The Best Advice I Ever Received: Cover Letter Edition

Writing twice in a week? (almost) Unprecedented! But, per my commitment to do some personal reflection and some professional development, I come to you now with a topic fresh on my mind: the oft-dreaded cover letter.

(cue dramatic music. and yes, that link goes to exactly where you think it goes to.)

As you may remember, about a year and half ago I wrote one of the most dramatic and, in retrospect, silliest blog posts about how much I hate writing cover letters. But it was true then, and if I were applying for jobs now, it would probably still be true - I really, really don't like writing cover letters. Honestly, the first one is the hardest; by the time I was applying for my umpteenth jobs in May, June, and July, I had my structure and writing process down pat. But those first few were rough, in more ways than one: not only was it difficult to write the letters, but the content was definitely a rough draft.

Thankfully, I had the advice and oversight of wonderful friends, colleagues, and mentors, who gave me great feedback and helped me craft my perfect cover letter. And because I know there are quite a few recent grads out there who are still job searching (which is TOTALLY OKAY, you are NOT ALONE, you will NOT BE UNEMPLOYED, JUST BREATHE!!!), I wanted to pass along some of the best cover letter-writing advice that I got from my colleagues on to you.

It's never too late, my friends, to jazz up your cover letter and really make it sing. (I don't know where those music metaphors came from, but there you go). For me, making my cover letter really shine came down to a few top tips:

1) Make the cover letter sound like you wrote it. Thanks to my dear friend Amma (her blog is linked here, READ IT for reals) for this piece of advice and for a few others on this list... your cover letter needs to sounds like YOU. It is quite possibly the first impression an employer will get of who you are, and so it needs to sound like you! Now, I'm not saying you should go full-on informal prose for this tip ("Yo, whaddup search committee?" is probably a big no-no), but there should definitely be elements of YOU in your cover letter (as opposed to your letter sounding like you ripped it off of a "how to write a cover letter" website or Word template). This may take some tweaking, but eventually you can strike a good balance of professional and personally reflective.
My example: my cover letter always started with a "Hello!" It was friendly, open, and reflects me and my personality.

2) Don't be apologetic for your mad skills. This GORGEOUS piece of advice came down from my awesome theory prof (shoutout to you, Brad Cox) through my friend, colleague, and mentor Mackenzie (mad props for her counsel and advice always). I'm gonna get real here: one of the hardest parts of the job search is seemingly bragging about yourself, or, in more normal terms, "self-promotion." It's something I'm not super comfortable with or something I'm very good at (Amma wrote a great blog post about it earlier this year).  But it's a reality of the job search - you need to try to represent how AMAZING a candidate you are. With that, one of the easiest traps to fall into as you're writing a cover letter are the following phrases (see if you recognize any in your cover letter):
"I have had the opportunity to..."
"I am privileged to..."
"I have the chance to..."
Sound familiar? Here's the truth that Brad and Mackenzie passed on to me: while it may seem in your head that you're being honest (let's get real, some days it's a real privilege and honor to do what we do in student affairs), on paper, it seems like you're apologizing for the skills, experiences, and jobs that you've had and accomplished. As Brad put it, "No. You didn't 'have the chance' to do this, you DID IT. You didn't 'have the opportunity' to do this, YOU DID IT."
When you think about it, that makes sense, huh?
And let's be real in another aspect - writing cover letters can be hard because you can't waste or mince words. So don't waste any words apologizing or downplaying your skills and experience, OWN THEM. You DID plan that event. You DID advise those students. It doesn't sound arrogant, it sounds confident and that you have taken ownership of your abilities!

Last but not least...
3) Tell the employer why you're interested in their position. This is another gem passed on to me through Amma, and I can't tell you how meaningful this piece of advice is. Again, I know that you don't want to mince or waste words in your cover letter. But here's the deal - if you spend the whole cover letter talking about why you're qualified for a position, and never touch on WHY you want that position or WHY you want to work at that institution or in that office, it stops being confident and starts reading like you send the same cover letter to every single employer.
And listen, it's FINE if you use the same basic words and structure for your cover letters; I certainly did! But there should be some unique piece in each of your cover letters that addresses one particular institution alone, and tells them why you're even interested in the position.
I promise you, adding this piece to your cover letter, especially as an entry-level professional, can set you MILES above other candidates. The job search is a two-way recruitment process; not only are you trying to sell yourself to your potential employer, but the employer is also trying to get you interested in working at their institution! So if you don't indicate that there's at least a modicum of interest in an institution or office - it could be in their mission statement, in a specific program or model of operation that they have, in their student population or departmental philosophy, whatever - the employer will wonder why you even want the job in the first place! (And I know that there's more to it than just being employed :). )

So there you have it. Those are the 3 best pieces of advice that I received about cover letter writing for student affairs positions.

