I waxed rhapsodic about companies I\u2019d never heard of. My response rate? A whopping zero percent.<\/p>\n

Around the 10th unanswered application, the negative chatter started to kick in\u2014and it sounded suspiciously like Meryl Streep in\u00a0The Devil Wears Prada<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Go home, Lisa<\/em>, said the small, icy voice in my head.\u00a0You\u2019re just not cut out for this. Also, you have no sense of style<\/em>. At my lowest point, while surfing job boards at Starbucks, I actually locked myself in the bathroom and cried.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the good thing about rock bottom: Nothing is off-limits. I gave myself permission to try any and all tactics in the cover letter playbook, from throwing in a Beyonc\u00e9 GIF to pretending the hiring manager and I were good friends. Finally, 103 cover letters later, I landed on one that worked.<\/p>\n

Within an hour, I had an interview request waiting in my inbox\u2014and then another, and another. Soon, my response rate skyrocketed from 0 to 55%, and I was scheduling interviews with\u00a0Vogue<\/em>,\u00a0InStyle<\/em>, and\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0into my calendar. In other words, this letter\u2014fueled by an old copywriting framework called problem-agitate-solve\u2014is powerful stuff.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how this three-part formula (a.k.a., my secret sauce) works…<\/p>\n

1. Identify the Problem<\/h2>\n

55% of hiring managers don\u2019t read cover letters<\/a>. Why should they, when we write like modern-day Oliver Twists, begging them to please, sir, give us the job?<\/p>\n

News flash: The hiring manager isn\u2019t here to make your dreams come true. They\u2019re in it for\u00a0themselves<\/em>. OK, that\u2019s harsh, but the truth is that they\u2019re looking for an awesome candidate to come in and do a kick-ass job that\u2019ll help them run their department (or company) more efficiently and successfully. That\u2019s why, when a friend tipped me off to an opening at the fashion magazine I\u2019d read religiously since middle school, I resisted the urge to gush\u2014and opened with this one-liner instead:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a veteran of Details.com and Vs. Magazine, I\u2019ve seen how crazy fashion month can get.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This sentence, though just 16 words long, tells the hiring manager two things: I understand the problem you\u2019re trying to solve, and I\u2019ve been there. The trick? Zeroing in on the right problem\u2014because it\u2019s almost never spelled out for you in the job description.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re writing your own cover letter, start with the list of responsibilities and ask yourself,\u00a0Why? Why is this task important to this company?<\/em>\u00a0Keep digging until you can\u2019t go any further. The true need is usually the one at the end of a chain of whys.<\/p>\n

2. Agitate the Problem<\/h2>\n

Now that you\u2019ve identified the problem, here comes the fun part.<\/p>\n

Because no hiring manager has ever said, \u201cI just\u00a0love<\/em>\u00a0paying employees thousands of dollars every year!\u201d your challenge now is to remind him or her how painful the problem is, and by default, how valuable a solution could be. Don\u2019t be afraid to twist the knife a bit, like I did in my second paragraph:<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for someone who can not only keep up, but also deliver that SEO-friendly, 75-page street style slideshow five minutes ago\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Notice I didn\u2019t say, \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for someone who can turn around projects quickly\u2026\u201d I was specific, and I made sure to use an example I knew would resonate with a stressed-out web editor.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re new to the industry or the role? Just ask. This is\u00a0exactly<\/em>\u00a0what\u00a0informational interviews are for<\/a>. Find someone on the team you\u2019re applying to, let your interviewer do most of the talking, and pay close attention to\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0he or she discusses the company\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n

In conversation, we instinctively trust people who\u00a0mirror our body language<\/a>. On your application, you won\u2019t get the chance\u2014but you can do the next best thing: Pick up on your interviewer\u2019s subtle cues and phrases and then mirror their speaking language in your cover letter.<\/p>\n

3. Offer the Solution<\/h2>\n

By this point, you\u2019ve got the hiring manager squirming at the table. Now, deliver the solution. Hint: It\u2019s you.<\/p>\n

Think about what makes you incredibly qualified to solve the problem. In my case, I knew I wanted the hiring manager to think of me and say, \u201cLisa? Oh, she\u2019s the one who knows our backend systems and seems like a real go-getter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I made it happen:<\/p>\n

\u201cSince TeamSite and I are old friends, I\u2019ll be able to hit the ground running\u2014and whether it\u2019s churning out a dozen blog posts per day or refreshing the homepage with breaking fashion month news, I\u2019ve done it all. Most importantly, you\u2019ll never hear me say, \u201cThat\u2019s not my job!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Close With Confidence<\/h2>\n

After all that work, you aren\u2019t going to dash off a breathless \u201cHope to hear from you soon!\u201d right? Instead, seal the deal with a sentence that displays confidence, competence, and a genuine interest in the company:<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d love to learn more about your production needs and how I can help!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Boom. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Like its contrarian sibling,\u00a0the pain letter<\/a>, this cover letter takes some guts to send. I get it\u2014the first time I fired it off, I was so terrified my boyfriend had to hit the enter button for me.<\/p>\n

Look at it this way, though: Everyone else will compete on how many buzzwords they can stuff in a sentence. They\u2019ll swear up and down how passionate they are and how hard they work. But you? With this cover letter formula, you\u2019ve already proved it.<\/p>\n

You, my friend, play a different game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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