Cover Letter Advice: Why Generic Applications Often Fail
Customers often ask me if I could help them write a ‘one size fits all’ cover letter. I say “I can, but I won’t”. The reason for this is, they don’t work, for several reasons:
- Employers like to feel you really want to work for them, not anyone. Letters must certainly be addressed to them individually. But that is just the first thing.
- All advertisements list the job description and often the type of candidate they are looking for. If you want the job, you must match your capabilities, experience and even your personality to the job description.
- A letter for an administration position is going to have different content than a letter for a customer service position, or in some cases, it might need content for both.
- Your letter needs to demonstrate that you have taken the time to research the employer, that your interest is real, and
- Generic cover letters are boring, tell the employer nothing about you or your interest in their company, and will be immediately suspected of being AI generated.
If you don’t individualise your letter, you may as well not do one at all. And don’t be boring. Let your personality match the nature of the work. More on that later.
Now, this is even more important for letters addressing government selection criteria. That is the subject of another blog.
