Less is More, more or less!

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795 Words on the Importance of Brevity in a Cover Letter

If you're looking for a job, here’s a long post on the importance of BREVITY, something I preach, but too often don't practice.

Are your cover letters waaaaaaay too long. Mine still are sometimes. I feel like I've got to tell them everything. I want them to know I want the job, I'm qualified, did I tell you I really want the job, here's what I've done every place I've ever worked, here's what I had for breakfast, do you know I play softball, well, you get the idea.

I once ran the Creative Department of a large sales promotion agency. I had 27 art directors and copywriters working for me. 27 creatives! Each with their own assignments, issues, days off, etc. It was a freakin' zoo and I needed an Administrative Assistant so I could concentrate on the creative output of the agency, not the intricate details of each of my direct reports.

This was back before the Internet (yes, it hasn't ALWAYS been here), and I received 70-75 resumes accompanied by 2 to 3-page letters detailing why that person was the ideal choice for my Administrative Assistant.

Know who I hired? Of course you don't, you weren't there, stupid! I hired a woman who penned a one sentence cover letter. All it said was: "I can make your life a whole lot easier."

She was right and she got hired.

One more story worth repeating. Well, I think so anyway.

I apologize to my fellow Jewish friends for using a story about Christ. But I couldn't come up with anything that worked for me from the lives of Moses, Judah Macabee or Henny Youngman (Take my parable, please!).

The incident happened in the early 1800's (I remember it well) and it concerned a young student and budding poet, Alfred Tennyson (who eventually become, Alfred, Lord Tennyson). Young Al was taking an exam in college for a course on religion.

The question the proctor asked was quite complex and very nuanced, The proctor handed out small notebooks to the class so everyone could take the exam. They would have six hours to answer the question "How did Christ turn water into wine?"

Everyone began feverishly answering the question, everyone except for Alfred Tennyson. He just sat there and thought, He didn't move a pencil.

Hours went by and some students asked for a second notebook so they could continue to answer the question. Still, Tennyson didn't budge. He just sat there.

Three, four and five hours passed and all the students except Tennyson were getting writer's cramps from so much writing. And still Tennyson just sat there, not writing, just thinking.

The proctor grew concerned that one of his best students would surely fail the exam because he couldn't come up with a plausible answer. "One minute to go," the proctor announced as students hurried to finish their answers.

Finally, Tennyson picked up his pencil and scribbled one sentence as his answer to the question: “How did Christ turn water into wine?"

When the grades were handed out a week later, some students got B's, C's, and D's. Only one student got an A. It was Alfred Tennyson. His one sentence reply to the question: How did Christ turn water into wine?

"The water met its Master, and blushed."

Nuff said?