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I dislike my nose very much and think that it is quite long and that it doesnt fit well with my face. I have a small bump on my nose that I would like to get rid of without the touching of the tip of my nose. Do you think that this would make my nose appear less long and more attractive or would I have to get a full nose surgery done? Thanks in advance.
Is It Possible To Have The Bump Removed On My Nose Without Altering The Tip?
Doctor Answers (21)
Reducing the dorsal hump may make the nose look longer
Hello Aylin,
Thank you for the question and the great photos. A closed reduction approach to remove the hump on the dorsum (bridge) of your nose can be performed. The actual length of your nose will not be changed because of this and I suspect the perceived length of your nose will actually look longer after a dorsal hump reduction alone. I think a columellar strut (piece of cartilage used to support the tip) will also be needed to rotate the tip higher and "shorten" the nose.
All the best,
Dr. Remus Repta
Web reference: http://drrepta.com
Removing a hump on the top of the nose can have no visible scars and takes less surgery than you think!
Nose hump reduction is a common procedure that can be very successful. With small humps, "shaving" with a rasp can easily do the trick. For moderate (such as yours) to large hump reductions, simply removing the hump creates what is called an "open roof deformity". To prevent this from happening, "osteotomies and infracture" are usually recommended. This means that the thin nasal bones just below the bridge of your nose are carefully fractured (broken) and then reset inward in order to close the opening created by the hump reduction. I recommend "closed" rhinoplasty, meaning that the incisions are all hidden on the inside of the nostrils ("open" rhinoplasty means that there is a scar on the skin bridge between the nostrils). I have a set of patient photos that show the results of these procedures (web link below). In experienced hands, you will have an excellent result but be sure to consult with a board certified plastic surgeon. Good luck!
It is usually best to address the entire face - not just the bump of the nose
The best rhinoplasties focus on the entire face - not just the nose - and not just the bump. Based on your photos (which are excellent, by the way!) I agree with several of the previous surgeons. "Removing the bump" without any shortening of the tip would leave you disproportionate. Discuss your plans with a competent facial plastic surgeon - use computer imaging to review your choices - and keep your mind open to tip surgery to achieve a lifelong satisfying result.
You might also like...
Yes, of course the bump can be removed during rhinoplasty
The nasal bridge, or dorsum, can be reduced without affecting the nasal tip. In this instance I often prefer to do reduce the "hump" through and intranasal or inside the nose approach. This creates no scar in the nasal skin, can be done in the office under sedation, and does not interfere with the shape or support of the tip.
Hope that helps!
Rhinoplasty surgery for bump removal may be done with or without tip work
The general size and shape of your nose is nice. Lowering the bump seen at the dorsum would soften your look and make your nose more effeminate. This may be accomplished without major changes to the nasal tip, which in your case, I agree, is already very nice.
The caveat is that when the bump is lowered, small changes may have to made to the tip to keep the same relationship that your tip has to the rest of your nose. In other words, when the bridge is lowered, it may be necessary to modify the tip so they are still in harmony.
The important thing is to keep your tip more prominent than the supratip area. I have attached a video response that demonstrates the tip-supratip relationship.
Good luck in your search for information!
Web reference: http://yourfaceinourhands.com/rhinoplasty/hump-reduction.cfm
Bump removal without altering nose tip
There are few instances when a hump removal can be done without adjusting nasal the tip. The hump is composed of both bone and cartilage and is removed. Once the hump is removed the sidewalls of the nose will need to be narrowed through osteotomies. At that point, if the tip is in balance with the new bridge, then the tip is not altered.
Web reference: http://seattlefacial.com
Removing the bump without touching the tip...
Removing the bump on your nose without touching the tip is possible and will make it more attractive. However, if your looking to shorten the length, surgery on the tip will be required. The bump is actually lessening the appearance of length, and removing it may make it appear longer. The most important thing about rhinoplasty surgery is good communication of your desires with the surgeon so make an appointment with a board certified plastic or facial plastic surgeon to discuss your best options. Best of luck.
A good Rhinoplasty is designed to deliver a balanced nose
Short answer to your question is: Yes, it is possible to just remove nasal bridge without touching nasal tip.
Long answer to same question is: It is unwise to tie your surgeon's hand. If just the bridge is done your nose will look out of balance. It will not look good. You need nasal bridge brought down. Nasal tip needs to be made less bulky and delicate, nasal tip needs to rotate up, and angulation between nose and upper lip needs to be modified.
