WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today I want to 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:05.139 start by asking you to visualize something. It 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:10.419 is a very specific, very modern form of torture. 00:00:10.699 --> 00:00:13.099 Okay, I'm with you. You're sitting at your desk. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.000 Maybe it's late at night. The glow of the laptop 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.579 screen is the only light in the room. And in 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:22.100 front of you is a blank white page with a single 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:24.820 blinking vertical line at the top left corner. 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:27.579 The cursor. It is mocking you. it is absolutely 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.000 mocking you because you have a task that on paper 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.590 sounds simple you have to write Three, maybe 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:36.049 four paragraphs. That's all. That's all. But 00:00:36.049 --> 00:00:37.829 in those four paragraphs, you have to somehow 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:40.789 summarize your entire existence, justify your 00:00:40.789 --> 00:00:43.229 value as a human being, and, you know, politely 00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:44.909 beg for the privilege of paying your rent next 00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:47.049 month. And you have to do it without sounding 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:49.710 desperate. Right. While simultaneously sounding 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:51.969 incredibly enthusiastic about, I don't know, 00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:54.429 data entry or supply chain management. Exactly. 00:00:54.649 --> 00:00:56.710 We are talking, of course, about the cover letter, 00:00:56.829 --> 00:01:00.409 that single most agonizing page of text. It really 00:01:00.409 --> 00:01:02.689 is. But here's the thing, and this is why we're 00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:04.769 doing a deep dive on it today. I always thought 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:07.049 the cover letter was just a nuisance. You know, 00:01:07.049 --> 00:01:08.849 a hoop to jump through. A formality. A total 00:01:08.849 --> 00:01:11.870 formality. But we got this stack of sources today 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:14.930 centered around a really comprehensive breakdown 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:17.810 of the concept. And it turns out this piece of 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:22.170 paper is, it's heavy. It is surprisingly heavy. 00:01:22.209 --> 00:01:24.109 When you look at the research, the cover letter 00:01:24.109 --> 00:01:26.590 isn't just a formality at all. It's this bizarre 00:01:26.590 --> 00:01:30.670 intersection of psychology, economics, legal 00:01:30.670 --> 00:01:35.650 theory and social signaling. Right. It is a document 00:01:35.650 --> 00:01:38.670 that carries the weight of how we view labor, 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:41.209 how we view ourselves and how the economy sort 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:44.140 of sorts winners from losers. We found sources 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:46.079 that cover everything from the nitty gritty formatting 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.519 rules, like literally where the commas go to 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:51.000 these deep psychological studies on what makes 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.180 a letter good. And then, and this is the part 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:54.780 I really want to get into, we have this massive 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:56.920 list of related concepts that connects the humble 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:00.219 cover letter to things like bullshit jobs, mortgage 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:02.239 loans, and even something called the banishment 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.180 room. Which sounds like a fantasy novel trope, 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:09.080 but is actually a very real and very bleak corporate 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:12.750 practice. So here is the mission for today. We're 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.610 going to move way beyond the how to. If you're 00:02:15.610 --> 00:02:17.949 looking for a template to copy paste, you know, 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:20.169 Google can help you. We want to understand the 00:02:20.169 --> 00:02:25.210 why. Why in an age of algorithms, LinkedIn, easy 00:02:25.210 --> 00:02:28.569 apply buttons and gig workers, are we still writing 00:02:28.569 --> 00:02:30.530 these formal letters of introduction? Right. 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:33.009 What is the actual function of this document? 00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:36.530 Is it a pitch? Is it a legal inventory? Or is 00:02:36.530 --> 00:02:39.030 it, as some of the darker parts of our sources 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.729 suggest, a mechanism for filtering out people 00:02:41.729 --> 00:02:43.810 who just aren't willing to suffer enough? We're 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:45.669 going to decode the difference between your resume, 00:02:45.889 --> 00:02:48.069 your history, and your cover letter, your story. 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:50.710 And we're going to explore the entire ecosystem 00:02:50.710 --> 00:02:53.550 of work that surrounds this letter, from the 00:02:53.550 --> 00:02:56.789 precariat to the post -work society. It's a journey 00:02:56.789 --> 00:02:59.110 from the first dear hiring manager to the final 00:02:59.110 --> 00:03:01.590 sincerely. So let's start with the basics. Let's 00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:03.689 look at the definition itself. Our source throws 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:05.969 a few terms at us right out of the gate. We know 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:08.129 it as the cover letter. Yeah, the standard American 00:03:08.129 --> 00:03:12.409 term. But the source also lists motivation letter, 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:15.270 letter of motivation, and letter of introduction. 00:03:15.650 --> 00:03:17.889 And if you want to be very precise or perhaps 00:03:17.889 --> 00:03:20.509 a bit British about it. The covering letter. 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:22.349 Covering letter always sounds like you're trying 00:03:22.349 --> 00:03:24.930 to hide something. Like, I'm covering up my lack 00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:27.110 of experience with this letter. It does have 00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:29.189 that connotation, doesn't it? Yeah. But the term 00:03:29.189 --> 00:03:31.289 motivation letter is actually, I think, the most 00:03:31.289 --> 00:03:33.870 revealing. How so? Well, the source defines the 00:03:33.870 --> 00:03:36.409 document fundamentally as a letter of introduction 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:39.469 attached to another document, usually a resume 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:43.770 or a curriculum vitae. But motivation is the 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:45.969 key. Because the resume doesn't show motivation. 00:03:46.550 --> 00:03:49.289 Exactly. Think about the distinction. The resume 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:51.650 is a historical record. It's a list of facts. 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:54.949 I worked at Company A from 2018 to 2020. I managed 00:03:54.949 --> 00:03:57.830 a budget of X dollars. Right. Those are cold, 00:03:57.969 --> 00:04:00.210 hard facts. They are the fossils of your career. 