#6: Don’t Say Cutesy Stuff or Use Unprofessional and Irrelevant Information in Letters and Resumes

It drives Eric Zuckerman crazy when people start their cover letters with quotes and poems. He points to a letter he got that began with several lines by Robert Frost, awkwardly and somewhat inaccurately converted to prose:

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The writer went on to say, “My career has not been one of just circumstances, but what has been right. And that has led me to . . .” Zuckerman couldn’t remember more because he didn’t finish the letter.

He says that as he read it, “I wanted to know, ‘What’s your point? Who are you? Can we get to the meat here? I love Robert ...

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