No Job Bites? Try The Emotional Cover Letter

Most cover letters have had an emotionectomy. Any sign of humanity has been replaced by sterile, job-seeker language like, "Spearheaded initiative that yielded 17% ROI," "Dynamic, self-starter seeks leadership opportunity with progressive company" or "Drove profit maximization through rigorous cost-control measures."

Cover letters' lack of emotion is ironic When a job is advertised, chances are that a number of candidates are pretty similar in qualifications. What often differentiates them is a feeling, an intuition the boss has about the candidates. Sterile cover letters don't create warm and fuzzies.