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:03.330 Okay. So the resume is the museum exhibit, the 00:04:03.330 --> 00:04:06.030 dinosaur bones. Right. But the cover letter, 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:08.550 the cover letter is the tour guide. It's the 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:11.349 narrative. The source makes this distinction 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:14.229 very clearly. It says the resume outlines the 00:04:14.229 --> 00:04:16.649 professional journey, but the cover letter allows 00:04:16.649 --> 00:04:19.959 the applicant to convey their Personality, passion, 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:22.439 and potential contributions. That's a powerful 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.500 triad. Personality, passion, potential. It is. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:27.860 And it solves the data problem. You can't bullet 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:30.959 point passion on a CV. No. If you write, I am 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:33.980 very enthusiastic on a resume, it looks unprofessional. 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:36.040 It looks like filler. It looks silly. It looks 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:39.029 silly. But in a letter, in a letter. You can 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:40.750 use your voice. You can use sentence structure, 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:44.149 tone, and energy to show that enthusiasm rather 00:04:44.149 --> 00:04:46.209 than just stating it. So the resume is the what 00:04:46.209 --> 00:04:48.370 and the cover letter is the who and the why. 00:04:48.829 --> 00:04:51.430 Precisely. And the source uses a word that I 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:53.269 think is critical here. It describes the letter 00:04:53.269 --> 00:04:55.970 as a pitch. It says it is a pitch describing 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:59.189 one's interest in the position. skills, and relevant 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:01.649 experience. Pitch changes the framing entirely. 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:04.430 A resume feels like a form you fill out at the 00:05:04.430 --> 00:05:06.709 DMV. A pitch feels like you're on Shark Tank. 00:05:06.930 --> 00:05:09.329 It shifts the dynamic from administrative to 00:05:09.329 --> 00:05:11.689 commercial, doesn't it? You are not just submitting 00:05:11.689 --> 00:05:14.569 information, you're marketing a product. And 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:17.310 that product is you. The product is you. You're 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:20.430 trying to convince a buyer, the employer, that 00:05:20.430 --> 00:05:23.769 this product solves their specific problem. But 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:26.129 here's where we have to flip the script, because 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:28.449 while we're writing these letters thinking, I 00:05:28.449 --> 00:05:30.990 need to pitch myself, I need to get hired, the 00:05:30.990 --> 00:05:33.550 source suggests the employer is doing something 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:36.009 very different with them. This is the screening 00:05:36.009 --> 00:05:38.449 function. Yeah. And it is a bit cynical, but 00:05:38.449 --> 00:05:41.310 I mean, it's undeniably true. The source notes 00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:43.550 that employers use these letters as a method 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:46.709 of screening out applicants, not screening them 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:49.149 in, screening them out. Think about the economics 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:52.149 of hiring. If I post a job for marketing coordinator, 00:05:52.449 --> 00:05:55.649 I might get 500 applications. Or more. Or more. 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:59.189 I cannot interview 500 people. I can't even carefully 00:05:59.189 --> 00:06:02.790 read 500 resumes. I need a quick, brutal way 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:06.310 to reduce that pile to maybe 50. So the cover 00:06:06.310 --> 00:06:08.550 letter is the machete you use to hack through 00:06:08.550 --> 00:06:11.949 the jungle of applicants. It is. The source explicitly 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:15.329 says it filters out those who are not sufficiently 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:19.129 interested or those who... Lack necessary basic 00:06:19.129 --> 00:06:22.009 skills. It's a filter for apathy. A filter for 00:06:22.009 --> 00:06:24.910 apathy. That is such a good phrase for it. It's 00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:28.529 a proof of life test or maybe proof of suffering. 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.209 Proof of suffering. If you send a generic resume 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:34.209 with no letter or you use a template where you 00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:37.220 forgot to change the company name. Which happens 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:39.339 all the time. Oh, all the time. You have signaled 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:41.279 apathy. You have signaled that you were just 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.379 clicking buttons. So the mere act of writing 00:06:43.379 --> 00:06:45.660 a custom letter, even if it's not a masterpiece, 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.500 is the first test. It proves you have the endurance 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.279 to sit down, read the description, and type out 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.600 sentences that are specific to this one opportunity. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.480 Exactly. The source mentions that employers look 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.980 for individualized and thoughtfully written letters. 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:01.959 If you do that, you have already beaten the people 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:05.050 who just hit easy apply. You have passed the 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:07.089 apathy filter. This connects to something else 00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:08.850 I saw on the source list, a term that's become 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:11.850 really popular lately, the concept of the personality 00:07:11.850 --> 00:07:15.769 hire. Yes. This is a term that has really taken 00:07:15.769 --> 00:07:18.810 off, especially on social media, but it's rooted 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:22.009 in real organizational psychology. The personality 00:07:22.009 --> 00:07:24.329 hire is usually, you know, the joke about the 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:26.430 person who isn't great at the job but is fun 00:07:26.430 --> 00:07:28.550 to have at happy hour. That's the meme version 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:31.600 for sure. But the serious version is listed in 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.800 our source as personality job fit theory. Okay, 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:37.040 personality job fit theory. Let's unpack that. 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:40.480 The idea is that skills are only half the equation. 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.199 You can be the best coder in the world, but if 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.720 your personality is abrasive, or if you need 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:49.240 constant supervision, or if you just hate collaboration. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:51.819 You could be a disaster for the team. You could 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:54.519 be a total disaster. The resume proves the skills. 00:07:55.019 --> 00:07:57.160 The cover letter is the primary document for 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.339 establishing the personality job fit. It's where 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:01.540 you signal, hey, I'm normal. I'm pleasant. I 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:04.199 speak your language. It's where you signal conscientiousness. 