Covering Letter Feedback

   A sort of ‘feedback‘ I suppose – an elegant interference pattern in a Tuscan swimming pool…

This feedback on Covering Letter production is going to be a bit short to be honest: those who did well followed the instructions and guidance materials and mini-lectures that I provided and those who didn’t…well didn’t do so well….

The messages to retain and work with are as follows:

1. It needs to grab the attention.  Not many worked upon that – only one person went for an off-white background for example.  Then there is the setting: does it look attractive?  Space is half of the battle… but is it being used sensibly?
2. Paragraphing.   You are content producers – this is your ‘stock-in-trade‘, it needs to be perfect.  Paragraphs have a beginning, a middle and an end…. then one leaves a line of space to accentuate it (2 x ENTREE).  There is no such thing as a ‘half-paragraph’ (1 x ENTREE) – it just leaves a series of ugly spaces against the right hand margin.
3. PROOF READ closely and thoroughly – aloud please!
4. USE Grammarly, spell-check and WordReference!
5. Avoid repetitions of words and phrases…. it is generally considered ‘lazy’
6. Don’t apply ‘generally’ – deliberately seek to address particular requirements that the employer has been at pains to provide in the Job DEscription and Person Specification
7. Saying is not seeing!  Saying you are great with Illustrator, Photoshop, WordPress etc is one thing, but providing examples of successes and evidence (QR Codes … links)  is vital to producing convincing proof that you can do the job.  So get yourself an online ‘greatest hits‘ site where you can house your ‘greatest hits‘ and link to these things in your applications.
8. The second page.  Think about it.  You are the specialists in content production here – you know full-well that space, layout and ‘look’ are all vital to making something attractive.  So why did so many of you put just four or five lines on Pg2 and leave the rest blank?  Two things occur to me here. Firstly, you could have saved space on Pg1: by putting the addresses opposite one another (as opposed to dropping the recipient’s address lower) and by changing the upper and lower page margins or even changing 12pt text to 11pt.  That way you could have got it all comfortably on one page in an attractive (not squashed) manner.  Secondly, if you have to go over onto a second page: USE IT – leaving it blank is a squandered opportunity to ‘sell’ yourself even harder in terms of the Job Description and Person Specification requirements the employer has been at pains to provide.
9. Shortened forms / contractions.  Please, no I’ms, dont’s, cant’s etc…. in formal documents we do not use them… so: I am… I do not …. I cannot…
10. Abide by conventions regarding addresses, opening greetings, ‘objet‘ (Re:), signing your name and parting salutations.  For example, ‘Dear Sir’ –> ‘Yours faithfully’   and ‘Dear Mrs. Chew-Jolley’ –> ‘Yours sincerely‘.  These are simple rules: use them – don’t confuse them!
11. Don’t ‘think’!  ‘I think that….’ suggests being unsure!  Prefer: ‘I believe / am certain that…’
12. Avoid using negatives.  Instead of ‘I won’t have any problem with living and working abroad’, go for a more positive expression : ‘I relish the challenge of …...’
13. Avoid using !!!!!!!  You should be making your  points by means of the strength of your words, expressions and force of argument.   !!!! is rather to ‘texto’ / SMS style for professional writing.  In a memo to a colleague maybe, but not in a formal situation like this.
14. Permettre.  Argh – how many times do I have to remind you that this word has two senses and you have to select the one that works.  If there is an issue of having to seek permission, then ‘allow’ or ‘permit’ would be fine, but if not, then it is ‘enable’.
15. Addresses.  Most of us in Alsace live in German sounding towns and villages with things like ‘statt/stadt’, ‘willer’, ‘kopf’, ‘bach’ etc – so if you do NOT put FRANCE into the address, how is someone on the outskirts of London or Sydney going to know what country to address the response to?   Also – add the France dialling code.
16. Using the words ‘perfect’ or ‘perfection’ is dangerous.  Most, if not all of us are not perfect.  Saying that you are ‘a good fit‘ or have ‘a close match‘ with/to the post’s requirements would be far better.
17. Follow the instructions. I go to quite a lot of trouble (I think you’ll agree – I sincerely hope you do!) to tell you exactly what the assignment details are and to prepare you for it:  Introductory mini-lectures + Pre-recorded Zooms + web-page support (10 Tips etc) and formative feedback sessions where I comment upon what you have been producing.  If find it difficult at L3 level when some individuals clearly haven’t been taking note in class or viewing the videos I have given you time to watch or referring to the web-pages.   Rest assured that at Master’s level or at work, that sort of degree of help will not be forthcoming – you’ll just have to work it out for yourself….

T