Have you received any stellar advice? What would you pass on to new generations of student affairs professionals?

Summer Projects (Sunshine Included)

Long time, no blog! But now it's summer, and the excuses have hit the rearview just like the academic year has. I can't believe that I've already been working at IU for almost 10 months (it'll be a year in August), and that I've made it through one academic year... time has absolutely flown by. Look for a post forthcoming about the things I learned in Year One; for now, I want to talk about summer.

What a beautiful word summer is, especially when you think about all the things it encompasses... sunshine, beaches, rest, play, green grass, blue swimming pools, star-filled nights. I could go on forever - summer is a special time. Of course, now that I'm a full-time professional, I've had to grasp a brand new reality: summer is for work, too.

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said that I'd be disappointed about not having the summer "off," like my twenty years of schooling prior, but that I realized that it's part of the reality of being a full-time professional. Now that I'm in that reality, though, I have to say - a summer of work can be just as beautiful a thing as a summer off. Because, here's the truth that I've learned: it's hard, VERY hard, to get long-term projects done during the school year. One of my profession's truisms that I've faced as a newbie, and come to realize is accurate, is that my job really is ALL about my students. I mean that in the best way possible; I wouldn't have a job without them! But with that truth, all of my priorities when my students are around focus on those students. I love having an open-door policy; I love that my students trust me enough to come talk to me about work and about their personal issues. The truth of the matter is, though, that it's hard for me to focus on long-term projects during the school year because of the day-to-day, crisis-managing, firefighting role of advising college students.

But now, my friends, it's summer. Granted, some of my students are still around, working on programming for the summer. For the most part, however, it's SILENT in our office. And while I love my students, I am so very, very appreciative of the time to focus. Even though I'm a millennial, I've never really identified or felt comfortable with one of the generational qualities ascribed to us - multitasking. I hate multitasking; I feel like I'm not able to do justice to the work that's assigned to me when I'm forced to juggle it with other tasks. Of course, another reality of the professional world that I faced this year is that my day-to-day is ALL ABOUT MULTITASKING! So now that it's summer, and I'm able to focus on one thing at a time, my brain is a LOT happier.

In short, so far, summer has been treating me beautifully. I have time to truly focus on short- and long-term projects that escaped my notice (or had to be swept under the rug) during the school year. Here's a list, not even close to all-encompassing, but broken down of the things that I'll be working on this summer (work-related and otherwise):

1. Annual Reports - how has our office done with engaging the students? How has the Union Board done with reaching out to its constituents? Are we on target with our mission statement? Can we be proud of the things we've accomplished over the past academic year?
2. Staff and Grad Assistant Training - We just hired a new GA, and will be hiring a new professional in our office. Now is the perfect time to focus on training; what can and should our new professionals and paraprofessionals be getting out of time in our office? How can I as a professional support my colleagues' journeys? How can I make sure that I work to explain and help my colleagues understand the culture of my institution and office even better than I do?
3. Planning for the Year Ahead - Summer is the perfect time to take a look around and see where we are and how we can improve. I want to try to be intentional about thinking about the year ahead; now that I know what the school year looks like, what can I do now to ease my path later on?
4. Reflection Time - Now that I've been in my role for a year (almost), I really want to take stock of where I've been and where I'm going. I want to set goals for the coming year, and to really think about my professional development. This project includes blogging more - I've missed the catharsis and the engagement that this medium brings, and I really want to make an effort to be processing this way more (and engaging with my fellow professionals via their blogs). Which leads to...
5. Professional Development - How can I seek out new opportunities to grow and learn? I've already been blessed with one opportunity coming up this summer, ACUI's IPDS New Professionals Orientation. I'm so excited to get to spend a week with fellow new professionals! (nerd alert.) I also want to tackle some reading this summer; I FINALLY got a library card and want to put it to good use, for both leisure and developmental reading. Which leads to my final point...
6. Leisure Time - I have some beautiful vacations coming up in July; I'm playing on a co-rec softball team; I recently bought my very own bicycle. I want to be very purposeful about relaxing into this less stressful summer schedule, and really enjoying my "time off" (as close to time off as I'll get :))

Here's to you, summer 2013 - let's make it a good one!