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:07.060 Are you careful? It's where you signal agreeableness. 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.959 Are you polite? The employer is reading between 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.139 the lines of your pitch to see if they actually 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:14.680 want to spend 40 hours a week in an office with 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.079 you. It's a vibe check. It's the ultimate vibe 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.500 check. So we know what it is. It's a pitch. It's 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:22.319 a filter. It's a vibe check. Now let's talk about 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.620 the different flavors of this thing. Because 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:26.500 I think most listeners assume a cover letter 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:29.500 is just a cover letter, but the source breaks 00:08:29.500 --> 00:08:32.700 it down into a taxonomy. Yes, and knowing which 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:35.320 category you're operating in is crucial for your 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.179 strategy. The source identifies two main types 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:41.600 of employment cover letters. The first one is 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:43.759 the classic, the one everyone knows, the letter 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.519 of application. This is what 90 % of cover letters 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.879 are. The source defines it as responding to a 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.340 specific advertised opening. Right. The company 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:55.419 puts up a bat signal saying we need an accountant 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:58.220 and you respond. Standard operating procedure. 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:00.940 You are reacting to their need. You are filling 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:03.039 a slot they have already defined. But the second 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.440 type is where the real hustlers live. The letter 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.080 of inquiry. A cold call. The source defines this 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:10.620 as expressing interest in an organization when 00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:12.919 the job seeker is uncertain whether there are 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.200 current openings. This is the unsolicited pitch. 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:19.009 It's you, the job seeker, being proactive. It 00:09:19.009 --> 00:09:21.429 sounds kind of terrifying just writing to a company 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:24.190 out of the blue and saying, hello, I exist and 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:27.110 you should probably hire me. It is bold. It takes 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:30.929 a lot of guts. But it's a strategic tool to access 00:09:30.929 --> 00:09:34.769 what economists and our source list call the 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.690 hidden job market. The hidden job market. I love 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:39.789 that term. It sounds like a secret level in a 00:09:39.789 --> 00:09:42.919 video game. It basically is. Statistics vary, 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:45.899 but a huge percentage of jobs are never publicly 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.820 advertised. Really? Oh, absolutely. A manager 00:09:48.820 --> 00:09:51.279 knows someone is quitting next month but hasn't 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:54.259 posted the ad yet. Or a team is overworked and 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:56.259 thinking about hiring but hasn't gotten approval. 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:58.399 Or maybe they just want to hire someone through 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.600 their network to avoid the whole 500 applicant 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.460 problem. So the letter of inquiry is about timing. 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.379 It's about getting there first. It's about preemptive 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:09.570 striking. By sending a letter of inquiry... You 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:11.970 are trying to intercept the hiring manager before 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.269 they go to the open market. You are trying to 00:10:14.269 --> 00:10:17.269 reduce what the source calls frictional unemployment. 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:19.509 Frictional unemployment. That's one of the economic 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:21.750 terms in our list. Break that down for us. It 00:10:21.750 --> 00:10:24.830 refers to the time lag between jobs. The time 00:10:24.830 --> 00:10:27.549 you spend searching, interviewing, negotiating. 00:10:28.549 --> 00:10:31.909 That is friction in the economic machine. It's 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:34.710 the inefficiency of matching a worker to a job. 00:10:34.909 --> 00:10:37.429 Exactly. The letter of inquiry tries to grease 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:41.000 the wheels. It says, I am here. I am ready. Let's 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.620 get the public search. Let's reduce that friction. 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:46.100 If you send a letter of application, you are 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:48.840 one of 500 applicants. If you send a letter of 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.440 inquiry, you might be the only applicant. Precisely. 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:54.360 High risk of being ignored, but infinite reward 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:56.559 if you hit the mark at the right time. Now, there 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.679 is a third variant mentioned in the source that 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:00.700 I found really funny and also, you know, kind 00:11:00.700 --> 00:11:04.409 of sad. The internship cover letter. Ah, yes. 00:11:04.710 --> 00:11:07.149 The student paradox. The source notes that students 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:09.830 are often asked to submit a cover letter, and 00:11:09.830 --> 00:11:11.389 it says these letters should include examples 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:13.929 of extracurricular and academic experiences, 00:11:14.190 --> 00:11:16.470 which makes sense because they don't have a professional 00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:18.870 journey to talk about yet. Right. You mine your 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:21.149 life for data. I was the treasurer of the chess 00:11:21.149 --> 00:11:24.129 club. I organized the campus cleanup. You try 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:25.889 to make that sound like project management experience. 00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:30.529 Yes. But then the source says this. Despite this 00:11:30.529 --> 00:11:33.480 specific information. Cover letters for internships 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.299 should have a standard business letter format. 