Careers
Don’t Try This in Your Next Cover Letter
Posted Mar 5, 2009, 11:21 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Some legal job applicants are too creative in their cover letters.
Here’s an example of a bad cover letter: “Not all people are criminals, but even criminals are people too.”
Here’s another: “If assiduousness and passion were candy, then I would leave you with a mouthful of cavities.”
And another: “My anal retentiveness to minute details is quite possibly one of my greatest strengths, not withstanding my sense of humor.”
The Career & Professional Development Blog published the excerpts from fall of 2008 cover letters. It also noted some wrong word choices. One job seeker claimed to be an “inspiring” defense lawyer and another had a goal to defend “the indignant.”
And the hiring lawyer likely agreed when one job seeker wrote that “forgoing a relationship would be mutually beneficial.”
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