COVER LETTERS AS CULTURAL OBJECTS

RADU COZMEI
COVER LETTERS AS CULTURAL OBJECTS. The cover letter or covering letter could be regarded as a sociolinguistic phenomenon that exceeds by far the condition of a fairly simple, straightforward document attached to,
or accompanying another text such as a rsum or curriculum vitae. The analysis of the cover letter as a cultural
object includes an attempt to describe both the linguistic aspects and the extralinguistic elements of this
epistolary item including its role as an identity marker, a status symbol, a consumer good and a sales document.
The stages of its production and circulation are also examined and its function and cultural weight are evaluated.
Keywords: business correspondence, literate culture, identity marker.

The apparently unassuming document defined as a letter that accompanies another

letter, a package, or the like, to explain, commend, etc. was invented towards the end of the
19th century (Dictionary.com Unabridged.) and in the employment context it has become an
inevitable presence in the career tribulations of most professionals looking for jobs or
becoming interested in moving to another working place.
The impressive presence and the complexity of this type of text is signaled by the
immense number of web pages returned by Google during a web search using the key words
cover letter, the frequent newspaper articles discussing various aspects of the cover letter, the
existence of countless recruitment agencies which invite job seekers to post their cover letters
on their sites, or the activity of the equally numerous firms urging potential clients to rely on
their ability to produce the best postmodern cover letter on the market.
The cultural contents and implications of the cover letter will be verified against the
definition of culture as provided by UNESCO in the Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity: culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual
and emotional features of society or a social group, and it encompasses, in addition to art
and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.
The letter normally accompanies a rsum or curriculum vitae when a job seeker
contacts a potential employer and it is meant to represent the author and to describe his/her
skills and strengths in such a manner as to determine the employer to read the CV and invite
the candidate to an interview.
The cover letters belong to the domain of business correspondence and there are three
types of letters in use: the uninvited (cold contact) cover, the invited cover letter and the
referral cover letter (Cover Letter Law & Legal Definition. USLEGAL.COM ).
The cold cover letter is an uninvited inquiry to an employer, recruiter or other hiring
manager regarding openings which are not advertised; the invited cover letter is written in
response to an advertised opening, whether in a newspaper, trade publication, on the Internet,
or even on the company's bulletin board; the referral cover letter is usually the result of good
networking; practically the applicant learns about an opening from a member of his circle of
friends and acquaintances and initiates the process of approaching the employer in order to
obtain the invitation to the interview.
The cold cover letter is usually part of a direct mail campaign in which the job-seeker
is trying to uncover hidden jobs or it could represent an initiative leading to the creation of a
job that did not previously exist. The author may gain early consideration for a position that
has not yet been made available on the job market or the applicant could at least expand
his/her network of contacts.
The invited cover letter is written in reply to a job advertisement which in many cases
mentions the required profile and a job description thus allowing the applicant to learn
something about the kind of candidate the recruiter is looking for. The major disadvantage of

replying to a job advertisement is the risk of becoming one of the many applicants as
companies can receive thousands of cover letters after posting an advertisement.
The strength of the referral cover letter derives from two sources: the former consists
in the authors choice to mention the name of the person who provided the inside information
about the vacancy, an individual who works for the company or enjoys some form of
relationship with it, and the latter relies on the simple fact that technically few potential
candidates know about the opening.
The applicant generating such letters has to obey a set of rules regarding the lay-out,
the structure, the contents and the style to be employed in the process of writing (Enelow,
Kursmark, 2004). Usually the letter is not longer than one page. The typical structure includes
the following elements: address, opening, body and closing.
The body should contain information about the vacancy, the candidates reason for
replying to the job advertisement, the argumentation or elements that make him/her a unique
candidate and, at the end, the expression of the applicants willingness to participate in an
interview.
The profile developed in the letter by the candidate is not meant to delineate a general
description of the individual but it should highlight his/her potential contribution to the
company.
The preferred style is formal and business-like; the sentences should not be too long
and the vocabulary should not include words one does not normally use in his/her
conversation; the tone should indicate self-confidence, a positive attitude and common sense.
A significant development is the replacement of the paper-based document by an
electronic version of the autobiographical data which can be accessed on the web through
search engines.
Traditionally the paper-based cover letter was directed to a particular recipient but the
use of Internet-based job search engines practically allows more than one individual to read
the document.
The official nature of the communication precludes the use of informal means to send
it, such as the SMS.
Job seekers must choose a file format in which to maintain their cover letter. Many
employers insist on receiving the text only as Microsoft Word documents while others will
accept material formatted in HTML, PDF, or plain ASCII text.
The Internet cover letters differs from the conventional paper-based versions in that
they are comprehensive and allow for self-reflection. Unlike the regular type, which only
shows recent work experience and education, the Internet cover letter also shows an
individuals skill development over his or her career.
Another advantage of the electronic format, particularly appreciated by the employers,
consists in the possibility to detect with greater ease the suitable candidates by setting search
parameters in their database of cover letters to reduce the number of documents which must
be reviewed in detail in the search for the ideal candidate.
Another unconventional option is represented by the video cover letter. This
alternative allows the candidate to differentiate himself/herself from the other applicants and
gives the employer a chance to see and hear the job seeker and make possibly a decisive
decision regarding the career of that individual. The video cover letter has created a new
industry, with recording studios, film directors, and editors who develop 90 second clips that
can be accessed via an imbedded link in the electronic rsum or curriculum vitae. The video
can also be posted on social sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. This method of selfadvertising is encouraged by the combination of widespread broadband Internet usage,
higher-quality video technology and increased enthusiasm for online video sharing (Ransom,
2007).

