Job hunting advice

It's been long since I've been looking for a job or have interviewed applicants for a position. I was recently asked for my advice on writing the kind of cover letter typically sent with job applications. As I went through the process with a clear mind and without pressure, I suddenly realized that most of the letters I had ever written on the subject weren't as good as they could have been, and focused too much on showing off my abilities and achievement and missed the opportunity to giving my potential employer a compelling reason for hiring me.

No matter what we're told, we generally stay too much focused on telling our own story, and not enough on confirming what's expected of the job seeker. That when I suddenly realized that some “reverse engineering” is in order to “mirror” what the employer, or I should say the interviewer, will be looking for and the way results are likely to be rated. Simply put, the cover letter must cleverly and succinctly “repackage” what the employer is looking for. I sincerely believe that if I had done that when I was job hunting, I would have been trading a lot of struggles for some stunning successes...