With a background in Architectural Design, I am currently looking to expand my design expertise and start a career in the marketing and advertising fields.  I believe that my background in Architecture uniquely qualifies me for a position with Red Beret Design…As a Project Designer for an Architecture firm, I have had the opportunity to design buildings as well as produce all of the graphics for each project that I worked on…Designing logos for various people and businesses is a strong passion of mine…With my work experience, education and practice in logo design, I believe that I strongly qualify for a design position at Red Beret Design. I would welcome the opportunity of being a member of your team.

What’s wrong with this picture?

1. The web makes it  crazy easy to do research on your prospective employer. My name is right there on my website in the “About” page, which, by the way, does not show any team. Addressing a resume to “To Whom It May Concern” reflects a lack of initiative.
2. What about a background in architectural design would “uniquely qualify” someone to work for me? I have one client who recently needed an architectural illustration. That’s the only example I can think of, in 5+ years in business, that would require the skills of someone with a background in architectural design. Tell me more about the skill set you acquired as an architectural designer that gives you an edge over graphic designers. Is it an appreciation for structure? For ambience? Did conceptualizing the branding for developments lead you to your love of logo design?
3. What would make this person uniquely qualified to work for me? The lack of personal address leads me to believe that this person has probably sent this letter to dozens of firms, and that s/he believes him/herself to be “uniquely qualified” to work for all of them.
4. You believe that you “strongly qualify” for a design position with my firm, while displaying zero knowledge of my firm other than that you can spell the name (which not everyone can do, sad to say. And you’d be surprised how many telemarketers think “beret” rhymes with “ferret”.) Since you know nothing of my firm or my firm’s needs, it’s rather presumptuous to say that you “strongly qualify”. Now if you’d said “I’m sort of a cross between a system administrator and an office manager who has a passion for researching drupal and wordpress modules who also knows Photoshop and InDesign”, then I’d say you were uniquely qualified.

I have had emails from people who have not only addressed me by name, but have made specific comments about my portfolio, and about what they saw in my portfolio that made them want to work with me. Flattery? Of course. And flattery is always nice to hear. But it also means they took the time to learn about my work. And telling me the particulars that they responded to gives me an idea about their design style, even before I look at their portfolio.

Contrast the above email with someone who wrote “I really appreciate your elegant style (I did not find one random filigree or graffiti-style typeface!)”. That tells me that she actually looked at my portfolio, and has a specific idea of the type of designer she wants to work with (and she got a return email and offer of an internship, BTW).

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