A Slick Writing Hack

Alison Green addresses an all-too common dilemma from a job hunter who has probably heard follow your passion a few times too many. Her reply not only pops that myth like a balloon, it is so efficient at course-correcting that it is worthwhile to take a moment to unpack it.

The question concerns how to write a cover letter for work one is not passionate about (Item 5). Green replies in part:

You don't need to write about your burning passion for dental offices! While a good cover letter might touch on a particular interest in the work, their bigger priority is to demonstrate why the candidate would excel at the job...

An exercise that can help: imagine you're writing an email to a friend about why you think you'd be really good at this job. Write that email...

Lots of writing fails because the author isn't clear on purpose or audience. On top of that, many struggle with achieving psychological distance, especially in this context.

Green's exercise attacks all three of these problems at once, and it is very easy to remember.

-- CAV