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How to Show Your Personality in a Cover Letter

Write a Unique Cover Letter

Avoid clichés, try a creative first sentence, make a connection, think of unique examples.

• Show You’ll Fit the Company Culture

Tailor Your Tone to Fit the Industry

• Keep It Professional

Don’t Go Negative

More cover letter examples.

Hiring managers read dozens, if not hundreds, of applications for every job they post. If you want to get the job, you have to stand out. It’s important to show the hiring manager not only that you are qualified, but also that you are the best candidate for the position.

One way to get your application noticed is to write a unique, engaging cover letter that shows not only your qualifications but also your personality. Go beyond some of the clichéd, formulaic language found in many letters.

If you make your personality stand out in your letter, the hiring manager will more likely give your application a second look.

Of course, there is also such a thing as putting too much personality in your letter. You want to remain professional, and focus on what makes you an ideal candidate. Find the right balance between showing your personality and being professional in your cover letter, and you will be on your way to a job interview.

The best way to show who you are to the company is to avoid writing one generic cover letter for every job listing . Instead, tailor your letter to the specific job and company.

You can write a targeted cover letter in a number of ways:

• Include keywords from the job listing in your letter.
• You can also reference the company itself–for example, mention a particular success the company has had, or explain why you are interested in working for the company.
• Perhaps most importantly, send your letter to a specific person , if possible.

If you have to, do some digging to find the name of the hiring manager, and address your letter to them.

Avoid the phrase “ To whom it may concern ” unless you can't find a contact. It's important to do your best to show a hiring manager that you have taken the time to write a unique cover letter for the specific job.

One of the best ways to avoid sounding like everyone else in your cover letter is to leave out some of the most overused phrases in cover letters. For example, don’t say you are a “hard worker” or that you “go above and beyond.” Try to find unique ways to explain who you are. One way to do this is to focus on particular examples —show them who you are, rather than tell them.

So many cover letters start with the sentence, “I am applying for X position.” While this is a fine way to start, the hiring manager has likely seen this sentence hundreds of times. Try starting with a more engaging first sentence (or first sentences) that shows who you are.

You might express why you are passionate about the job or the company. For example, you could start, “I have always been a storyteller. As a child, I would write countless stories about princes and princesses. Now, I have turned my passion for storytelling into a career in marketing.” Or, “When I first researched your company for a project in a business class over five years ago, I became inspired by your mission to provide low-cost tech solutions.”

A great “hook” will keep the hiring manager reading and will show him or her a bit about why you are a good fit for the job and company.

If you know anyone at the company, or if someone at the company referred you to the job , mention this early on in your cover letter (ideally in the first couple of sentences).

This humanizes you, and makes you seem more like you are already a part of the company culture . It also shows that someone in the company already thinks you are qualified for the job.

Remember that a cover letter should not simply restate your resume. While your resume lists your qualifications, your cover letter goes deeper, providing examples of times you demonstrated particular skills and abilities necessary for the job.

One way to show your personality is to include some unique, even surprising, examples that demonstrate your skills. For example, if you are applying for a job that requires organizational skills, you might mention how you accurately manage and process dozens of monthly shipments from your Etsy account. These kinds of examples are particularly useful if you do not have much relevant work experience.

Of course, only include examples that are relevant—they need to connect back to a skill or trait necessary for the job.

Show You’ll Fit in With the Company Culture

Hiring managers want to know not only that you are qualified, but also that you will fit in with the company culture. Before writing your letter, research the organization. Check out the company’s website, and talk to anyone you know who works there. Then you can mention ways that you might fit into the culture.

For example, if you know they do a lot of after-work team sports, you might briefly mention at the end of the letter that you would love to put your pitching skills to good use.

Some job listings also give you a peek into the company culture . For example, if the listing itself is very silly or funny, feel free to add a little humor to your letter, if that feels natural.

Similarly, you can tailor your letter to fit the personality of the industry. If you are applying for a corporate job, for example, you might want to write a more traditional cover letter. You can still include some personal examples, and maybe a catchy first sentence, but you should avoid too much humor or zaniness.

If you are applying for a job in an industry that is a bit more informal—say, a tech startup company—you can get a little bit more creative. Your tone can be more lighthearted, and you can include some creative examples.

