Your cover letter

This post will be more short and sweet because, well, your cover letter must be short and sweet. Anyone with say five or fewer years of full time (not counting graduate work) experience shouldn't be thinking of submitting a letter longer than one page. Those with several positions on their resume, a couple of institutions you've worked at, and some amazing experiences might get away with a page and a half. No one really (except maybe a VPSA or applicants for Director positions that are beyond the "we're calling this a Director but it's really an entry level position") should have more than a page and a half or so of a cover letter.

Your cover letter should give me an entry point, a peek into who you are, a little more information than what is on your resume. Do not use it to re-list things on your resume. Don't waste too many lines telling me how you found my position posting and why you found yourself compelled to apply for this particular job. Don't write fluff to fill in the space. Do use concise language, strong sentences and tell me what you will and can do, not what you might our could do if you worked for me.

Three paragraphs will do it:

1) If you address the letter to the "Career Counselor Search Committee" then you don't need to tell me again you are applying for the Career Counselor position. If you feel the need to remind me what position you are applying for, the make it short. "Please accept my materials as application for the XXX position." Don't bother telling me where you found it posted- chances are I've posted it in lots of places, and where you found it won't matter to your candidacy. Some employers do collect that information for their search records- if they ask you then tell them but don't waste the space in your cover letter. Your first paragraph should be for to maybe five lines of text at most- give me a strong sentence or two about who you are, what you believe about the work you do, and why once I read your resume I will think you are the best candidate out there.

2) This paragraph is your chance to summarize how you meet the qualifications listed for the position. Do not summarize your resume, recent positions etc. Tell me your philosophy and approach, tell me what skills and strengths you offer, tell me how you fit what we are looking for. That's it- ten to twelve or so lines of text should get the job done.

3) Closing- summarize again for me why you are amazing, what you will bring that is unique or original or just special. Do NOT invite me to interview you, do NOT say anything that sounds desperate nor overconfident. Do let me know if you are a candidate at a placement conference, and tell me if you are not so that I don't have to write you and ask.

This is the place to neatly inform us of any strange things from your resume- you took a year off to travel and do service work in Africa, you left the field to take care of an aging parent who recently passed away, you worked several years in a corporate setting before returning to your true passion which is educating and supporting students- you get the idea. One sentence, explain it, and be done.

The best cover letters do indeed use bullets, summaries, less text, plenty of white space, 11-12 point font, good margins, and show me you can highlight your strengths without falsely pumping yourself up. Be solid, be confident, be strong and you'll be a great candidate.

The Employer