Recovering from an interview mistake and showing your worth

The Undercover Recruiter is one of my favorite blogs about looking for a job. Their tips are excellent and articles provide real value. The latest post talks about a man who committed a colossal blunder in his phone interview (he revealed he had pirated their software) yet still managed to get hired with an amazing cover letter.

And it helps illustrate a point I try to make often. Most times a cover letter is way to get yourself invited to an interview but we place too much emphasis on the 'letter' part. Think of it as a chance to show off what you can do and make it relevant to the job. In lieu of a cover letter is there a way to be well known at what you do so that people come to you and ask you to apply or better yet say "We'd like to work with you, how about it?"

Use your attention to detail, obsessive interest in learning and non-standard way of looking at things to be so kick a** at something that it serves as your cover letter... or at least try to write one really good, relevant to the hiring manager cover letter.

Cover letter advice found on Craigslist

Here is an article on writing a cover letter that I think sheds some light on an issue I have struggled with: how much bragging verse honesty should we have in a cover letter. From his perspective the ASD bluntness traits would really work well:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/101949754.html

Sample Cover Letter on ASD Job Sink

I posted an example of a cover letter that I have had success with on Job Sink. It is designed to make it by the recruiters & HR people that screen resumes for the hiring manager.