5 Examples of Cover Letters That Never Got Me Hired
Something you’ve never seen anybody bragging about.
We’ve all been there, right?
You find a position, you attach your CV and paste your portfolio link. And there’s a filed for a cover letter. It’s not required, but it’s here.
Should you write one? Should you not? Will it make you noticed? Will it not? Do recruiters even look at cover letters these days?
I think you’ve had all these question. I know, I’ve been there.
And I would always go searching online what others say. From what I learned, people here and there were landing their dream jobs just because they’ve written some amazing, witty or to-the-point cover letter.
You know what? It never worked for me. I’ve applied to hundreds of positions, for some I even took the time to write a cover letter. The “right” one. I would study the company’s website, their blog, testimonials, any distributed materials that they had, books, booklets, social media posts, advertisement campaigns. Names of their CEO and other people in the company, even their LinkedIn profiles.
What did I get in return? In most cases — nothing. In some cases — “we decided to move forward with another candidate”. Not even once I’ve got to hear anything about my cover letter. Maybe it was because of the typos, I do not know.
I’d like to share 5 examples of cover letters I’ve written for different positions and never heard back from. I will not disclose companies’ names (because it’s irrelevant, I think), and just show you the content.
Maybe it will help someone. In any case, here we are.
- Mobile UX Designer in a startup.
2. Design Manager in a medium-sized company.
3. A freelance writing gig. They wanted “an edge” and someone with an amazing sense of humor.
4. A tech project manager position at an enterprise-level company. I wrote this cover letter probably around 3 years ago, when I though that my education is something one needs to brag about.
5. UX Designer, a medium-size startup.
