Coffee and Cover Letters

Every Monday and Friday, I go to Mann during my two-hour breaks and get a cup of coffee. I  settle myself in nicely, claiming a table or two and an extra chair and spread my stuff all over the place. Then finally, I get down to business - and start churning out cover letters. After an hour or so of feverish typing, I usually end up with a decent mass of words. Whether or not that mass of words is coherent is another issue but I'm usually delirious enough from a mixture of caffeine, my desperation to get a job, and enough Lady Gaga songs on repeat to be ridiculously proud of my cover letter. I proofread it several times and send it out, feeling empowered and hopeful about my future. After all, I just sent out an amazing cover letter. They have to hire me, right? Wrong.

When I get home, I would usually take a second look at the email I sent, just to be sure that I had sent it and of course, that's also when I would realize that I had just sent out the most absurd cover letter on the planet. Then panic ensues along with embarrassment and that familiar I-can't-believe-I-did-that feeling. So what can I do about it? Quite a bit actually: 1) I could study the Cornell Career Guide religiously so I don't commit any faux pas; 2) I could wait a while after writing my cover letter so I can take a second, more objective look at it before sending it out; 3) and I could stop by A&S Career Services to get a cover letter critique!