The death of the cover letter

* They like foursquare

* They've nearly finished an MBA

* They have ideas

* They used to play professional poker

None of which are useful in any way in understanding whether the author would be any good in a Business Development Manager role (well... maybe the professional poker one... :-)

The cover letter is the sales pitch for the resume. It's only purpose is to get me to read that resume in a positive frame of mind.

This cover letter says to me "I would really like to be a Business Development Manager at foursquare"... and that's it.

It doesn't even let me know that the author has a good understanding of what a Business Development Manager role is (Not saying they don't - just that the letter doesn't demonstrate it. You'll be shocked at the number of applications folk get from people who do not understand what the job role entails.)

I don't care about skills. Everybody you're competing with will have the skills. Give me an achievement or three. Something you've actually done that shows you're a good fit for the role.

The ideal cover letter should say "I would be a damn good Business Development Manager because I've achieved X, Y and Z" - where X, Y and Z are all accomplishments that show how bloody excellent I am at Business Development Management.

[BIAS WARNING: I was a tech reviewer of this book, and have an anecdote in there somewhere about a terribly interview I sat through in the nineties]

I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of Andy Lester's "Land the Tech Job You Love". Lots of good advice. It's aimed at devs more than it is other roles - but the advice is general.