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:39.500 That is the paradox. It's demanding that a 19 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:42.440 -year -old who has likely never set foot in an 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.039 office adopt the aesthetic and tone of a 45 -year 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.240 -old middle manager. It is a test of norms. It's 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.460 what sociologists might call a test of cultural 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:55.279 capital. The employer knows you don't have the 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.299 experience. So what are they looking for? They 00:11:57.299 --> 00:11:59.440 want to see if you can perform the role. Can 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.460 you wear the costume? Can you figure out the 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:03.559 formal salutation? Can you structure a paragraph 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.200 logically? Can you find the address and put it 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:08.659 in the right place? It's mimicry. It is. It's 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:11.139 a code switching test. If you can write a standard 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:13.100 business letter without ever having been in business, 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.559 it proves you are observant and adaptable. It 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.639 proves you can fit into the white collar world, 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.320 another term from our list, without needing your 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.379 handheld. Wow. It's a test before the test. That's 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:26.919 a great way to put it. So whether you're a student 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:29.720 or a veteran, you have to write this thing. And 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.360 the source actually cites studies on what makes 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.460 a letter good. And I have to be honest, the first 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:39.440 rule of the science of cover letters feels childish. 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.500 You mean the hygiene rule? Yeah. The source says 00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:45.340 a good letter must be well punctuated and spelled 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:48.399 and grammatically correct. It must be free of 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.639 mistakes and typos. It sounds basic, doesn't 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:53.519 it? Yeah. Like something your third grade teacher 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.700 would have on a poster. Is that really a scientific 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:58.740 insight? Don't make typos. In the context of 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.980 selection, yes. Because, again, go back to the 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:04.840 screening out function. When an employer has 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.000 a stack of 100 resumes, they are looking for 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.860 reasons to say no. A typo is the easiest, most 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.240 objective reason to reject someone. It's the 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:17.299 brown M &M test that Van Halen used to do. Exactly. 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:18.879 For those who don't know, they put in their contract 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.480 that there should be no brown M &Ms in their 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.980 dressing room. Not because they hated brown M 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:26.379 &Ms. No, but if they saw a brown M &M, they knew 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:28.120 the venue hadn't read the contract carefully. 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:31.779 And if they missed that detail, what other more 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:34.559 important technical details did they miss? A 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.779 typo is the brown M &M. If you have a typo in 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:39.679 the document that is supposed to be your pitch, 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:42.419 the one document you had infinite time to perfect, 00:13:42.779 --> 00:13:45.600 what are your emails to clients going to look 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.159 like? Exactly. It signals a lack of conscientiousness, 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:52.059 one of the big five personality traits. It's 00:13:52.059 --> 00:13:54.539 a huge red flag. So hygiene is the baseline. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:57.279 If you pass that, what's the next level of science? 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.649 Chronology and narrative. The source says you 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:03.370 should use timelines to highlight chronological 00:14:03.370 --> 00:14:05.850 information. Now, I have always heard advice 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:08.490 that says don't just repeat your resume, but 00:14:08.490 --> 00:14:10.450 this suggests you should use the timeline. I'm 00:14:10.450 --> 00:14:12.090 a bit confused by that. You shouldn't repeat 00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:13.950 the data of the resume. You should interpret 00:14:13.950 --> 00:14:15.850 the timeline of the resume. Okay, explain that. 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:20.629 A resume says Job A from 2018 -2020, then Job 00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:24.870 B from 2020 -2022. A cover letter explains the 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:28.370 transition. It builds the story. I mastered the 00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:30.889 skills at Joe Bay, which made me realize I wanted 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:33.690 to specialize in X. And that's what led me to 00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:36.269 seek out the opportunity to be where I could. 00:14:36.450 --> 00:14:39.029 It turns a list into a story. It provides the 00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:41.570 why. It provides the causal link. It explains 00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:44.070 the motivation behind the movement. That is what 00:14:44.070 --> 00:14:46.309 the human brain craves. We don't crave lists 00:14:46.309 --> 00:14:49.009 of data points. We crave narratives. And the 00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:52.190 third scientific pillar. Specificity. The source 00:14:52.190 --> 00:14:54.830 says the letter must be specific to the job being 00:14:54.830 --> 00:14:57.129 applied for, demonstrating some knowledge of 00:14:57.129 --> 00:14:59.649 the company and position. And it explicitly says 00:14:59.649 --> 00:15:01.350 you need to reference the latest job positions. 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:03.330 This is the up -to -date rule. It connects back 00:15:03.330 --> 00:15:05.009 to that apathy filter we were talking about. 00:15:05.169 --> 00:15:07.090 It's the part that kills people. This is the 00:15:07.090 --> 00:15:09.049 real work. You have to research the company. 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.190 You can't just say, I love your company and its 00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:13.809 amazing products. You have to say, I was so impressed 00:15:13.809 --> 00:15:16.690 by your recent Q3 initiative to expand into the 00:15:16.690 --> 00:15:18.889 Southeast Asian market because my experience 00:15:18.889 --> 00:15:21.820 in regional logistics. Precisely. You have to 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.399 prove that your letter could only be sent to 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.299 this one specific company for this one specific 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:29.700 role. That is a great rule of thumb. If it's 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:32.820 modular, it's mediocre. Exactly. If you can swap 00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:34.919 the company name and the letter still makes sense, 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.480 it's a bad letter. And the source ties this all 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.799 together by describing resumes and cover letters 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:42.940 as marketing devices. Which goes back to the 00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:46.000 idea of the pitch. In marketing, personalization 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.720 is everything. You are the product. The cover 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.820 letter is the ad copy. And nobody likes a generic 00:15:51.820 --> 00:15:54.559 junk mail flyer. To current resident. Exactly. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.820 You wanted to say, dear hiring manager's name, 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.460 I saw your specific problem, and I have the solution. 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:01.840 Okay, so that's the job hunt. We get it. It's 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:03.820 a pitch. It's a filter. It needs to be typo -free 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:06.600 and specific. But this is the deep dive, and 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.100 we promised we'd go weirder. And here is where 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:11.320 it gets really interesting for me. The pivot 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:14.320 to the non -job world. The source has a section 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.519 called other uses, and it turns out cover letters 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.080 aren't just for job seekers. They are used in, 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:22.919 and I quote, loan applications, mortgage loan, 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:26.259 contract drafts and proposals, and executed documents. 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.779 Yes. This broadens the definition significantly. 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.460 Suddenly, it's not about passion. It's about 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:35.659 something else entirely. I'm just picturing writing 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:38.919 a cover letter for a mortgage. Dear bank, I have 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.340 a burning passion for interest rates. I have 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:43.559 dreamed of paying you money on a 30 -year schedule 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:45.700 since I was a small child. Collapse. Well, the 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:48.440 passion element we talked about. That recedes 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.600 here. In a job letter, you persuade with passion 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:55.120 and personality. But in a mortgage or legal cover 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:57.419 letter, the persuasion is different. What are 00:16:57.419 --> 00:16:59.340 you pitching if not passion? You are pitching 00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:01.899 order. You're pitching clarity and competence. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.900 The source says such a letter might simply be 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:07.119 an inventory or summary of the documents included. 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:09.500 Like a table of contents. That doesn't sound 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:12.200 very persuasive. But it is, in its own way. Imagine 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:14.720 you're a loan officer. You get a messy, disorganized 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.400 stack of bank statements, tax returns, and pay 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:21.000 stubs. It's chaos. Then, you get a file with 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.509 a crisp cover letter on top. Enclosed are the 00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:27.990 requested documents, organized by year. Please 00:17:27.990 --> 00:17:30.309 note that the large deposit on January 1st was 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:33.250 an annual bonus, as explained in Exhibit A. The 00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:35.230 withdrawal on March 5th was for a down payment 00:17:35.230 --> 00:17:38.069 on a car, documentation for which is in Exhibit 00:17:38.069 --> 00:17:40.970 B. Oh, I see. You are pitching yourself as a 00:17:40.970 --> 00:17:43.230 safe bet, as someone who has their life together. 00:17:43.529 --> 00:17:45.210 You are pitching competence. You are pitching 00:17:45.210 --> 00:17:47.769 stability. The source mentions these letters 00:17:47.769 --> 00:17:51.029 discuss expected future actions. You are framing 00:17:51.029 --> 00:17:53.690 the narrative for the reader. Here is my financial 00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:56.410 past. Here is why my financial future is secure 00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:58.869 and why you should trust me with this huge sum 00:17:58.869 --> 00:18:01.890 of money. It's all about control. It is. Whether 00:18:01.890 --> 00:18:04.269 it's a job or a loan, the person on the other 00:18:04.269 --> 00:18:06.930 side of the desk has a huge stack of paper. They're 00:18:06.930 --> 00:18:09.549 confused and overwhelmed. The cover letter is 00:18:09.549 --> 00:18:11.549 your chance to hold their hand and say, don't 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:13.890 worry, I've made this easy for you. Here is how 00:18:13.890 --> 00:18:16.009 you should read this. You are the narrator of 00:18:16.009 --> 00:18:18.609 your own documentation. Exactly. Okay, I want 00:18:18.609 --> 00:18:21.029 to move into what I think is the meat of this 00:18:21.029 --> 00:18:23.750 deep dive. The source material provided these 00:18:23.750 --> 00:18:27.029 massive lists under see also, categories, and 00:18:27.029 --> 00:18:29.589 further reading. And honestly, reading through 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:31.910 these lists felt like reading a map of the entire 00:18:31.910 --> 00:18:35.049 modern human condition regarding work. It really 00:18:35.049 --> 00:18:37.589 is an ecosystem. You pull on the thread of cover 00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:40.720 letter. and you unravel the whole tapestry of 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.980 labor in the 21st century. So let's start with 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:45.039 the section I'm calling The Gateway to What. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.460 The source lists different classifications of 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:51.319 work that a cover letter might unlock. We have 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:53.890 the usual suspects. White collar or blue collar? 00:18:54.029 --> 00:18:56.690 The classics. Office work versus manual labor. 00:18:56.869 --> 00:18:58.769 But then we have pink collar, gold collar, no 00:18:58.769 --> 00:19:01.329 collar. These terms are fascinating markers of 00:19:01.329 --> 00:19:03.410 how we value different types of labor, aren't 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:05.869 they? Pink collar usually refers to care work, 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:08.950 nursing, teaching, secretarial work fields historically 00:19:08.950 --> 00:19:11.710 dominated by women. And gold collar? That's a 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:14.009 newer term for the ultra -skilled knowledge worker, 00:19:14.210 --> 00:19:17.589 the surgeon, the elite lawyer, the top -tier 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:20.359 software architect. The people who probably don't 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.339 need to write cover letters because the jobs 00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:25.220 come to them? Sometimes, yes. Or their cover 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:27.940 letter is a referral from another high -status 00:19:27.940 --> 00:19:31.119 person. But the list also includes gig worker. 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:34.579 Gig worker. Yeah. Now, does an Uber driver write 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:36.460 a cover letter? Not in the traditional sense, 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:38.740 no. You don't send a PDF to Uber headquarters. 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:41.539 But think about the profile bio on a gig app 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.019 like TaskRabbit or Upwork. I'm reliable. I have 00:19:44.019 --> 00:19:46.339 my own tools. Five -star rating. I respond quickly. 