You have all the ingredients of a really beautiful nose. These ingredients just need to polished and sculpted. Do not short change yourself. Have a complete nose job.
Web reference: http://www.drrai.net
Removal of dorsal hump with closed technique
The dorsal hump can be removed without altering the tip. I would approach your rhinoplasty with a "closed technique," meaning no incisions on the outside of your nose. Through this approach, not only can the hump be removed, but other aspects of your nose can be reshaped. This is all demonstrated on our imaging software prior to surgery so that the patient is able to visualize how this changes their appearance.
Is it possible to remove the bump without aletering the tip?
I have performed Rhinoplasty for over 20 years and Yes, the bump can be removed, during a Rhinoplasty, without altering the shape of the nasal tip. You just need to communicate this desire to your Rhinoplasty surgeon.
Web reference: http://www.drfpalmer.com
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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4 Understanding the role of the geotechnical and structural withstand about 0.12g pseudo-static loading, based on a engineers is rather important, and this Project needed to clar- very conservative capacity associated with first yield, with ify these roles in the process of preparing the LRFD specifica- the most conservative assumption on wave scattering tions. These roles also need to be understood in the definition (that is, 1.0 as discussed in Chapter 6), and the most con- of load and resistance factors to use during design. Since in- servative nonyielding structural performance criteria. dependent groups often are responsible for the design elements, 3. Under a less conservative interpretation, more suitable for each group needs to have a basic understanding of what is correlating to historical structural damage from past earth- being conveyed by the load or resistance factor that is being quakes, the inherent capacity is likely to be much higher, to used for seismic design. a PGA at the ground surface as high as 0.68g. This case cor- responds to a scattering factor (see Chapter 6) equal to 0.5, 126.96.36.199 Example of LRFD Reserve Capacity Concept and nominal yielding is allowed. 4. Even for a nonyielding limit state, a scattering factor equal In formulating the LRFD guidelines, consideration needs to 0.5 can be justified for most design situations, espe- to be given to a prevalent consensus among practitioners, es- cially for much of the central and eastern United States pecially in state highway departments, that retaining walls, (CEUS), where the characteristic ground shaking has slopes and embankments, and buried structures generally have lower, long-period ground motion content. In this situ- performed very well during seismic events--even though many ation the retaining wall can withstand a site-adjusted constructed structures have not been designed for the earth- PGA of 0.24g. quake load case. The main reason for this relates to the fact that the capacity of most retaining walls, slopes and embank- For the 1,000-year return period ground motion criterion ments, and buried structures provides sufficient reserve to re- that was adopted by AASHTO in July of 2007, most regions sist some level of earthquake loading when they are designed in the CEUS, other than the New Madrid and the Charleston for static loading. This observation needed to be kept in mind regions, will be required to design for a PGA at the ground when formulating the LRFD specifications in order that the surface of about 0.1g or lower. For much of the Western proposed approach was determined to be reasonable to engi- United States (WUS), outside of California, Alaska, and the neers using the methodology. Pacific Northwest, design would be for a PGA at the ground As an illustration of this point, Dr. Lee Marsh, who served surface of about 0.2g. Based on the above cited reserve struc- on the Technical Advisory Panel for the NCHRP 12-70 Project, tural capacity study, along with results from dynamic analy- quantified the level of reserve structural capacity for a hypo- ses of retaining walls, many of the regions in the CEUS and thetical wall, to put the design process in perspective. In the WUS can use simplifying screening criteria to eliminate the course of a design, retaining walls are designed for global and need for overly complicated seismic analyses. external stability (that is, the process of checking for sufficient soil capacity for the global system), as well as for internal stress 1.2.2 Overview of Conclusions in the structural components. Dr. Marsh conducted a set of from Initial Phase of Work analyses to determine the reserve structural capacity for a standard wall that had been designed for a static load condi- The initial phase of work involved Tasks 1 through 5 of the tion. For simplicity, Dr. Marsh conducted the analyses for a Working Plan. A number of conclusions were reached in this nongravity cantilever sheet pile wall to focus on structural in- early work, and these conclusions formed the framework for tegrity issues, rather than involving additional complexity the work plan that was implemented in Task 6 and reported associated with other nonstructural failure modes such as in the 1st Interim Report. Highlights from Tasks 1 through 4 sliding failure through the soil at the base of a semi-gravity are summarized here: wall. Such mechanisms introduce an additional load fuse which might further reduce the earthquake design load to a lower � Task 1: Data Collection and Review. The conclusions from value than the case associated with sheet pile walls. Results of this task were that the methodologies available to design these analyses are included in Appendix B. professionals within departments of transportation (DOTs) The sensitivity study conducted by Dr. Marsh indicates the and consultants for the DOTs are primarily limited either following: to pseudo-static methods, such as the Mononobe-Okabe (M-O) method for the design of retaining structures and 1. Most existing retaining walls, even when they only are de- the limit equilibrium method of slope stability analysis, or signed for static loading, have sufficient reserve structural ca- to simplified deformation methods (for example, New- pacity to withstand an appreciable level of earthquake load. mark charts or analyses). Although these methods have 2. If a retaining wall has been designed to satisfy typical re- limitations, as discussed in later chapters of this Draft Final quirements for static loading, the inherent capacity will Report, improvements in these methodologies still offer

subset: commoncrawl


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Album Rating: 4.0new Ataraxie is better
sorry guys
Album Rating: 5.0Doubt that, but still gotta hear it....
Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Offit's ok. but imo no doom can beat gorguts so
Album Rating: 4.5Sure Suffocation and Immolation didn't do anything phenomenal this time around but they get 4s. It helps out the year when you know a couple bass will have solid albums to add to their diacography.
Can't name a Immolation or pre-hiatus Suffocation album that blew.
Album Rating: 3.5I didn't like the Gergert's previous album so this is a pleasant surprise.
Album Rating: 4.5Not a fan of their last release, but Obscura and Erosion of Sanity were albums to write home about.
Album Rating: 4.0gergerts
Album Rating: 4.5I like gergerts with my lunchables.
Album Rating: 3.0The new Ataraxie is better [2]
So ataraxiw is back to being good?
Album Rating: 3.5@ Ty - Yeah it's definitely up there. As of now it's actually top 5 aoty's so far for me. MO may be right though, this could edge
out new Ataraxie by a tad, def not a long shot though. Only time will tell imo. Currently I have this at a 4 and new Ataraxie at a
4.5 so Ataraxie is in the lead. However, my earlier reference about edging is in the context that I'm very close to raising my
rating on this. Didn't mean to sound contradictory.
Album Rating: 4.0Not really sure about the new Ataraxie. Haven't listened to the whole thing yet but the songs seem a bit overlong without enough going on in them to keep them interesting. Nothing conclusive for sure, just my first impression.
My first impression of this season WOOOOOW O_O !!!
Album Rating: 4.5Not familiar with this other band. What do they play?
Album Rating: 3.5Death/Funeral Doom Metal.
Album Rating: 4.5I'll check then out. Jamming Agalloch at the moment. Never heard them before. Not sure how.
Album Rating: 3.5
I'll check then out. Jamming Agalloch at the moment. Never heard them before. Not sure how.
check out their fb page
Album Rating: 4.5Yes master.
Album Rating: 4.0i like death metal and all but i don't remember the last time i liked a dm album this much
Album Rating: 4.0check out death
Digging: Throwing Muses - Throwing Muses
Do it now.
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Just want to keep you in the loop with Blurb news worldwide. This just in from our on-the-ground Blurberati in Australia:
Australian youth organization vibewire is a dynamic non-profit organization that supports young people to effectively shape their world through media, arts and entrepreneurial opportunities.
As part of their efforts to promote youth talent, they have released their first edition of a quarterly anthology, using Blurb. The result is a stunning testament to emerging youth writers, poets and illustrators.
Vibewire encourages young people to create work monthly based around a theme and were consistently blown away by the amazing level of submissions they received.
To further promote this talent, the vibewire team decided to publish the best of each genre in a book – giving young contributors better exposure and recognition – and so the quarterly anthology was born.
Each anthology holds the work based around three of the monthly themes – this edition being "Looking back", "What matters", and "Are you ready?".
There are no restrictions on the kind of work that kind be submitted, furthering the scope for creativity; it can be poetry, fiction, opinion, journalism, photography, illustration or a review. A flick through the book, highlights the diversity of talent among Australian youth.
The anthology has been so well received that vibewire has already started production on their second anthology.