As a form of text based communication the cover letter can be edited and reedited, the
effect being a lack of spontaneity. Another consequence of its textual nature is that the cover
letter is asynchronous, i.e., it does not require immediate attention of the receiver, and thus it
can be archived and revisited periodically.
The existence of the cover letter as a form of indirect communication was determined
by the invention of writing and the development of the literate culture: in this context the
hearing-dominance yields to sight-dominance (Ong, 1988, 117), written words and
especially printed texts are not experienced directly but perceived as a separate entity between
sender and receiver (Ong, 1988,118), and the signs become the object of perception based on
vision (Ong, 1988, 123). It is interesting that the interview, an element of the oral culture,
when the hearing-dominance is reactivated, is still preserved in the recruiting process.
The power exerted by words or letters tends to determine the existence of individuals
in the space of a logocratic system, in which people are identified and their social status is
attested by means of uniforms, badges, distinctive signs and special documents that can be
read and understood by the members of the community. The functioning of the system is
based on the establishment of a transpersonal order that defines the relationships among
individuals. This order is reinforced by rigid codes; breaking the rules leads to various forms
and degrees of punishment.
As a product of the literate culture, the use of the cover letter is restricted only to
literate people while millions of inhabitants of the planet are still confined in the space of the
oral culture and are excluded from large areas of the contemporary social life.
For the literate group, the cover letter as identity marker has become a compulsory
component in the social kit of any professional. Submitted on line it is supposed to play a
fundamental part in the process of selection of employees and at the same time it illustrates a
trend to exhibit ones personal life on the Internet.
The cover letter is a must have document, a status symbol to be used in the cultural
game of distinction, a means to improve ones social status, and a consumer good fashioned
by specialists and available for purchase at the right price.
In a world in which people are viewed as products that need to market themselves the
cover letter plays the role of a powerful marketing tool.
Thus, the cover letter could be defined as a sales document that highlights the skills,
achievements and experience of an individual in such a way that the reader is motivated to
meet the author (Levinson, 2005, 95).
The inevitable document earned even a place in the field of urban legends under the
guise of the perfect cover letter, a text supposedly concocted with such skill and intelligence
that it could allow a candidate to gain safe access to a much desired job. Yet another
component of the urban folklore has its source in the examination of cover letters: funny
mistakes collected from various documents are included and can be accessed on line in humor
sites (Funny Cover Letter Examples. Perfectcoverletters. 2011).
A very serious issue regarding the information included in the cover letter is the matter
of lying in the hope of winning the much desired position made available by the employer. By
applying this method the offenders run the risk of being blacklisted forever from the company
that processed their correspondence.
Another problem to be considered is that concerning the efficiency of the whole
procedure: is the cover letter really telling a reader who you are? Is the information sufficient
to describe the make up of a personality? Since the late 1990s, in order to give the applicants a
chance to differentiate and distinguish themselves, employers have been more accepting of
texts that are longer than one page. Many professional cover letter writers and human
resources professionals believe that such a document should be long enough so that it

provides a concise, adequate, and accurate description of an applicant's employment history

and skills (Hart, 2002).
Another characteristic that could diminish the efficiency of the cover letter is the doubt
regarding the identity of the author; given the existence of companies which provide writing
services, in many cases, the only truly authentic element about the candidate is the raw data,
subsequently transformed into an appealing product meant to sell the candidate.
More than meeting the specifications mentioned in the definition of culture devised by
UNESCO, with regard to the existence of material, intellectual and emotional features and
their involvement in lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs,
the cover letters and all aspects characteristic of their existence, i.e., production,
communication and processing, generated a whole sociocultural and economic niche in which
a huge number of applicants, specialists, and hiring managers are active, the second and the
third groups functioning within powerful organizations whose impact on the job market is felt
on a global level.
REFERENCES
1. COVER LETTER. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved September 20, 2011,
from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/COVER LETTER
2. Cover Letter Law & Legal Definition. USLEGAL.COM. Retrieved September 20, 2011,
from USLEGAL.COM. website: http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/cover-letter/
3. Enelow, Wendy S., Louise M. Kursmark, 2004, Cover Letter Magic. Trade Secrets of
Professional Resume Writers, JIST Works, Indianapolis, IN.
4. Funny Cover Letter Examples. Perfectcoverletters. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from
perfectcoverletters.com website: http://perfectcoverletters.com/Tips/FunnyExamples/
5. Hart, Alison.2002, Catch their eye with a captivating cover letter, USATODAY.com,
12/17/2002 12:11 PM. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from USATODAY.com website:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/firstjob/2002-11-11-cover-letter_x.htm
6. Levinson, Jay Conrad, David E. Perry, 2005, GUERRILLA MARKETING FOR JOB
HUNTERS.400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks,and Tactics to Land Your Dream Job, John Wiley
& Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.
7. UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Retrieved September 20, 2011,
from UNESCO website: http://www.unesco.org/education/imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml
8. Ong, Walter J, 1988, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New Accents,
Ed. Terence Hawkes, Methuen, New York.
9. Ransom, Diana, 2007, Video Resumes Are Taking Off. The Wall Street Journal on Line,
January 01, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2007 from careerjournal.com website:
http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/resumes/20070101-ransom.html