00:19:46.619 --> 00:19:48.829 That is a micro cover letter. It serves the exact 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:51.789 same function. Introduction, pitch, persuasion. 00:19:51.869 --> 00:19:54.390 It's just compressed into 280 characters instead 00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:56.990 of a full page. So the impulse to market oneself 00:19:56.990 --> 00:20:00.690 has just atomized and spread into every crevice 00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:03.210 of the economy. It absolutely has. Which brings 00:20:03.210 --> 00:20:04.990 us to a term in the list that really stopped 00:20:04.990 --> 00:20:08.720 me in my tracks, the precariat. Yes. The precariat. 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.700 This is a sociological term, right? It was popularized 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:13.859 by Guy Standing. It's a portmanteau. Right. It 00:20:13.859 --> 00:20:16.299 combines proletariat with precarious. It sounds 00:20:16.299 --> 00:20:19.819 like a dinosaur. The precariat roaming the plains 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.160 of the Goog economy. It's much scarier than a 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:25.279 dinosaur. It refers to a growing class of people 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:28.460 who live with zero job security. They bounce 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:30.960 from gig to gig, contract to contract, internship 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.599 to internship. They have no benefits, no pension, 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:36.539 no predictability. And for the precariat, the 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:38.299 cover letter isn't a one -time thing you do when 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:40.960 you graduate or want to switch jobs. No. For 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.039 the precariat, the cover letter is a lifestyle. 00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:46.170 You are constantly pitching. You are constantly 00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:48.690 introducing yourself. You're constantly marketing. 00:20:48.750 --> 00:20:51.109 You're constantly begging for the next scrap 00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:53.869 of work. That sounds utterly exhausting. It is. 00:20:53.890 --> 00:20:56.869 It creates a state of permanent anxiety. The 00:20:56.869 --> 00:20:59.650 source lists the cover letter as a tool to overcome 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:03.369 barriers to entry to permanent employment. For 00:21:03.369 --> 00:21:05.930 the precariat, that barrier is always there. 00:21:06.049 --> 00:21:08.529 The next gig is always just beyond the next pitch. 00:21:08.789 --> 00:21:10.950 So the cover letter becomes a document of survival. 00:21:11.349 --> 00:21:13.519 Absolutely. It's the tool you had to keep using 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.039 just to stay afloat. And that survival struggle 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:19.960 takes us to the hiring gauntlet. The sourceless 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:22.440 cover letter, alongside a bunch of other hurdles, 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.880 drug testing, background check, simultaneous 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.900 recruiting of new graduates, and one that seems 00:21:28.900 --> 00:21:32.200 really counterintuitive. overqualification it's 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:34.839 an obstacle course and the cover letter is just 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:37.160 the first wall you have to climb let's talk about 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:39.539 overqualification because that seems backwards 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:42.660 if i'm overqualified shouldn't i definitely get 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:45.380 the job you would think so but this goes back 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:47.420 to that personality job fit theory we talked 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:49.839 about earlier how so if you're overqualified 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:52.599 The employer worries about fit. They think he's 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:54.740 going to be bored or she's going to leave as 00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:57.019 soon as something better comes along or he's 00:21:57.019 --> 00:21:58.920 going to be expensive and demand to raise quickly 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:02.259 or even she might want my job. So you get rejected 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:04.579 for being too good. Correct. So the cover letter 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:07.259 becomes this bizarre exercise in threading the 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:10.359 needle. You have to sound smart, but not too 00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:13.279 smart. Experienced, but willing to learn. You 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.660 have to modulate your pitch to fit the container 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:17.559 they have built for the role. You have to dim 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:20.240 your own light to fit in the room. Often, yes, 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:22.440 you have to downplay your experience to seem 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.420 like a good fit. And all of this happens before 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:27.900 you even get to onboarding or induction program, 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:30.539 also listed in the source. You are jumping through 00:22:30.539 --> 00:22:32.819 all these hoops just to get to the starting line. 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:35.059 And what is waiting for us at the starting line? 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:37.759 Well, the See Also section has some pretty grim 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.319 news about that, too. Size. The dark side of 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:43.700 the workplace. This part of the list is bleak. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.980 The list includes bullshit job, bore out. Sunday 00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:51.839 scaries, toxic workplace, narcissism in the workplace, 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:54.819 psychopathy in the workplace. It is a rogues 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:56.920 gallery of corporate dysfunction. It really is. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:58.880 And it makes me think about the emotional state 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.259 of writing a cover letter. You are sitting there 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:03.700 manufacturing all this passion and excitement, 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.500 writing about how thrilled you would be to join 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:09.000 this amazing team. And you might be pitching 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.140 yourself into a toxic workplace run by a clinical 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.960 psychopath. That is the tragedy of it. The cover 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.200 letter is an optimistic document. It has to be. 00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:20.490 It assumes the job is worth having. But the source 00:23:20.490 --> 00:23:23.009 reminds us that many jobs are bullshit jobs, 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:25.910 a term coined by the anthropologist David Graeber. 00:23:25.990 --> 00:23:28.490 Right. Jobs that serve no real purpose. Even 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:30.829 the people doing them know it. Exactly. And that 00:23:30.829 --> 00:23:33.470 leads directly to bore out. Which is different 00:23:33.470 --> 00:23:35.869 from burnout. Very different. We all know burnout. 