Writing cover letters suck, resumes aren't fun either...

I'm 58 friggin' years old; I shouldn't be writing cover letters and updating resumes! At least this is by choice. I'm struggling badly with my writing. It's a good position in a slightly different industry, but much mo' better money and the Company is great. Why am I having such a difficult time?

 

I don't have any advice, but, good luck! Hopefully it works out for you!

 

Thx! I'll get through it. Just needed to vent a little.

 

My personal opinion is that cover letters are useless in many industries today. I’ve always worked in tech, and have never needed a cover letter. I personally dislike seeing a cover letter when I’m reviewing resumes, and I believe a well written resume speaks to a candidates strengths better than a cover letter does. My employer actually uses a test similar to online IQ tests I’ve taken to limit candidates, and recruiters have confirmed to me that they don’t bother looking at cover letters.

Looking for a new job is a miserable process with no set standards for application requirements. Good luck with the search!

 

Might be worth hiring a resume writer?

 

Haven’t done a resume or associated thing for 8 years now. If I had to write one now I’d probably be SOL. But good luck!

 

You're too nerved up! Calm.... Calm.... ya thats better, now just write that resume and enjoy the change. Good luck!

 

The whole hiring process in pretty much any industry / government service / etc is fucking dumb. How many complete mouth breathing retards do you know who have been hired and even ascended to positions of authority? How many good dudes do you know who get rejected from a particular job? The hacks that take jobs in HR must spend all their time in school gagging on sexual harassment seminars and shooting their load all over workplace anti-bullying classes instead of learning how to fucking read people and make solid hiring decisions.

 

I"m considering this right now.

Yep! Embrace the suck.

Agreed. The painful part for me is matching up enough key words in my CL/resume so the computers don't reject my application right from the start. I have to get past the software before a person even sees it.

 

cover letters are awful and i have stopped submitting them. you wanna know something, set up a phone call screener prior to a potential interview.

1 billion percent agreed. frustrating as hell. also creating a fucking account for every god damn company you want to apply for is asinine as well. i could go on, but my head will explode before im done typing haha

 

Sorry for my poor knowledge in advance. I wonder why cover letters are that important. When you have a good LinkedIn profile with lot of recommendations from other professionals about your professional work and high level about you as a person (like leadership skills, learning / research skills, etc..) and also a resume that matches LinkedIn profile wouldn't that show one is a genuine candidate?

 

Seems like some companies want a cover letter, some don't care. My LinkedIn and Indeed profiles are fairly complete. A recruiter from this company contacted me through LinkedIn about a different position which I can't apply for as I can't relocate. But I found this position on their website - different recruiter though. The original recruiter gave me this recruiter's name, which helps. Not all company websites are good about importing data too, so I want to freshen up my resume.

 

No cover letter and a one page resume. The interviewer will appreciate it, and your chances will be better.
Given your age, you have probably proven yourself already. Go forward with confidence!!
Glad I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore. Good luck!

 

Isn't that kind of a prerequisite for a position of authority?

 

Submitted. Yay. Thx everyone!

 

If you need help in the future, drop me a PM. I am a writer, editor and have helped many friends with both issues.

There are plenty of companies that are looking for cover letters. Most are based around writing, engineering, technical, graphic illustration, social media, etc. Its a brief way of understanding how you communicate. Resumes or CV's don't do that simply becasue you could hire someone to do it for you.

My CV used to be 2 full pages, but that was simply because I have north of 70 journal published articles that needed citation (burn, trauma, device, pharma and surgical research). Now its one page with updates every 3-6 months for new re/certifications. I've been the Sr Editor for the marketing department of the same pharma company for 9 years and will retire from here, but I do look for gig work from time to time to keep up my non science writing skills up.

 

Thanks, Overland! My writing is usually pretty good...my motivation, not so much!