Selling Yourself in Your Cover Letter

Ah, advertisers. They try to suck us in within a matter of seconds. Sound familiar? Hiring managers typically spend less than 30 seconds reviewing a cover letter or resume—unless it grabs their attention enough so that they read on. The average television commercial is 30 seconds long. What about print? How long do you spend looking at an ad in a magazine before flipping the page? Or reading a bulletin board along the freeway (assuming you are not stuck in rush-hour traffic)? Those who write ad copy have to get a message across quickly. That means sharp, succinct, to-the-point writing.

Read on to learn how to grab the hiring manager’s attention, so they don’t flip the page…

By Melissa J. Sawyer
Melissa J. Sawyer Senior Associate Director/Operations Manager, Undergraduate Career Development, Pulsifer Career Development Center