If you’re applying for a job in a visual, creative field, consider showing your personality through the form of your letter. You might include bullet points , or even a visual (such as an infographic). You can include some of these nontraditional elements in your resume too.

Keep It Professional 

No matter how much of your personality you decide to put into your cover letter, keep the letter professional. It needs to be well written and error-free. It also needs to stay focused on the main topic: why you are a terrific fit for the job.

Some people try to add personality by using phrases like “I know you hate reading cover letters, but…” or “I know I am one of many candidates, but…” Avoid any phrases that sound negative.

Also, avoid phrases that imply you know how the hiring manager feels. You don’t actually know whether he or she hates reading cover letters, and you don’t know how many candidates applied for the job. Focus on the positive, and don’t make assumptions about the hiring manager, the job, or the company.

Sample Cover Letter Showing Personality

Sara Jones 7 Chestnut Street Anytown, Anystate Zip Code 555-555-5555 email@email.com

January 5, 2019

John Wilson Editorial Director XYZ Magazine 5 Main Street, Suite 1 Anytown, Anystate Zip Code

Dear Mr. Wilson,

I’m writing this cover letter to you at 11 pm. Why? Because I just finished speaking with my former coworker, Jane Smith, who tells me that you’re hiring for the position of editorial assistant, and I wanted to apply immediately.

Jane will tell you that I’ve been eager to apply for a role at XYZ Magazine since we worked together, first at our student magazine, where I was managing editor and she was editor in chief, and then at ABCmag.com as assistants. I’ve always valued XYZ’s showcase for diverse and emerging voices, as well as its commitment to fact-checking and copyediting.

In fact, my desire to work for your magazine informed my studies at Large Public University. I took several copyediting and multimedia graphic design courses in my last year and have continued taking classes after graduation.

In addition to my background in multimedia design and copyediting – and my passion for XYZ – I have:

• Three years of experience brainstorming, pitching, and assigning stories
• Excellent research and reporting skills
• Extensive experience analyzing traffic trends with Google Analytics
• Expert-level social media management skills
• An intense love affair with the Oxford Comma (which I know you share)

I’ve also had a few bylines on XYZ over the years:

I’d love to speak with you about the role. Please feel free to contact me at 555-555-5555 or email@email.com to discuss it or to arrange an interview.

Thanks, and best regards,

Sara Jones [signature for hard copy]

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6 Types Of “Interesting Facts About Me” To Add To Your Resume

Applying to what appears to be your dream job? 

Your palms are probably sweaty and you are all giddy with excitement. But also a bit worried about how you could stand out in a sea of job hunters. If other applicants have similar hard skills or competencies as you, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep your resume on the top of the pile. How? You can try sprinkling in several “interesting facts about me” to catch the reader’s attention. 

What Are Some Good Things to Put on a Resume?

A resume is a one-page presentation of your skills, competencies, professional credentials, and personality traits. Effectively, it shows what type of work you can do (and how well!), plus what kind of a worker you are — independent or strong team player, strong communicator, or analytical thinker. 

Remember: Recruiters rank soft skills as important (and sometimes even more so) than your hard skills like job-specific knowledge or proficiency with specific software. The latter can be easily taught, but the former are much harder to nurture. 

Hence, apart from listing your core competencies and past accomplishments, consider adding more personified things to your resume like your:

• Preferred work style & work culture 
• Values, morals, and ethics principles 
• Awards and recognitions 
• Hobbies and interests
• Volunteering activities 
• Speaking appearances 
• Professional development activities
• Study abroad experiences

By sharing interesting facts about yourself, you help the employer paint a more comprehensive picture of you as a person and determine if you’d be a good fit for their organization. 

6 Unique Things to Put on a Resume (with Examples!) 

When strategically incorporated into your resume summary or LinkedIn profile , personal facts about yourself help create a more memorable first impression. You get to demonstrate both your skills and your personality, which is a strong “selling point” in customer-facing, creative, and managerial roles among others. 

That said, If you’re job hunting in a conservative industry, say law or accounting, going against the protocol and adding too many fun facts on a resume makes you look frivolous or downright unprofessional.

But if you’re in a more creative industry, you can draw attention to yourself with more unusual or creative fun facts about me.

Here are some ideas you can implement in our 100% free resume builder .

