It might be because I’m constantly looking for ways to relate a point I’m trying to make, or perhaps it’s because I was watching the show while thinking about my next blog, but I’ve been making a lot of connections between a resume/cover letter package and ABC’s The Bachelor.
Hear me out for a minute, here.
Just in case you aren’t familiar with the reality dating show, about 30 women drop everything and move to LA for the opportunity to meet and fall in love with a man (and let’s not forget the Bachelorette, in which the genders are reversed).
I know it’s possible for The Bachelor to give that final rose to a girl he didn’t make a strong connection with on the first night, but, if you 
watch the show, you know it’s highly unlikely.
There’s this thing called the first impression rose given on the first night of the series to someone who makes the best first impression on him.
Now, while statistics have proven the first impression rose recipient doesn’t often get chosen in the end, they have the advantage. They usually get one of the first one-on-one dates, which allows them to build upon the connection that’s already the strongest on the show.
If there’s one thing we know for sure, as is the case in life, first impressions are everything.
If you don’t make a good first impression when you walk out of the limo, chances are you’re likely to be eliminated later that evening.
This is exactly the case when submitting your resume and cover letter. You have about a minute to catch the attention of your employer, or they forget who you are, and you are thrown in the garbage.
You have to be different. You have to stand out. You have to make them want to meet you.
You also have to be qualified and be the candidate an employer is looking for.
While writing a resume and cover letter, it’s extremely important to make sure they mirror the job description in some way. It won’t matter what your resume looks like if you don’t have the skills to back it up.
Know your audience.
The last Bachelor was a farmer from Iowa.
Now, he probably would have been impressed with a movie star from New York who would never give up her career, but he’s more likely to ask a girl to say on the show who has the same values as him and wouldn’t mind living in a small Midwestern town.
Sure, there’s an interview process, and sure, there will be others competing against you (in The Bachelor, the interview process is a series of one-on-one and group dates, and those competing against you are likely a group of beautiful, catty women) — but a good resume and cover letter duo get you in the door and one step closer to landing that job.
Katie Devereaux is a writer who graduated from the University Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. She has written for several publications in Florida and for the Associated Press, and she most recently ran a newspaper in Alaska.
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