Cover Letter Tip: It’s Not About You

I saw one of my favorite (okay, my favorite) country singers — Toby Keith — rock the house in Hershey, PA this summer. He sang one of his crowd-pleasing hits, “I Wanna Talk About Me”:
“I wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
Oh my me my
What I think, what I like, what I
know, what I want, what I see
I like talking about you, usually, but occasionally
I wanna talk about me
I wanna talk about me”
That’s the song that most people seem to be listening to when they write their cover letters. I discussed the importance of getting in the hiring manager’s head in a previous blog post, but I still see cover letters that are completely focused on the writer and not the reader.

Busy hiring managers scouring an inbox full of resumes don’t care about “I did this” or “I’m so great because…” — they want to know how the job applicant will help them solve some sort of problem. Maybe that’s expanding a territory, or creating a smooth-running office, or making sure their students reach their potential — your letter should address whatever the goal is for the position.
The best way to do this is to step out of your shoes and put on the hiring manager’s shoes. Think about what the manager wants in a new-hire, how you will be able to deliver, and the ways in which you will help the organization achieve its goals. If you wear the manager’s shoes even briefly, you can begin to see the problem through their eyes and craft a letter that’s focused on the employer, and not you.
By Kim Isaacs and courtesy of ResumePower blog.