00:23:36.410 --> 00:23:39.630 Working too hard, being overwhelmed. Bore out 00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:42.569 is the opposite. It's the profound psychological 00:23:42.569 --> 00:23:45.109 stress of being chronically under challenged, 00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:47.990 of sitting at a desk pretending to work for eight 00:23:47.990 --> 00:23:49.609 hours because you have nothing meaningful to 00:23:49.609 --> 00:23:52.049 do. So you write a passionate letter to get a 00:23:52.049 --> 00:23:54.490 bullshit job where you suffer from bore out and 00:23:54.490 --> 00:23:56.569 get the Sunday scaries every weekend thinking 00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:59.549 about it. And you do it because the alternative 00:23:59.549 --> 00:24:03.059 is unemployment. Which the source also details. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.880 Let's talk about that. The source breaks down 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.599 unemployment into these specific types. Frictional, 00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:10.859 which we discussed. The time between jobs. But 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:13.359 also structural unemployment and technological 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:15.940 unemployment. These are the macro forces that 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:18.940 are so much bigger than your cover letter. Structural 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:21.119 unemployment means the economy is fundamentally 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:24.579 shifted. Maybe you are a master coal miner, but 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:27.019 the economy is shifting to solar. Your skills 00:24:27.019 --> 00:24:29.220 don't match the new structure anymore. Your cover 00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:31.400 letter can be perfect, but there's no job for 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:34.160 you to get. Precisely. And technological unemployment. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:37.740 Robots, AI, automation. Machines are coming for 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:40.740 the jobs. So does a cover letter matter if the 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:43.359 problem is structural or technological? That 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.880 is the scary part. You can write the best cover 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:48.390 letter in history. You can have perfect grammar, 00:24:48.509 --> 00:24:51.430 a compelling narrative, and deep, genuine passion. 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:54.309 But if you are facing technological unemployment, 00:24:54.809 --> 00:24:57.789 if a piece of software can do your job for free, 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:00.809 the cover letter is useless. It is a key that 00:25:00.809 --> 00:25:03.470 doesn't fit any door. The source also lists jobless 00:25:03.470 --> 00:25:05.529 recovery. That's when the economy grows, the 00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:07.529 stock market goes up, but companies don't hire. 00:25:07.890 --> 00:25:11.349 Exactly. Productivity increases through technology, 00:25:11.549 --> 00:25:14.710 or squeezing more out of existing workers, but 00:25:14.710 --> 00:25:17.589 jobs don't come back. In that environment, the 00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:20.230 cover letter becomes even more desperate. The 00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:22.730 competition becomes fiercer for the few scraps 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:25.329 that remain. It really highlights that the cover 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:27.650 letter isn't just about you. You can do everything 00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:30.309 right and still fail because of these massive 00:25:30.309 --> 00:25:32.890 economic tides. It's a humbling realization, 00:25:33.130 --> 00:25:36.589 isn't it? We tend to personalize rejection. They 00:25:36.589 --> 00:25:39.309 didn't like my letter. But often, it's just that 00:25:39.309 --> 00:25:41.109 the structure of the economy has closed the door. 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:43.349 Before we wrap up, we have to look at the other 00:25:43.349 --> 00:25:45.529 end of the life cycle. We've talked about the 00:25:45.529 --> 00:25:48.109 hello, the cover letter, but the source list 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:51.369 also includes the goodbye. The letter of resignation. 00:25:51.710 --> 00:25:54.029 The evil twin. It really is. Think about the 00:25:54.029 --> 00:25:56.069 tone difference. The cover letter is expansive. 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.230 It opens its arms. Please let me in. I have so 00:25:58.230 --> 00:26:00.329 much to give. I'm so passionate about your company's 00:26:00.329 --> 00:26:02.730 mission. It is seductive. And the resignation 00:26:02.730 --> 00:26:06.369 letter? It is contractive. It is cold. It's often 00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.529 just two sentences. I hereby resign my position, 00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:12.849 effective two weeks from today. It is legalistic. 00:26:12.890 --> 00:26:14.940 It closes the door. It's usually the shortest, 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:17.339 most carefully worded letter you ever write. 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:20.819 Here is my notice period. Done. All that passion 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:24.299 is gone. But the source lists some other ways 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:27.920 the relationship ends. Not so nicely. Pink slip 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:31.000 and constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:33.619 is a nasty one. That's when they don't fire you 00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:35.480 because maybe they don't want to pay severance 00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:38.039 or deal with a lawsuit. But they make your life 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:40.299 so miserable that you feel you have no choice 00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:42.440 but to quit. They take away your projects. They 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:44.799 move your desk. They stop inviting you to meetings. 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:48.579 Exactly. They construct a situation where dismissal 00:26:48.579 --> 00:26:51.380 is the only rational option for you. It's a way 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:54.099 to force a resignation. And that leads to the 00:26:54.099 --> 00:26:56.900 weirdest and most evocative term in the entire 00:26:56.900 --> 00:27:01.259 source list. The banishment room. Yes. This is 00:27:01.259 --> 00:27:03.799 a fascinating and horrifying concept. banishment 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:05.640 room. It sounds like something from a medieval 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:07.880 fantasy. Take him to the banishment room. What 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:11.599 is this doing in a list about modern employment? 00:27:11.900 --> 00:27:14.259 It is a real practice. It's most famous in Japanese 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:16.220 corporate culture, where it's called oidashibaya, 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:18.880 but variations exist everywhere. What is it? 00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:21.140 What happens in there? It's a room where employees 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:23.660 are sent when the company wants them to quit, 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:27.180 but can't legally fire them easily. In the banishment 00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:30.829 room, you have no work. You have no tasks. You 00:27:30.829 --> 00:27:32.730 might be told to stare at a TV screen all day 00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:35.509 or read the company manual over and over or do 00:27:35.509 --> 00:27:37.890 pointless, mind -numbing data entry. You are 00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:40.250 just there. You are banished from productivity. 