Everyone knows that you must submit a great cover letter with your job application. But maybe you don't know that a great cover letter should not be written in the form "profe.". You don't even need to use Microsoft's "Clippy."A non-traditional cover letter can take the form of a list of quotes, a table or chart or an infographic. You don't even need to be a letter at all, if you succeed in getting the attention of a hiring manager.
Here are five examples of non-traditional cover letters (and some non-letters that landed people interviews):
1. the chart of accounts
Try the job ad requirements on the left and match them with your qualifications on the right, as in this example, which landed a recent grad a location in a major metropolitan newspaper.
You don't have to crack jokes (hereâ € ™ s an example of a more formal approach), but you should really make an effort to read the job ad and think about how your skills to make you a match.
Hiring managers say they like this format because it saves them time. If you've done the job for them shows how your skills to make you a fit, you've saved from having to untwist it.
2. "meet Charlie"
Charlie Drozdyk, author of "jobs that don't suck," wrote a cover letter, called "getting to know Charlie" where, instead of talking about work experience, said friends and family members, saying somewhat weird things about his personality. (Even girlfriend first Reported as saying, "it's cute, but I can't imagine dating him.")
Since the application had Drozdyk for entry-level copywriting work, where the good writing and a sense of humor is important, managed to get four interviews with this letter.
3. E-Stalking your target
In some industries (like advertising), people Google themselves all the time. So Alec Brownstein decided to reverse this to his advantage and buy ads that will appear next to the names of creative directors at top New York ad agencies.
For a total cost of $ 6 (ads for such an unpopular keywords are cheap!), Brownstein took a job.
4. Eating dog food company
In business, "eating your dog food" refers to a company that makes employees to use its own products (you know Apple employees cannot get away with using Android phones).
In your job search, eating dog food you dream of your company can make a killer applicant. Hanna Phan decided that he wanted to work for SlideRocket, a company that makes the presentation software (such as Powerpoint). Instead of a traditional application submission, did the cover letter to a presentation using SlideRocketâ € ™ s software. Explained tweeted to the CEO, and heard from him an hour later.
5. the imitation of dog food company
Chipotle does not make a product that you can use in your job search (well, unless you get hungry). But Bianca Cadloni wanted to work there. She built a website called "Will work for guacamole" that mimicked the look of a napkin Chipotle. The spot-on Visual branding, coupled with an aggressive Twitter campaign, got noticed.
While she does not land the job with the Chipotle, offered a practical marketing in a different service, which eventually turned into a job that pays. ("Thanks for recruiting me, not Chipotle," he wrote.)
Finally, if you decide to use social media as your cover letter, write a non-traditional letter or try any other trick is a judgment call. A start might be more receptive to get funny items in the mail, or displayed in their Office, in a gorilla costume? an established magazine may prefer a more traditional approach. As you do your research about the company, we will equip them to the right.
And remember: Wwhile seems like these non-traditional cover letters are everywhere, that is only because nobody ever writes a news story about how a simple, well-written letter scored one a job.
(Rachel Kaufman is a contributor brazen Careerist is the author of "cover letters for creative people," an e-Book for nailing the perfect cover letter. get your copy here. Brazen Careerist is a lifestyle and career blog for the ambitious young professionals).