- Career Development
A cover letter is the ultimate advertisement for your experience and skills. It’s the rom-com movie-trailer of why you and this job were meant to be together. It’s the teaser that gets them excited to see your resume and meet you in person.
A cover letter is NOT your resume. If you’re describing the day-to-day tasks you’ve been performing, you’re writing a resume not a cover letter, and if you’re listing your education and skills with no context, you’re wasting an opportunity to connect you to this job specifically.
A cover letter is brief and to the point. Use this document to clearly connect the dots on why you, your experience, and your skills are a perfect match for what they’re looking for in this role. The goal of the cover letter is simply to get them excited to see your resume. Half a page will do the trick – less is definitely more!
A cover letter is NOT a personal biography covering your life story and all the obstacles you’ve overcome. It is professional, not emotional; it is personable, not personal. As trans and nonbinary people, our personal stories often demonstrate our resilience, our resolve, and our strengths – but it’s better to represent those qualities on your resume or in an interview in the context of your work skills and experience.