First, Be Flawless
As you might imagine, we get a lot of resumes here at SHIFT. Lots of really cool people want to work here; we work hard but it’s usually pretty fun.
Y’know what’s been interesting? With the rise of Social Media, I’ve noticed subtle changes to the tone and quality of the cover letters that come over the transom.
We still get plenty of highly formal letters on heavy stock paper. But we also get informal cover letters that seek to echo the tenor and tone of a casual blog post.
Here’s my message to those folksy writers: that’s probably not gonna work out so well.
First of all, those clever notes seem to contain more than their fair share of typos. If I see a typo on a resume or cover letter, I immediately discard it. I don’t care about your qualifications if you send me a letter with typos in it. This is your introductory communication to the company you really want to work for — and you can’t take an extra 5 minutes to perform a thorough proof? Sorry, you’re not workin’ here.
Secondly, just because my “tone” on the blog is relatively casual, and just because I wear jeans to work, doesn’t mean that I don’t take the quality of SHIFT’s work deadly seriously. If we have a good reputation, it’s because we are professionals first, fun-loving geeks second. Impress us with your highest quality, “formal” writing so we know we can put you in front of a client. Save the casual stuff for your own blog and internal emails (after you’re hired).
I am sure I come across as a stuffed shirt. I hope I haven’t put off any future rockstar employees. But the whizkids onboard at the Agency today are people who have devoted themselves to the rigors of professional service. As they master the tough stuff, they are empowered to loosen up because they know when to loosen up.
First, be flawless.
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@Todd – Perhaps a little stuffy but nonetheless I think you’re 100% correct (well of course you are – it’s your company.) I liken it to school. If you bust your ass and work hard and make a 97 on that first test, that typically earns you the right to crack a joke periodically in class, to loosen up a bit. Now your professor knows that you take the class seriously, and that it’s just you personality as opposed to thinking the class is the joke.
After you send 3 reports and 2 proposals before noon, mid-afternoon is a great time to have an inter-office Sporcle competition.
This post is dead on, Todd. Some people can write informal, smart blog posts … others write compelling e-newsletters … others write great bylined articles for trade pubs. Valuable writers are the ones who can nail the tone in various mediums. Different types of communication require a different “voice.” As PR people, we need to hone our writing skills so we write well in any medium. Perhaps the first step is to understand that not all written communication reads like a blog post.
Heather
@prtini
I agree! I’d rather hire someone with impeccable writing skills than other criteria, such as an APR. As the Phoenix PRSA master practitioners’ group, however, we’ve noticed that the 20-somethings have spelling skills that leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps it’s becoming a lost art.
As a recent college graduate who is on the job hunt, I was unsure where to place my nuggets of hilarity and creative prowess in regard to the cover letter. Thanks for the heads up! I will be keeping it strictly business until I get the job.
Great post! I couldn’t agree more. There’s a time and a place for casual and there’s a time and a place for more formal interactions – and a first impression or request for time on a busy calendar is not the time for typos.
You need to get your foot in the door, impress us, and then relax a bit and have some fun, after you get your work done.
IMO, being well-rounded means you can wear both hats – be serious and professional when needed, but also be able to communicate in multiple styles, casual or otherwise.
Wanting to put the best of the best in front of your customers doesn’t make you a stuffed shirt – it makes you excellent at customer service.
Congrats for that!
Excellent post. Indeed, be flawless.
Todd, you can always request flawlessness, but you can’t always have it. In this downturn, you can have it. But during the last two economic upturns, I think you and I both made hiring exceptions we never thought we’d make, and realized that typos were not always harbingers for horrible behavior.
Successful PR pros have always been about attention to detail. Even in the age of social media, it’s still a prerequisite to doing business.
Todd’s post should be a required reading for all communications majors.
Examples (anonymous with all identifying info removed, of course!) of these too casual cover letters would be extremely helpful… because of the nature of communications in this day and age, I think a lot of younger people honestly have no idea what a “professional” tone should read like and think they are, in fact, being professional.
Although, I agree with you on the typos; there’s absolutely no excuse for that, even if you are purposefully going for a casual blog-type feel. Blogs should not have typos either!
Man oh man you are a stuffed shirt, dude.