I Wrote a Cover Letter About Unicorns... and Got the Job

Searching for a job is exhausting. Writing and rewriting cover letters, constantly reworking your resume to showcase select talents. We spend so much time analyzing this mythical reader on the other end of an online job application that we forget to include the most interesting aspects about ourselves: who we are outside of what we get paid for. An old boss of mine gave me some insight into the hiring process shortly after I started working for him. He said, "When I interview people for a position I will be working closely with, I always think about what it would be like to be stuck in an airport for hours with them. If I could sit in an airport for hours waiting for a delayed flight with that person and not lose my mind, I hire them."

When I began looking for my dream job a year ago, I sent out the same laundry list of experience in the most professional looking cover letter I could muster. I was no where to be found in that letter. I described a buttoned up alter ego that worked like a well mannered robot. Then one day, I read a very interesting set of directions to submit my application for a dream job at my dream company.

As I went to a previous email to copy and paste the same old cover letter I mindlessly used for every job application, I realized that it said nothing about who I was, nothing about my struggle, nothing about my real life experience. For the next hour, I sat in a drab coffee shop on a rainy day and crafted the letter below.

After reading and rereading this letter over a dozen times, I hit send with a hesitant hand. I felt completely exposed, but also liberated. I left nothing on the table. I gave them a piece of me in that letter. An hour later, I received an email saying they wanted to meet with me in roughly a month. Two months after that meeting, I got a job offer. My dream job at my dream company. Moral of the Story: Be yourself and don't give up on your dreams no matter how wild they seem. I hope this helps those of you who were just like me, sitting at your desk, hating your current job, searching for something more. Go forth and conquer, fellow dreamers.

Till next time,

H