Many applicants have a negative view of the infamous 'Cover Letter', however, there is also a widespread misunderstanding of their purpose.
By far, the most common misconception is the belief that a Cover Letter is meant to be a showcase of desire to join a studio. To many, the Cover Letter conjures images of desperate-for-a-job applicants putting themselves in a position of submission, trying to convince an organisation of their worth through words of admiration for their culture and/or products. It's no wonder applicants have so much contempt for this document.
The good news is that what a Cover Letter is meant to be, is almost the opposite. They are not about exposing what value you see in the company, but about bringing attention to what value you hold that will help improve the business. When looking at it this way, it rapidly becomes clear that 'how much an applicant likes a company's products' is simply not a valuable commercial asset compared to a myriad of other attributes that could be highlighted instead.
Furthermore, Cover Letters provide a unique opportunity for those in less visually-grounded disciplines to be given a platform to stand out, and can also be a highly effective way to demonstrate critical written communication skills. Especially in a post-Covid world with a higher emphasis than ever before on both remote and asynchronous work, the ability to effectively communicate over text has become more essential than ever before.
<aside> ⚠️ Even though you and your skillset will not necessarily change between positions, Cover Letters should be individually tailored to each employer to allow you to maximise the correlation between job requirements and the specific points of value you select to showcase.
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Before diving in, it is important to realise that above all, the Cover Letter is a document of persuasion. With that said, it can be effective to use principles from Aristotle's Rhetoric as a three-piece foundation for the piece.
The three pieces can be outlined as follows:
Ethos: Appeal to Authority.
The appeal to authority can typically manifest itself as early as your introductory sentence, where during your self-presentation, you can refer to yourself as close as possible to the title of the position you are applying for (without stretching the truth), providing an immediate sense of authority in regards to role fit.
Another great way to establish credibility with the reader in your introduction is to include significant benchmarks such as years of professional experience, well-known franchises you have worked on, companies you have served with, whether you are an award winner, and so on. If you are in a fortunate position to have many to choose from, be mindful to not to go overboard though, and focus instead of picking the ones that you feel are the most strategic choices in regards to the company and position.
Although the following pieces of the three-part foundation can be mixed and intertwined throughout the letter, the Ethos component almost always benefits from being an introductory element, as it firmly establishes the writer.
Pathos: Appeal to Emotion.
Appeals to emotion typically take the form of interesting personal stories which you can directly tie back to either the business needs, or the company values. This could, in the example of a studio looking to bring in a UI person with accessibility experience, be an anecdote recounting breaking an arm and having to play games one-handed whilst in a cast, igniting a passion for making accessible control schemes, which in turn led the applicant to spearhead studio-wide improvements to accessibility features. An experience which the applicant could then bring to their new employers.
The Pathos is also an ideal place to bring up any 'outside of the lines' experience you may have that is not officially a part of your CV, such as side projects that have contributed to your professional or personal development. Additionally, you could even delve into your interest for your discipline, and share how your vision would fit with that of the company.
It is during the appeal to emotion that you would also typically highlight any experience you have with the studio's products and any positive experiences you have with them, and creating a link between the values that the product or studio expose, and your own values showcased in your experiences.
The most important part in appeals to the Pathos however is to always ensure that the personal experiences are told for a very specific function, highlighting a tangible by-product that you could bring to the business and benefit them in some shape or form.
Logos: Appeal to Logic.
The appeal to logic is usually the most straightforward component and more than anything corresponds to always backing up any notions from the Ethos, with robust proof of outcomes.
In the example of three identical applicants cover letters:
Which of the three candidates above would you want to hire for your business?
<aside> ⚠️ There can potentially be a lot to talk about, but you should aim to ensure your cover letter fits on one page, so you should be very tactical with what you pick and what you leave out.
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Starting as early as the very first line of a Cover Letter, applicants are already faced with the painful process of figuring out just exactly who to address the letter to.
Many sources recommend that you embark on a literal investigation, scouring through various networks to find out who exactly will be receiving your Cover Letter, so that when the time comes, the person reviewing your application will feel it is personally addressed to them. These sources also recommend that if you can not find this information, that you should opt for the generic "To whom it may concern". The former is a complete waste of your time, and the latter is simply not very good advice.
First and foremost, in a studio setting, there is a quasi certainty that your Cover Letter will be read by at least two people: A member of HR/Recruitment, and the Hiring Manager. With this in mind, relying on a single name in the greeting already falls apart, with at least one person being left out, defeating the purpose of the entire exercise to begin with.