1. Proudest Non-Job-Related Accomplishment Or Skill

Listing your professional accomplishments on your resume is a given. But as everyone does this, your resume can get stale quickly.

To stand out, include an interesting fact that’s not directly related to the job. Think of it as an “easter egg,” like in a movie or video game.

For example, here are some fun facts to put on a resume for a sales position :

• “I once bonded with a client over our love for obscure Japanese Hokkus, which helped me later close a $500K deal with them.” 
• “At home, I have a vintage collection of Liberty London scarves, inherited from my Grandmother, which makes me one of the best connoisseurs in Liberty patterns and the favorite salesperson on the floor.” 
• “In college, I worked as a mechanic. So when our car broke down before an important client meeting, I fixed it in no time and we made it on time.”  

Embrace what’s unique about you, but keep in mind it’s best not to include “hot” topics like politics or religion. Unless, of course, they relate to your industry and you are certain the pun will land. 

2. Explain Your Work Style

Add a quick preview of what it would be like working with you. After all, determining if you’re a good cultural fit is the point of all those interview rounds .  

Some interesting things to add to your resume in this category could be your: 

• Preferred project management style
• Work rituals to get productive 
• If you are a morning or evening person
• Preferred communication channels

For example, Account Executive Liz Strong created an entire manual , explaining her strengths, communication style, and managerial preferences in a fun and professional manner. 

If you want to go with a condensed version for your resume or LinkedIn profile, you can include a quick, personalized statement in your resume summary. Here’s an example for a hostess resume : 

High-energy hostess, experienced in showing the best of Southern Hospitality (I’m originally from rural Alabama). I feel productive and inspired when I work directly with people. As a night owl, I don’t mind taking extra night shifts.

And here are some other fun facts to put on your resume to better describe your work style: 

• Your go-to Spotify tune or playlist for getting into deep work
• A favorite personal productivity hack
• Or a reference to a productivity guru

For example:

I start every day with Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning Life SAVERS to get into the right mindset.

3. The First Job You Wanted As A Kid

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” You probably heard that question more times than you can count. Maybe you were born knowing what you were meant to do – and this resume will get you there.

Maybe you wanted to be something off the wall, like a space-traveling artist. It takes all types, you know!

Mentioning your childhood job aspirations is a good way to: 

• Compare and contrast your childhood dream and your current dream job
• Highlight your creativity and inner spark
• Show that you’ve always known who and what you wanted to be

This can also help segue into an explanation if you’re changing careers .  

For example, you can add something like this to your resume summary or cover letter: 

As a child, I dreamed of running my family’s vineyard. That helped me discover my love of writing for the wine industry.

4.  Your Role Model Or Person You Admire

Talking about a person you admire is an unconventional, but useful icebreaker. After all, we hope to become reflections of our heroes. It can be a great tool for standing out and illustrating that you are a unique and thoughtful individual.

In a similar vein, you can also mention:

• A mentor who changed your life
• An industry figure you are following

But if you include this fact in your resume, be prepared to further explain your choice in an interview .  

5. Volunteering Experiences

Did you know that people with volunteering experience on a resume have a 27% higher chance of finding a job? 

That’s right, many employers see skilled volunteering as an equivalent of regular work experience, which is great news for recent graduates and entry-level employees . So if your resume looks a bit sparse, try adding some volunteering activities as an extra unique fact about you. 

The best way to list volunteering experience on a resume is to put it as a separate section after the work experience. Depending on how much space you have, add entries as bullet points or format them as standalone entries with volunteering dates and duties. Here’s an example:

Volunteering  Yoga Instructor Yoga Ashram Studio  June 2023-present 

Volunteer as a weekend hatha yoga teacher at a local, non-profit community studio. Teach female classes to women, with a history of abuse and self-harm. 

Gymnastics Coach Trinity High School  September 2022-June 2023 

Served as a junior coach at my former high school to help train the new generation of talent. The junior team took 2nd place in Regionals.  

6. Hobbies and Interests 

Do hobbies and interests even belong on your resume ? Yes, if these allow you to talk about some of your extra skills or demonstrate a culture fit for the position. Many hobbies can be also passed as transferable skills , which should win you some brownie points with the hiring managers.  

