Description
- Harrison's recent Q&A clip explores the key to maximizing job responses through LinkedIn resumes versus comprehensive applications.
- Emphasizes the significance of resumes over cover letters in garnering employer attention, especially on platforms like LinkedIn.
- Advises against lengthy cover letters, stating they can potentially highlight weaknesses instead of strengths.
- Recommends a concise and impactful approach to cover letters, citing examples of successful and straightforward letters.
- Shares a personal experience of receiving a powerful recommendation letter with minimal content, stressing the effectiveness of simplicity.
- Urges job seekers to avoid unnecessary details, excessive self-praise, and typos in their application materials.
- Emphasizes the impact of a brief and impactful closing statement in emails, asserting that less is more when it comes to job applications.
Transcript:
Maximizing Job Responses: LinkedIn Resumes vs. Comprehensive Applications – What's the Key?
Sometimes, I get the most responses to job applications or resumes, such as through LinkedIn, rather than applications requiring a cover letter and many other materials. Is this assignment also for your materials, or is it something else? Honestly, most employers only look at it. Your resume, that's just how it works.
Sometimes, they'll look at your cover letter, but only sometimes. I think we write cover letters for all of our candidates at BCG. Still, I believe that if you have a long, if you have a long cover letter, it can hurt you one line or two lines or three lines, not from a recruiter, but if you're applying to law firms on your own.
It's probably better than a longer one. Sometimes, people will say all this stuff, like I gained this incredible experience and litigation where I could exceed expectations, which hurts you. Anytime you write a long cover letter, your work is funny. You're emphasizing your weaknesses rather than your strengths.
It's just that it's funny, but that's what you're doing often. You're saying things. You think you are a big deal that you are not, making yourself try to seem better than others. You're just doing all these wrong things. I think less is more, especially with this, that the cover letter may help hurt you because you're just writing too much.
What is a good cover letter? Compliance with this position is being considered, very much issue, considered, bettered, something along those lines, straightforward, in person. I believe this shows that I have excelled, and I've always wanted to look for it since I have yet to do something straightforward.
You don't have to say; that's all you need to say. I had this funny thing happen where I was; I got a recommendation letter once from a well-known attorney, a law professor. Most attorneys in the country knew who he was, and I had done classes for him. I'd done a couple of classes with him.
I had done a book for him. I wrote a book for part of the class. I, what else did I do? I just did a lot of stuff for him. And he wrote a recommendation letter for me that was very powerful. And it just said I've been a law professor for 40 years. He's older, 40 years old. For years, I've rarely seen someone who is a new attorney or new attorney in someone as much as I am as Harrison. Some very simple: Where are you?
I would say it. So, it was straightforward and solid. And then that's it. What's Jeffrey O'Connell? So anyway, that, that's it, that's all I wrote, and I got all, and it was Cypher, I got all sorts of jobs, clerking, yeah, that's very simple. So you can do the same thing with cover letters; my cover letter, I remember to Quinn Emanuel when I was applying there, it was just something like, I'm interested in practicing.
I would say I'm, we're very, I've always wanted to be. I've always wanted to be a litigator, something like, always wanted to be a litigator and in practice at the very highest level. I'm just showing an example of really a cover letter. Quinn Emanuel, always sat firm, and I very much, I am unbelievably impressed with your career, something like that, or, and I want to work there, something like that, more than anything, something very, it wasn't that, but for you.
Just something straightforward. Someone sees that, and they're like, the hell, wow. Or I've been a law professor for 40 years. That's it. So a lot of times, people think they need to write all this crap and how great they are and their insights. And I will be fricking 100 percent honest with you that if you can do this very slowly, people just that.
They'll see that and say, wow, what the hell, this is wild. So this is what you need to do. People do not do this. They write more, and writing more hurts you. It can make you look like a braggart. It can make you look like you're too impressed with yourself. It can make you make typos many times.
So, the writing will be mediocre. There's just all sorts of things that are wrong with that. I advise if you say something like this at the end of your email. That's all you need to say, and people will be blown away. I hope that helps you. I think that's how that works, but I would recommend it.
