Cover Letter - A Short Version of "Tell Me About Yourself"

Writing a cover letter is not a must for all jobs, and even not all employers require a cover letter. But if you submit one when it is not required, it could be your secret weapon.

Submitting a cover letter that is not required increases the chances to landing an interview than those who didn’t write one. A cover letter is a short introduction about yourself.

Prelude of “Tell me about yourself”

Think of cover letter as a short overview of “tell me about yourself”.

The message you want to deliver is that you are interested in coming to an interview and willing to introduce yourself to answer the “Tell me about yourself” question. As the cover letter has limited space, you need to write it as brief as possible to entice their interest in interviewing you.

Compared to those who only submit their resume, attaching a cover letter leaves a better impression to the employers that:

1. you are humble
2. you are respectful
3. you are willing to meet

More than your Resume

Unless you are really really something - talented & highly skilled & graduated with high GPA, resume is enough to show your credentials. But applying with only a resume seems arrogant. It sounds like this:

"Hey, here's my resume. I don't care if you hire me or not. Just read it."

But arrogance is not done on purpose I believe (very firm), people just don't know they can also write a thing called: cover letter.

Even if you graduated with high GPA, you should show others that you are more than the scores. There's no way you can show in your resume, you can only show in your cover letter.

Resume is static, and hard to change; while Cover letter is flexible, and free to express who you are.

The only message you are delivering in cover letter is

Why interested in this position?

To answer the Whys, using the words smart to

1. match the keywords from the job description
2. show your strength & character
3. use clear and simple words or plain language.

Willing to Connect

Moreover, attaching a cover letter shows that you are trying to bridge a meaningful relationship with the company you are interested in working for. Put another way, it proves that you are eager to have a pre-conversation with those going-to interview you.

Most choose not to attach a cover letter because it takes time to write it. It is true. More, the “eager to have a pre-conversation” seems one-sided, but I guarantee you:

1. if you write it, employers will read it
2. if you keep writing it, it will become a practice
3. you can win a “underdog victory"

Underdog Victory

Say you are really interested in working for this company, and you think that compared to other candidates, you may have lesser advantages (could be education, professional working experience, volunteer, number of years required for the position you are applying for), and the job description only mentions to submit your resume.

In this case, you must write a cover letter to get a higher chance for an interview.

Once you get the interview, the real battle has begun. You can finally show them you are worth more than just what’s on your resume.

Of course, this kind of victory is not “every-time success”. The only way to increase the odds of success is to keep trying, be persistent and patient!

One day you will be there!