However, today we will take a step in a different direction.
Let’s see how we can leverage emotion to land you a position:
How To Convince In Cover Letters
At this point, you should have checked the technical boxes. Now it’s about adding some emotion.
After all, a cover letter is a narrative and contains personal aspects.
The hiring manager should get an impression of who you are - your motivation and genuine interest in the work.
How To Express Yourself
Therefore, explicitly state your motivation. Yes, it will feel awkward but it is important:
These few words are all they will get to “get to know you” before the interview.
As you will most likely work closely with other people, the hiring manager wants to feel that you will fit into this kind of network.
People's motivation is one of the best predictors of reliability and dedication.
The point is that hiring managers reading cover letters believe it is worth learning more about you as a person.
Your job ad doesn't state all desired traits. Of note, in industry you often work more closely with people than you do in academia. You have direct team members working on the same project, cross-department collaboration, and clear instructions from higher-ups. Being diligent and approachable while sharing the same passion is what the hiring manager wants to see in you.
They search for valuable clues in your writing.
That means, in terms of style, this is your chance to speak directly to a human being.
There is less need for specific formulas or sentence structures, write in a way that you truly believe in your own words.
If applicable, include what you are passionate about and, if appropriate, your personal convictions. For example:
I repeatedly read about the “quick-to-market” priority of PharmaT, which always excited me, as I seek to move beyond the mere research focus of academia. I am driven by the belief that giving patients in dire conditions a chance is often underprioritized.
Of course, these need to be tailored to what the company stands for.
Understanding Your Future Company
At best, you do both: convince the hiring manager on a personal level and show alignment with the company’s values.
Look closely - Labcon has its unique value as a direct tagline, and on BioNTech’s YouTube channel you can find this thumbnail. No doubt, several companies have taglines that sound rather generic, but for those that don’t, you have a chance to make a difference.
While we often hold the conviction that companies are just big, cold, money-making machines, remember that there are people behind the positions you apply for.
What are their values? What do they associate with the position or the company they are in?
Of course, if you don’t yet know the values of a company, the key is to research it. It shows that you are interested in their cause and know how to do your due diligence. Look at:
Their business model (and recent changes in management)
The products or services (and whether you have used them).
What they state about the company culture and values.
By doing this, you can find out what really matters. Only then do you gain the ability to select what is important.
To do your research, use social media such as their LinkedIn or their website to understand their voice and stay up to date on what they have been working on or participating in. Moreover, Indeed, Reddit, Glassdoor, and other platforms give you the chance to hear from people who have worked there, potentially giving you a look behind the scenes.
The more precise your understanding, the better.
It might give you an intuitive feeling of the culture, and more importantly, it will enable you to mirror the company’s language and tone.
Remember, those before you have hired too - to some extent, it’s a chain of hiring in line with company values.
The Right Writing Style
However, don’t fall prey to writing overly long. Conciseness is still key.
The narrative behind your motivation doesn’t need to be explicitly written out at all times.
Rather, it should come together in the reader’s mind by combining your experience, achievements, and motivation into a coherent picture of who you are.
Although not necessarily consciously, we always project our thoughts about the future. If you can suggest to your hiring manager a positive picture of you in the future position based on what they read about you, you will have much better chances.
That also means, when it comes to your writing, avoid overly complex sentences.
Hiring managers often skim. If something is hard to understand, they are more likely to move on than reread it.
Complicated sentences don’t make you appear smart, and overly technical sentences dissolve emotion.
Wu et al. investigated how participants react under time pressure. Without going too deep into detail, when participants had limited time they made more random choices (less value directed, lower alpha) and reduced their level of uncertainty-directed exploration (lower beta). In essence, we are not the same when we are under time pressure – this means it is sometimes as much about how you write as about what you write. read the paper here.
If possible, structure your paragraphs and sentences so the most important information comes first.
For example:
Volunteering in an international non-profit for over two years gave me the chance to organize several events on animal-free research. Especially given the current advancements in microfluidics, I believe organ-on-a-chip models are the future of modern drug testing. I am highly passionate about furthering this cause, both because of my ethical values and the technical enhancement currently on their way.
Now, compare it to:
Avoiding animal harm is an important value to me, therefore, I believe organ-on-a-chip models should be the future of modern drug testing. To support this cause, I organized 3 events on animal-free research in an international non-profit where I volunteered for two years. I also followed the advancements in microfluidics that you have been driving with big excitement - believing those will come with great benefits in translatability.
Yes, that may not be everyone's style, and the paragraph could have started with the events as well, but the difference in structure should have become obvious.
Tips For Your Mindset
Best case:
Your cover letter suggests that you truly care about the job, that it feels like a vocation, that you have already done meaningful work in this field but this specific role is the perfect next step for you.
No doubt, a cover letter doesn't speak to everyone in the same way, but if you write with conviction, you will be ahead of many other applicants.
Not everybody reads cover letters but those who do consider them important. This is somewhat of an average of the numbers I could find. While the results from different survey providers vary, seniority/position (e.g., Recruiter vs Hiring Manager) introduce another factor to be considered. Therefore, although they should give somewhat of an idea, take them with a big grain of salt.
Still, don’t overdo it - otherwise you will sound needy or anxious.
It is not (always) realistic, but to my mind, the perception you want to evoke, complementing what you read above, is:
You write from a position of confidence. You have carefully researched companies and applied only to those that truly fit your ambitions.
Finally, despite it being obvious: proofread carefully.
A single typo can ruin an impression. One Ctrl+Z too much or pressing a key without noticing … it just happens to all of us.
Hi Reader, have you ever asked yourself which job might be the right one for you? As you might have experienced, thinking deeply about what you enjoy doing is often difficult and frustrating. I believe there are much easier and more effective ways to figure out your future. Here are an approach that might help you: Finding Out About Your Future What many forget is that you cannot know what you like if you don’t know what opportunities exist. Here is an overview of the most common career paths...
Hi Reader, what career paths beyond academia are available to scientists? We usually don’t know much about this topic, as it is rarely addressed at university. However, this knowledge can make your planning, job search, and self-exploration much easier and more rewarding. Therefore, today we make it short: I have summarized seven main paths in a coherent overview for you. Mapping Future Opportunities Knowing about the different career paths is important for two main reasons. A) You can only...
Hi Reader, should you do a PhD? Or, if you are already doing one, how to make the most of it? And if you have one, how should you frame your experience? There is very little education about the true value of a PhD and how important this title is for your job search. I have collected >50 career paths for scientists for you. But do you need a PhD for those? Who Should Do a PhD Doing a PhD is an investment. Many pursue it, but few are aware that nobody assures you that you will get anything out...
