{"id":93117,"date":"2015-05-07T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=93117"},"modified":"2015-05-03T21:38:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T02:38:43","slug":"cover-letters-theyre-kind-of-a-big-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=93117","title":{"rendered":"Cover Letters: They\u2019re Kind of a BIG DEAL!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cover Letters: They\u2019re Kind of a BIG DEAL!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

\"NatalieBrowning\"<\/a>Cover Letter. Letter of Interest. I dare you to find a job posting that does not require you to write a letter about your qualifications. Sending in a resume is not enough; the hiring committee wants to see not only that you meet the qualifications for the job but that you also have good communication skills.<\/p>\n

I have been job searching for a while now. I\u2019m no expert. I don\u2019t have hiring managers knocking down my door, or even attempting to find where my door is… \u00a0But I have done some things to try to help with my job applications. I follow INALJ regularly (of course!), I have a \u201cJob Searchin\u2019\u201d board on Pinterest, and I get daily emails from The Muse. However, I always dread writing the cover letter.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, I just want to write how I really feel. For example:<\/p>\n

Dear potential employer,<\/i><\/p>\n

While I know I do not possess the many years of \u201cprogressively responsible experience\u201d that you require, I am a fast learner <\/i>who c<\/i>an perform the job duties listed<\/i> and more.<\/i> I have an ALA accredited Master\u2019s degree in Library Science. Yes, right now I work part-time, but I often work without supervision and perform tasks beyond my actual job description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Did I mention my 4.0 in grad school? I know a lot about reference, a tiny bit of cataloging, and I have some knowledge of managing digital libraries. This is all theoretical you say? Well my library school program required me to interview library professionals, complete a practicum\/ work in a library setting, and even create my own library classification scheme <\/i>(any other UNT grads out there? Professor Enoch\u2019s SLIS 5200 Information Organization- I should have gotten some kind of award for passing that class- where\u2019s my medal?).<\/p>\n

I know I can learn the skills required of this position, and exceed your expectations in my performance. \u00a0I am passionate about library services and making sure that patrons receive the information they request. Please call me for an interview. Or email me to let me know you received my application. Or email to let me know if I\u2019m not being considered. JUST PLEASE TALK TO ME! <\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you for your time and consideration,<\/i><\/p>\n

A recent MLS grad <\/i><\/p>\n

Anyway, that probably sounds desperate. And a little vague- I\u2019m not going to reveal all of my library superpowers out on the open internet, but I think you get the point. And if you were in a library school program similar to mine, I\u2019m sure you feel the same way. If you have trouble writing cover letters as well, here\u2019s some advice that has helped me write my professional cover letters.<\/p>\n

Here are two general career sites that I\u2019ve found helpful (Disclaimer for the Guy-brarians out there, the these links are from Classy Career Girl and GoGirl Finance, but the advice is in no way geared only towards women):<\/p>\n

The 13 Best Kept Cover Letter Secrets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I didn’t follow these directions in my example cover letter above as the first \u201cbest kept cover letter secret\u201d is to send a customized cover letter for each application you submit. This is great advice to follow for real cover letters. My two favorite tips come at the end of the list, and I certainly made use of those in my parody cover letter: Keep it conversational and show your personality off. Brag about yourself and talk about all of your awesome achievements!<\/p>\n

The Four Paragraphs That Make a Killer Cover Letter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A good cover letter should have a solid introduction, explain why you want to work for the company\/library, explain your qualifications, and include follow up details (\u201cPLEASE TALK TO ME\u201d). While you shouldn\u2019t beg for contact like I did or admit in your first line that you do not have a certain qualification listed, it is important to show (remember this from college English courses? \u201cShow not tell\u201d) that you\u2019d be a good fit for the company atmosphere.<\/p>\n

For library specific cover letters, there\u2019s Open Cover Letters.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are so many cover letter examples here. Feel free to tweak some aspects of these letters that are relevant to your applications. INALJ loves Open Covers Letters- so much so that it\u2019s linked at the bottom of the webpage. There\u2019s also an interview with Stephen X. Flynn<\/a>, founder of Open Cover Letters, and at the bottom of the interview there\u2019s a link to other INALJ articles that mention Open Cover Letters. I think it\u2019s becoming apparent that cover letters are kind of a big deal!<\/p>\n

Speaking of other INALJ articles, be sure to check out some of these amazing articles from INALJ volunteers that I\u2019ve found helpful:<\/p>\n

Rebekah Kati\u2019s Tips for Writing Amazing Cover Letters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leigh Milligan\u2019s Open Cover Letters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scottie Kapel\u2019s \u00a0\u00a04 Steps to Impress in Your Cover Letters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

And, shout out to my INALJ DC Senior Editor, Mary-Michelle Moore, with Cover Letters \u2013 Best Practices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lastly, the biggest tool that has helped me in writing cover letters is using Tag Crowd<\/a> to see my word frequency. I\u2019ve found that I have a tendency to repeat myself (did you notice how many times I used the phrase \u201cOpen Cover Letters\u201d in the paragraph above?). This tool helps me remedy this tendency and be more concise in my writing. This was originally proposed as a resume tip here<\/a>. Here\u2019s an example of a tag crowd from one of my recent cover letters (a real one, not my ranting parody example):<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ve found some of these tips helpful. There is so much advice out there that it\u2019s hard to know which pieces to follow. Ultimately, though, make sure your cover letter shows the hiring committee who you are\u2026 in perfect grammatically correct sentences. Happy Writing!<\/p>\n

Natalie Browning<\/strong> is a Library Assistant at a local community college in rural Virginia. She holds a Bachelor\u2019s degree in English from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, and she received her MLS in August 2014 from the University of North Texas as part of the Virginias cohort program. She has worked in both a public and an academic library, and loves answering reference questions (even the challenging ones.) Outside of the library, she loves reading mystery and YA novels, quoting How I Met Your Mother and Gilmore Girls episodes, running (ha! maybe walking) colorful 5ks, and hanging out with her family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover Letters: They\u2019re Kind of a BIG DEAL! by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC Cover Letter. Letter of Interest. I dare you to find a job posting that does not require you to write a letter about your qualifications. Sending in a resume is not enough; the hiring committee wants to see not only…<\/p>\n

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