Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

PR Job Applicants – Listen Up 

I love reading cover letters of candidates who apply to work at Pierce Mattie PR. I often use an applicant's cover letter as the big reveal without even looking at the resume. 

Why is a cover letter a big deal in PR?

For starters it tells us a lot about your personality. Are you casual or formal? Serious or flying by the seat of your pants? Educated or barely capable of knowing the alphabet? More importantly it reveals to us how you are going to approach a client, a member of the press and quite possibly conduct your pitch.

If your cover letters sucks – well then, your pitch will most likely also. Here is a query I received this morning. I have removed the contact information. The resume was actually pretty good.  

From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 10:10 AM
To: Pierce Mattie
Subject: Employment IInquiry Hello!  

A friend of mine that works at Fashion PR mentioned that you were hiring! I thought I would take this opportunity to send you my resume.  I currently am a PR intern at RXXXXXX TXXXXX (and love it!), and am looking for a paying position in PR. I would love the opportunity to sit down with someone from your team for an informational meeting! 

Thanks so much for your time!

XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX 

What’s wrong with this cover letter?  

·         The subject heading: this candidate has spelled the word ‘inquiry’ incorrectly. Yikes

·         The address: ‘hello’ – why not… Dear Mr. Mattie or Dear Pierce Mattie PR or Attention HR Director

·         I’m not buying the ‘friend’ intro, are you? You should always reference the contact that shared the lead with the firm. It could help you get in the door faster.

·         Loose language; looking for a paying position. That is way too casual. 

·         The excessive use of the exclamation mark. You should never ever use an exclamation mark in writing a business letter or even an email. An exclamation mark is shouting at the reader. Unfortunately this candidate has five exclamation marks.  

Bottom Line:

This candidate revealed they...

·         can’t spell

·         didn’t take the time to address us properly

·         are not connected to our industry  

·         are too casual for us

·         likes to shout 

Our Reaction: Email Deleted