Topic: Cover Letter Focus

The purpose of your cover letter is to introduce yourself to a prospective employer and articulate how you will add value to her firm. Many job seekers feel compelled to focus a meaningful part of their letters on what they hope to gain from the experience of working at a particular firm or in a particular role.

This is at best irrelevant information and should not be included unless it is explicitly asked for (e.g. some educational internships or non-profit opportunities, offering “an experience”, may actually encourage this).

It is not that employers do not care about this information, but it is not relevant to the process of deciding whether you should be called in for an interview. It only dilutes your message and may introduce risk, i.e. “I hope to gain intimate industry knowledge so that I can start my own firm”. Yikes!

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