![]() 03/29/2019 at 20:56 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
I decided to apply for a job today, and it has been a reminder of why I don’t do this very often. I haven’t applied for a job of any type since 2012, and all this resume updating and online application doing has taken a bunch of time. Although not required, I suppose I should write a cover letter too. I’ll probably finish things up tomorrow and check with a few folks to serve as references. I already contacted one person to serve as a reference and got an enthusiastic response, so the act of telling someone else made it actually feel real.
I’m not necessarily looking to leave the university, and the library is wonderful place to work, but a friend pointed me to a city job posting in a different but related field. I’m certainly qualified for the job , and it would be a very substantial salary increase (along with state retirement system reciprocity).
This work would be a lot less interesting than what I do now, but for enough money part of me thinks I could find a away to live with that. It would also mean supervising people again, which I’m more ambivalent about. I’ve done the manager thing before, and I’ve pretty happily worked my way to a place now where I don’t supervise anyone at all.
It seems like I should at least apply for the position. Given this is the kind of mid-career position I would expect to be filled via an internal search long before ever being listed externally in local government, maybe they’re looking for someone outside of their system.
Racecar picture for your time. If I were to be offered this job (and I were to accept it), I would actually be able to afford to play with the racecar again.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 21:11 |
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For the most part, I don’t think cover letters are necessary. It can’t hurt, but if you’re applying to a lot of jobs, I wouldn’t spend time writing them.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 21:18 |
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Counterpoint: if everyone else includes a custom cover letter and you do not, it’s an easy way for the first reviewer to toss your resume into the circular file.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 21:21 |
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Do the cover letter. Good luck and remember even if they offer doesn’t mean you have to accept.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:25 |
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In my experience, local government has to post every job publicly. If they want to limit it to internal candidates, they can say that. Otherwise, they may have someone internal in mind, but are doing the necessary advertisement and will consider someone external who is really special.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:30 |
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We work that way at the university, but local government in NM has a tendency to do internal only advertisements first for anything other than executive level positions or entry level stuff.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:40 |
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Do the cover letter. Always remember the most interesting of selling radio stations “WIIFM” What’s In It For Me”. In other words you should be able to lead a cogent discussion on why based upon their priorities would be the best possible candidate...... PS Nifty car from the guy that has been racing Honda’s for 28 years.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:52 |
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I’m going to write one. I’m not really looking for a job; I just happened to see this one and it had a salary range that attracted my interest. It would be a vastly less interesting job than what I do now.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:57 |
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Now I just the need money to play with it again. To quote a friend of mine, “ Barr’s whole deal is a good lesson... It’s important to write a cover letter that gives potential employers a real clear idea of exactly how you plan fix their most pressing problems.”
![]() 03/29/2019 at 22:58 |
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Indeed. I like what I do now , and who I do it for and with , enough that accepting an offer would not be an automatic decision.
![]() 03/29/2019 at 23:04 |
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Or said differently, how are you going to raise the bar.
![]() 03/30/2019 at 13:17 |
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Best of luck!