—Leonardo da Vinci
I love cover letters. Yes, they’re painful to write—and trust me, often painful to read—but a cover letter is your first opportunity to make an impression on your future boss. As an employer, when I go through hundreds of applications from people who all have very similar-sounding education and experience, cover letters are the only glimpse I have into a person’s personality. Cover letters separate the #GIRLBOSSes from the girls. That said, few people seem to know how to make a cover letter sing. It’s incredible how low the bar is, so you’re in luck! I’m about to help you navigate the weird, unnatural world of putting your best foot forward in a few paragraphs.
Cover Letter Mistake #1: The cover letter is all about what you want. Nasty Gal gets so many cover letters that detail a “passion for fashion” and then proceed to talk about how this job will help the applicant pursue her interests, gain more experience, and explore new avenues.
If a cover letter starts out like this, I usually end up reading the first couple of sentences before hitting the delete button. Why? Because I don’t care about what a job will do for you and your personal development. I know that sounds harsh, but I don’t know you, so the fact that you want to work for my company does not automatically mean that I have an interest in helping you grow your career. I have a business that is growing by the day, so I want to know what you can do for me. It’s as simple as that.
Cover Letter Mistake #2: Your cover letter basically says that nothing you’ve ever done is even remotely applicable to the job you’re applying for. When we posted a job for a copywriter a while back, I remember reading an application from someone who had graduated with an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, one of the most prestigious writing programs in the country. This is what stood out the most to me about her résumé, but it wasn’t even mentioned in her cover letter. A cover letter can connect the dots between where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re trying to go.
Unless you spell out what that is in your cover letter, your potential employer may never know. If you’re light on extracurricular activities coming out of college because you had to work forty hours a week to pay for it, then by all means make sure that it’s obvious. Someone who shows evidence of financial responsibility and work ethic can be just as impressive, if not more so, than someone who was president of the Bowling Society or secretary of the Wine Tasting Club. Even if you’re applying to work at a bowling alley that serves only wine. (Okay, maybe not then.)
Cover Letter Mistake #3: You give so-called constructive criticism—without being asked. When I’m interviewing people, I’ll often ask what they think Nasty Gal could be doing better, and I am genuinely interested to hear what they have to say. But detailing the ways that you think a company needs to improve in a cover letter is like meeting someone for the first time and telling her that you think she’d be so much cuter if she lost just five pounds. It’s distasteful. You would be surprised to learn how often people think that dedicating their entire cover letter to detailing Nasty Gal’s flaws is a good idea. It’s not. I always want to write these people back and say, “Opinions are like assholes; everybody’s got one.” But I don’t, because I’m a #GIRLBOSS so I keep it professional-ish.
Cover Letter Mistake #4: Either you didn’t take the time to read it, or you just really, really can’t write. In Jason Fried’s book Rework, he writes that one of the smartest investments a business can make is in hiring great writers, and I completely agree. No matter what you are hired to do, you will be infinitely better off if you are able to clearly communicate your ideas. We can’t all be Shakespeare, but spend some time on your cover letter and have someone else look it over to make sure it reads well. If it looks like you don’t care about your cover letter and rushed through it, then I’m going to assume that you will be just as careless in your work.
On that note, another piece of advice: Spell-check exists for a reason; use it, but don’t rely on it. If you don’t know the difference between “there,” “their,” and “they’re,” you’re in bad shape. We’re lucky enough in the United States to get by with only having to know one language, so nail the one we’ve got! If I have to read another e-mail that begins with “I’ve followed Naty Gal since the eBay days,” I will throw myself out the window. As we are only on the third floor, that means that I will have to deal with a really gnarly sprained ankle and it will be all your nonthinking, non-spell-checking fault.
The Résumé: More Than Just a Bunch of Mumbo Jumbo
There is no question that putting together a résumé sucks. How can one boil down all of one’s skills, experience, intellect, and advantages onto one piece of paper? I know it’s weird, but it’s a currency we all have to accept. Regardless of how lame you think the concept of a résumé is, you should still make sure that yours is as far away from lame as you can possibly get. As a visual person, I love a creative résumé. I’m not a fan of templates—putting a little effort in on the design side will show that you care as much as I do about things looking good.
I like real words on a résumé—that means I want to read it and understand it. If you had a job as a marketing manager, be very didactic when you’re listing what you did. “Built brand relationships within the creative community”—really, what does that mean? “Curated artwork, booked bands, secured beverage sponsors, and oversaw budget for an ongoing series of monthly art exhibits”—now, that makes sense, and also tells me that you’re able to navigate the practicalities that are necessary to bring your ideas to life. We don’t need people who just have ideas; we need people who can also execute them. If you’ve made some shit happen, make sure your résumé reflects that—this is one of the few places where it’s actually good to brag a bit.
The Interview: Don’t Blow It
You wrote a cover letter that was so good it made my mascara run, and now you have an interview. Have you ever walked into a party and felt like everyone was staring at you in judgment? This is why you should not smoke weed at parties. But in all seriousness, at a job interview, this is exactly what happens. Job interviews are intense, and unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all study guide for breezing through them. You can say all the right things, have all the right experience, and still not be the right fit for a job. There are millions of other unpredictable behind-the-scenes reasons a job does or does not work out.
When someone’s right for a role, sometimes both parties just know. After a long and grueling search for a marketing position, I finally met someone who I clicked with right away. We had lunch on Thursday, brunch on Sunday, and on Monday he came by the office and left with an offer letter in his hand. He is a little bit wacko (and so am I) and though professional, there wasn’t much pretense. I liked that he understood Nasty Gal, was excited about the brand, and was an abstract thinker. His ideas weren’t just like everyone else’s. When I made him an offer, he said, “You’re out of your mind!” He meant it as a compliment, and I took it as such.
A #GIRLBOSS knows that she may not nail it on the first try, and that’s okay. Remember to be open and keep your head up when something doesn’t work out. However, even the best of us can suffer sweaty armpits and a dry mouth during an interview. Here are a few things to know that will hopefully make it easier.