In this category, you can bring up the following unique facts: 

• Content creation experiences 
• Team or endurance sports
• Comedy or standup 
• Language learning 
• Personal development activities 
• Mindfulness practices 

For example, by mentioning that you love doing standup, you indicate that you have good presentation skills, high personal confidence, and a fun personality. All of these are amazing characteristics employers look for! 

How Do I Come Up With More Unique Facts For My Resume?  

If you’ve ever been asked to share an interesting fact about yourself as an icebreaker at a meeting or party, you know how hard that can be when you’re put on the spot. You may have blurted out the first thing that came to mind and then regretted it later.

So have a quick brainstorming session before you begin writing your resume . Your goal is to come up with facts that highlight positive traits or useful skills are always a good choice.

Here’s how to come up with more unique facts to add to your resume:

• Make a list of your personal favorites (books, movies, artists, teams). Did anything have a strong impact on your personality? Could you think of a role model? 
• Ask your friends or family for ideas. Chat up with your close ones about your strengths and quirks (but ask them to not bring up anything embarrassing!). 
• Analyze your work style. How do you prefer to be treated by others? What types of work environments inspire you and why? 
• Consider how you’d like to be remembered someday. What mental picture do you get? Incorporate some of those words to describe yourself . 
• Evaluate your soft skills and hobbies. Which personality attributes, leisure or volunteering activities can cast you in a positive light? 

What of the above “brands” your personality?  

Where To Add Interesting Facts About Me on a Resume?

Some personal facts can be seamlessly worked into your resume, while others may look out of place unless they’re in a dedicated section.

Here are some ways to work them in:

• In a professional bio – A personal bio statement is a perfect place to include fun facts about yourself. Many include an outside-of-work statement of personal facts.
• Example: Outside of my sales career, I’m an avid gardener and newbie beekeeper.
• Example: Bilingual registered nurse with 10 years of experience in family medicine. Volunteer First Aid RN at regional sporting events.
• In a Hobbies and Interests section – Hobbies is an optional section to include in a resume. But if you have some space left, do add it.    
• Example: Hobbies and Interests: classical guitar, Medieval Reenactment Society.

Above All, Keep The “Me” In Fun Facts About Me

Nobody wants their resume to get lost in the slush pile! Adding a personal touch to your resume is a great way to make you more memorable. When choosing interesting facts to include, consider how your choices will fit with your dream job and industry. But don’t overthink it. Above all, be yourself! After all, they’re hiring a person – not a resume.

Elena runs content operations at Freesumes since 2017. She works closely with copywriters, designers, and invited career experts to ensure that all content meets our highest editorial standards. Up to date, she wrote over 400 career-related pieces around resume writing, career advice... more

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Land your dream job, the curious history and future of the cover letter.

Many jobs require applicants to submit cover letters, but why? Over at The Atlantic, Stephen Lurie explores the history of the cover letter , tracing its origin to the early 20th century when the United States began adding more white-collar jobs and the service-sector grew:

"Why would the cover letter be appropriate for a service-sector economy? Unionized manufacturing workers were human cogs in complex systems, talented at their specific task but not required to come face-to-face with clients. It’s reasonable that the growth of services would correspond with the mainstreaming of cover letters, if their purpose is indeed to qualify the person behind the accomplishments…

In its original incarnation, the “cover letter” provides an explanation for what can’t be found in the raw substance. Dotted throughout the 30’s and 40’s are other examples of the “cover letter” as in introduction to business, economic, or political matters—particularly between associates. Much like today’s cover letters, the original intent was to paint a picture that might not easily emerge from the denser material that was, well, under cover."

Of course, as jobs change over time, the usefulness of the cover letter is called into question. Stephen argues that employers are beginning to view cover letters as a performance and are increasingly relying on examples of real work to determine a candidate’s fit.

"Google, it’s said, often prefers to see the coding already being done by individuals before reaching out to them—skipping the cover letter entirely. Some social media companies now require tweets as proof of competency, not long-form writing. For companies those that do still require cover letters (in whatever sector), many have simply stopped looking at them. Jobs that don’t deal in formal letter writing—let’s say 95% of them—can find better surrogates elsewhere in samples of a candidate’s work."

Read the rest of his essay on The Atlantic .

About The Author | Allison Jones is a Former Editor and Creator of  Idealist Careers , a publication of  Idealist.org . Follow me on Twitter  @ajlovesya .

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