Surefire Cover-Letter Technique: Incorporating Stories
Learn stories job-seekers can tell in cover letters, including how to write them, and free examples of each type. Excerpted from the book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get a Job and Propel Your Career.
Why would you went to employ storytelling in cover letters -- or indeed in any part of your job search?
Cover letters offer job-seekers great latitude to tell stories because letters are quite compatible with the narrative form. Learn more in our article, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers.
In a cover letter, you can engage the employer, make an emotional connection, show results, and become instantly memorable by including at least one paragraph in the form of a powerful story. Not all employers read cover letters (about a third don't), but those who read, do truly read the letter, unlike the resume, which they almost always skim.
This article details the types of stories you can tell in a cover letter and provides examples of how to tell them. The article is excerpted from the book Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get a Job and Propel Your Career, releasing April 1, 2009.
Types of stories you can tell in a cover letter:
- Stories of early interest in your career path and determination to reach your career goal.
- Stories that depict your motivation, enthusiasm, and passion for the job you seek.
- Stories describing specific projects you've led or collaborated on, including results.
- Stories detailing problems you've solved for your employers.
- Stories describing other accomplishments and successes.
- Stories that reveal your personality.
- Stories describing long-term interest in, knowledge of, and admiration for the organization you're targeting.
- Stories that describe how well you fit in with the organization's culture, values, and mission.
- Stories -- for new graduates -- of how your education has prepared you for the targeted job.
- Stories that touch the heartstrings.
- Stories to back up your claims about yourself.
- Stories that tell how you are uniquely qualified for the targeted job.
- Stories that capitalize on networking contacts.
- Stories to explain unusual or potentially negative situations.
- Stories to explain a career change.
- Future stories that address employer needs and challenges and tell how you would address those issues.
Purchase your copy today! Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get a Job and Propel Your Career
Quintessential Cover Letter Resources: Go to Cover Letter Resources for Job-Seekers, where you will find a collection of the best cover letter tools and resources for job-seekers, including articles, tutorials, samples, and more.
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