It's a sad but true fact that the corporate business world is singularly unimpressed with creativity – particularly in its official communications, including cover letters. Most HR offices and hiring managers prefer cover letters to be short, simple, and focused strictly on the applicant's skill sets.
The only exception might be in creative industries, such as entertainment, literature or visual arts, where you can sometimes add some personality to your cover letter by using graphics or a more casual style of writing. However, you need to be careful, because even in those industries, when you're dealing with larger companies the first people to read the cover letter will be HR representatives, not creative personnel or entertainers. So it's best to err on the side of caution whenever you are writing a cover letter or resume.
Let's say you're a commercial artist applying for an opportunity with a greeting card company. To you, your art is all about expressing yourself or making a statement to the public. You might be tempted to write your cover letter in the form of a greeting card, to show off your artistic skills and wit. But the person receiving that gimmicky cover letter is running a business, and needs to know that you have experience and professional skills to go along with your artistic talents. That's why most artists send a standard cover letter and either samples of their work or a link to their portfolio.
The film industry is another "creative" business that has little patience for "creativity" when it comes to "below the line" (i.e., off-screen) talent. You may have written an epic screenplay that is the next Gone With The Wind or Star Wars, but so have a lot of people – at least in their own minds. Film producers and investors want to know only one thing – will your property make them money? And the best way to get them interested in your project is with a professional cover letter that clearly outlines your experience and any previous successes.
It's the same with employers in the corporate world of sales, IT, finance, manufacturing, and services. Until you arrive at a certain point in the hierarchy, nobody cares about how creative you are. It's all about the "bottom line," and your cover letter needs to reflect this fundamental fact.
In theory, people buy goods and services for a variety of reasons, ranging from desire and envy (such as custom automobiles and designer clothing) to abject fear (i.e., security systems and body guards). However, in reality there is only one thought in mind: "How will this make my life better?"
When an employer considers hiring you, he or she is thinking, "How will this person make my business better or make us more money?" Yes, Virginia (or Virgil) – you are a commodity. Your goal in writing a cover letter is to convince that employer you are a valuable and useful one – not a creative genius.
Get the first part down, and you may very well ultimately get a chance to demonstrate the latter.
Thanks to Morphed Business / Resume To Referral
http://www.resumetoreferral.com/blog/cover-letters-creativity-rarely-counts/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
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1 comment:
The logic here is pathetically flawed. If you can't point to the obvious ways creativity leads to increased sales, product, brand, or profit then you should not even be in business. The more appropriate answer would be to admit that most hiring offices don't have the skill to determine if something creative might translate into dollars in a given role. Rather than find out, it's simply easier to use the standard filters (which we can admit lead to mediocre hires most of the time, but hey, them's the odds).
So let's be honest. Your creativity might absolutely make the company more money. You might show that you're able to think beyond the boundaries of boring, undefined office culture. But determining that is "outside the job description". The reasons not to be creative with your cover letter is because the gatekeepers can't deal with it.
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