00:27:40.329 --> 00:27:43.190 You are stripped of your purpose. The goal is 00:27:43.190 --> 00:27:46.769 to induce such severe bore -out and shame that 00:27:46.769 --> 00:27:49.109 you voluntarily hand in that letter of resignation. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.720 That is psychological warfare. It is. And it 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.460 brings us full circle back to the cover letter. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:57.440 Why do we write these letters? Why do we agonize 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:00.119 over the pitch? Why do we fake the passion? We 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:02.140 do it to stay out of the banishment room. We 00:28:02.140 --> 00:28:04.589 do it to secure our place in the tribe. We do 00:28:04.589 --> 00:28:07.150 it to avoid the pink slip. We do it to prove 00:28:07.150 --> 00:28:10.490 we are valuable, productive members of the white 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:13.369 -collar or blue -collar world and not the castoffs 00:28:13.369 --> 00:28:15.670 and the precariat. It puts the stakes in perspective. 00:28:15.869 --> 00:28:18.089 It's not just about getting a paycheck. It's 00:28:18.089 --> 00:28:20.730 about safety. It's about dignity. It's about 00:28:20.730 --> 00:28:23.470 not being banished. It is a document of survival. 00:28:24.250 --> 00:28:27.210 It is the shield we forge to protect ourselves 00:28:27.210 --> 00:28:30.009 from the chaos of the market. So let's bring 00:28:30.009 --> 00:28:32.230 this all together. We have taken this one sheet 00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:34.829 of paper, the source of so much anxiety, and 00:28:34.829 --> 00:28:36.869 we have really turned it inside out. We have. 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:38.849 It's so much more than a letter. We've learned 00:28:38.849 --> 00:28:41.190 that it's not just a summary. It's a pitch. It's 00:28:41.190 --> 00:28:44.529 a marketing device. It's a crucial filter for 00:28:44.529 --> 00:28:46.769 apathy. And it's a document of emotional labor. 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:50.289 It requires us to perform a version of ourselves, 00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:54.029 the best, most enthusiastic, typo -free version 00:28:54.029 --> 00:28:58.009 to navigate a really complex and sometimes hostile 00:28:58.009 --> 00:29:00.349 world. It's a tool we use to try and find that 00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:03.049 elusive person -environment fit, to find a place 00:29:03.049 --> 00:29:05.109 where we won't suffer from bore -out or end up 00:29:05.109 --> 00:29:07.369 in a toxic workplace. It is the bridge between 00:29:07.369 --> 00:29:09.910 the individual and the economy. It is how we 00:29:09.910 --> 00:29:12.400 negotiate our value. And it serves legal functions, 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:15.079 too. It creates order out of chaos for mortgage 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:17.259 brokers and lawyers. It frames the narrative. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.079 It is about control. In a world where we often 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:22.680 feel powerless against the economy, against the 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:25.220 hiring gauntlet, against the algorithms, the 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.039 cover letter is the one moment where you have 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:29.380 the floor. You hold the microphone. You get to 00:29:29.380 --> 00:29:31.240 tell your story exactly how you want it told. 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:34.460 I love that. It's a moment of agency in a process 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:37.720 that feels like it has none. It is. And that's 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:39.900 maybe the one hopeful way to look at it. So what 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:41.920 does this all mean for us, for the listener who 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:43.960 might be staring at that blinking cursor right 00:29:43.960 --> 00:29:46.819 now, tonight? I think we should look at one final 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:50.579 term from the see also list. It's a term that 00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:52.900 suggests a very different future. Which one is 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:55.559 that? Post -work society. Post -work society. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:59.160 That sounds nice. A little utopian, maybe. What 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.170 does it mean? It is a theoretical concept. It 00:30:02.170 --> 00:30:05.269 imagines a society where automation, AI, and 00:30:05.269 --> 00:30:07.869 technology have advanced to the point where human 00:30:07.869 --> 00:30:11.250 labor is no longer necessary for survival. A 00:30:11.250 --> 00:30:13.789 world where work is not the center of human existence. 00:30:14.170 --> 00:30:17.829 So in a post -work society, do we still write 00:30:17.829 --> 00:30:19.970 cover letters? That is the provocative thought, 00:30:20.029 --> 00:30:21.690 isn't it? If we don't have to sell our labor 00:30:21.690 --> 00:30:24.049 to survive, if we don't have to pitch our personality 00:30:24.049 --> 00:30:26.529 and passion just to pay rent, does the cover 00:30:26.529 --> 00:30:29.680 letter become a historical artifact? Will future 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.799 generations look back at our letters of motivation 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:36.980 in a museum next to, I don't know, a blacksmith's 00:30:36.980 --> 00:30:39.759 hammer? I think they might. They might look at 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:42.039 them and say, wait, you had to beg. You had to 00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:45.000 market yourself. You had to pretend to be passionate 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:47.500 about spreadsheet management just to eat. It 00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:50.500 will look like a strange, elaborate, and slightly 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:54.720 sad ritual from a barbaric time. Exactly. Grandpa, 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:57.119 tell me about the time you wrote a letter of 00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:59.940 inquiry. It will seem completely absurd. But 00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:03.079 for now, we are not in a post -work society. 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:05.859 No, not even close. We are very much in a work 00:31:05.859 --> 00:31:08.279 society. We are here. And we have to write the 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:10.460 letter. We do. We have to pitch. We have to market. 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:13.539 We have to survive. So to our listeners, next 00:31:13.539 --> 00:31:15.940 time you are agonizing over that opening sentence, 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:19.440 remember, you are engaging in a ritual. A ritual 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:21.960 of introduction, of persuasion, and of survival 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:24.180 that millions of people are doing right along 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.579 with you. You are not alone in the agony. And 00:31:26.579 --> 00:31:29.160 hey, seriously, check for typos. Please check 00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:31.160 for typos. Your conscientiousness score depends 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.000 on it. And maybe think about your own personal 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:36.180 protective equipment, metaphorically speaking, 00:31:36.380 --> 00:31:38.859 as you head out into that job market. Thanks 00:31:38.859 --> 00:31:40.779 for listening to this deep dive into the lost 00:31:40.779 --> 00:31:43.660 art and the anxiety of the cover letter. We'll 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:44.299 catch you next time.