By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
EP 3136 A generic cover letter stands no chance against the gatekeepers blocking your way.
00:00 – Introduction: The “No BS Job Search Advice Radio” introduction and the goal of getting noticed in a sea of applicants.
00:20 – The Resume “Black Hole”: Discussing the frustration of automated rejections and being “ghosted.”
00:40 – The Gatekeepers: An explanation of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and the swamped recruiter.
01:04 – Why Traditional Cover Letters Fail: A blunt look at why “old school” cover letters are no longer effective.
01:30 – The Fatal Flaws: Breaking down why generic cover letters feel impersonal and boring.
01:53 – The Six-Second Rule: The critical amount of time a recruiter actually spends looking at your materials.
02:10 – The Solution: Disruptive Cover Letters: Introducing the concept of a “connection story” instead of a summary.
02:38 – The Party Analogy: How a job application should feel like a natural conversation rather than a list of skills.
03:00 – Crafting Your Story: Examples of how to write connection stories for companies like Google or Nabisco (Oreo).
03:46 – The 4-Step Process: 1. Find Connection. 2. Open with a Story. 3. Connect Skills. 4. Make the Ask.
04:10 – Storytelling in Your Resume: How to weave narrative elements into your bullet points and achievements.
04:25 – Making the Resume a Story: Strategies for quantification, mirroring keywords, and framing bullets as “mini-stories.”
04:53 – The Final Question: “What’s the story only you can tell?”
05:11 – Conclusion & Resources: Information on where to find more coaching at JobSearch.Community.
How to Build and Pitch Your Fractional Executive Playbook
This is No BS Job Search Advice Radio, episode 3136. Today, we are diving into a job application strategy that, frankly, just works. It’s all about how you can actually get noticed in what feels like an endless sea of applicants.
It’s a really cool approach, so let’s get right into it. So, does this sound familiar? You spend hours polishing your resume, you find that perfect job, you hit submit, and then… Crickets. Nothing.
Maybe you get that automated rejection email, or worse, you just get ghosted. It’s that dreaded resume black hole, and it is probably one of the most soul-crushing parts of looking for a job. Well, today we’re talking about how to fix that for good.
Okay, so to figure out the solution, we’ve got to understand the problem. Every single time you apply, you’re up against two big gatekeepers. First up is the machine, you know, the Applicant Tracking System, or ATS.
It’s just software that scans and sorts your resume way before any human ever lays eyes on it. Then, if you make it past the machine, you have to grab the attention of the human, a recruiter who is just swamped looking at hundreds, maybe thousands of applications. For years, we were all told the cover letter was our secret weapon.
Right? The one way to talk directly to that human recruiter. But that old-school approach? It’s completely useless against these modern gatekeepers. Let’s talk about why.
Yeah, pretty blunt, right? The traditional cover letter is dead. Don’t do it. But you know what? It gets right to the point.
That old, stuffy, to-whom-it-may-concern letter? It’s not just failing to help you. It might actually be hurting you. So what’s so bad about them? Well, first off, it’s basically just your resume written out in paragraph form.
Why would they read that? They already have your resume. Second, with all the AI tools out there now, recruiters just assume a robot wrote it anyway, so it feels completely impersonal. And here’s the biggest problem.
They don’t create any kind of human connection. They are just so boring. And this, this is the number that changes everything.
Six seconds. That is the average amount of time a recruiter spends looking at your stuff.
Six.Seconds. A boring, generic cover letter has zero chance of stopping them in their tracks. It’s just going to get a quick scan and then tossed right into the no pile.
Alright, so if the old way is dead and buried, what’s the new way? Well, the solution is something called the disruptive cover letter. And it’s built from the ground up to beat that six-second timer. And don’t let the word letter fool you.
It’s not really a letter at all. It’s a connection story. The entire goal here is to make the recruiter feel something, to show them on a really personal level that you actually get their company, and you’re not just blasting out applications to anyone and everyone.
I love this analogy because it just clicks. It’s not a resume summary. It’s a party conversation.
Think about it. If you met a recruiter from your dream company at a party, you wouldn’t just walk up and start listing your skills, right? Of course not. You’d start a real conversation.
You’d tell them a little story about why you think their company is so cool. That’s exactly what this new approach does, just in writing. Okay, so what do these connection stories actually look like in the real world? Let’s break down how you can write your own.
Check this one out. Imagine you’re applying to Google. Starting with, I remember the first time I used Google Search and it changed my life.
I mean, wow. That’s personal, it’s interesting, it immediately makes a connection to what the company does, and it makes the recruiter lean in and think, okay, tell me more. You’ve just bought yourself way more than six seconds.
Or how about this one? Six Oreos and a glass of milk was my go-to snack of choice after every soccer game. I mean, you instantly know who they’re applying to, right? This story doesn’t mention a single skill or qualification. Not at first.
What it does is create an emotion. It’s about nostalgia. It’s a personal link to the brand.
How to Become an Irresistible Hire
And that makes you unforgettable. So the whole process is actually pretty simple. You can break it down into four basic steps.
First, you’ve got to dig deep and find your genuine personal connection to the company. Second, you lead with that story right at the beginning to grab them. Third, and this part is crucial, you have to pivot from your story to how your skills can help them solve their problems.
And finally, you make the ask. You confidently ask for the interview. But here’s the thing.
This whole storytelling idea, it can’t just stop with the cover letter. For your application to be really powerful, that same story has to flow through your resume too. Your entire application package needs to tell one single compelling story about you.
So how on earth do you make a resume tell a story? Well, first, you quantify everything. Put numbers on your achievements to show your real impact. Second, you mirror the keywords from the job description.
That’s your ticket past the ATS machine. And third, you frame your bullet points as tiny little stories. Don’t just say you managed a team.
Say you led a 5-person team to increase sales by 20% in 6 months. See the difference? You’re showing the result. It’s all about showing, not just telling.
And really, that brings us to the most important question of all. Because at the end of the day, when you’re competing against hundreds of other people, your skills can start to look pretty similar on paper. The one thing that nobody else has is your story.
Your passion. Your unique connection. So what’s the story that only you can tell? There is a lot more to help you at JobSearch.Community. Visit the site, become an insider to receive coaching and all my content, or, if you prefer, purchase individual pieces of content.
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers
easier. Those things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 3100 episodes.
Strategic Interview Questions to Ask
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The Cost of a Long Job Search
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