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I still don't have a cover letter. But I did get the idea to brainstorm reasons why I think I can do the job, without worrying if they are stupid reasons or if they are reasons that could convince others. I came up with 32 reasons on the way home from work, including this one: I'm the type of person who takes vacation time to go to education-related conferences. And I am good friends with a highly experienced statistician who likes to teach people how to do statistics. R. says not to put the second one in a cover letter (though I could mention it in an interview). I should say I have a background in math and some experience with statistics and imply that I already can do whatever is needed. At least one of his co-workers told him you should always act like you can do 40% more than you really can.

I guess that once you imply you can already do stuff, you are motivated to quickly learn it on the job. To me it feels too much like lying, which sounds like a bad idea. Even if it's a good idea for some people, it's probably not a good one for me because it's totally not my style. Still, he's probably right that saying I know someone else who knows how to do relevant stuff is not the best strategy.

on 2007-04-21 05:08 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] livingdeb.livejournal.com
Responding to my requests at face value is generally safe, and if it isn't, I will blame myself, so it's really always safe.

Thanks for all this excellent advice! I should hang on to my friend as a secret weapon and use your advice for getting a real clue very efficiently.

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