As the vibewire team put it: "We believe there's nothing quite like seeing your name and your work in print, let alone having a fresh copy of the book to share and carry with you everywhere!"


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This cd replaced one that I had worn out! I never get tired of this cd. I think this one is my favorite of his!Published 16 months ago by vickie b
a super, refreshing pice of work from a new artist to me. I watched some of him and Bobby Weir put together a beautiful piece of la musica tu us with a groovy smile, while... Read morePublished 23 months ago by Joshua J. Hanson
My introduction to Jackie was live, when he opened for The Avett Brothers at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, California. Read morePublished on October 21, 2012 by NCBeerWench
Love all Jackie Green's songs. But, the case was cracked when I recieved it. Still the CD played fine, so I'm happy.Published on July 16, 2011 by bluefog
Poor Jackie, he's the latest in a long line of talented singer-songwriters to be saddled with the label, "The New Dylan," when all I suspect he wants is to be Jackie Greene. Read morePublished on December 21, 2008 by John C. Bergeron
Listening to Sweet Somewhere Bound feels like a solitary walk through grey twilight - beautiful and reflective in all its solitude. Read morePublished on May 12, 2008 by EmJay
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New Jersey
This iReport is part of an assignment:
Life in China
Selective Censorship in China
As I passed one booth, I couldn't help but do a cartoon "double take." There in the center of the booth sat a model, naked from the waist up, being body painted by a man and a woman applying various color paints to chest, breast and nipples (see photo). A crowd of onlookers pressed against the roped barriers trying to get as close a look as possible, cell phones in hand snapping pictures like paparazzi stalking a queen or prime minister. For a country that has uniformed security guards stationed at every aisle of the show and an entire contingent outside pointing you to the parking lot lest you should dare make a single wrong turn, I couldn't believe this would be allowed.
Fast forward to the morning of the next day. I am watching CNN Asia and hear a headline which said in effect: "Will the new president of China free dissident Liu Xiaobo?" The station then went to a commercial. I am familiar with Mr. Liu. He won a Nobel Prize for peace in 2010 but couldn't accept it, since he was jailed in 2008 for advocating human rights in China. I anxiously waited for the commercial to end so that I could hear more about Mr. Liu's fate.
But after the commercial the screen went blank. No sound, no image. I flipped through the other channels but they seemed to be working fine. It was only when the signal returned at the beginning of the next story that I realized CNN had been censored. As an American used to the rants and slants of cable and network news channels, I was appalled. Sure, you can disagree and call these media unfair, biased or just plain inaccurate. But suppressing them, preventing the message from reaching an intended audience so they could be the ones to judge the appropriateness of Mr. Liu's actions, not some state appointed censor with his finger on a button, seemed plain wrong to me.
Perhaps the naked woman was permitted in the company's booth because she was considered an artistic expression. In my view CNN's story on Mr. Liu was also an expression worthy of the same consideration to be seen, heard and discussed.
What do you think of this story?
iReport welcomes a lively discussion, so comments on iReports are not pre-screened before they post. See the iReport community guidelines for details about content that is not welcome on iReport.


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05 Mar, 2010 – 9 comments
be here now
you may have seen this before
Ever since I put together my slideshare on time (above), I've been obsessed with how I personally experience time.
An obsessive fascination with the future makes me good at what I do (thinking about the future) while leaving me almost entirely unable to live in the moment.
I rarely take the time to savor what I'm doing. I think I've had the opportunity to sip the finest drinks, eat the finest meals, and meet the finest people – but I can't really remember as I'm typically trapped in my own head working out a problem or making plans for the future. And if recent conversations are indicative of a larger pattern – I think this future thinking lock-in is a growing trend among people like me.
I watch as we all sit in coffee shops, restaurants, and even movies, with our eyes half glued to our mobile phone. Mobiles quickly went from the thing we pick-up to simply look busy to the things that keep us perpetually busy. I spend a good deal of my time pecking away at my Google Reader; repetitively hitting 'J,' exchanging action for stimulus, action for stimulus, planning ahead, thinking about what to share, what to push to my blog, and what will allow me a moment of 140-character performance. I plan my route home, my clothes for tomorrow, my haircut for next week, my speech next month, my thoughts for my next meeting, my schedule for the weekend, my next blog post, my current project, my next project, and anything else that comes orbiting my thoughts.
Being more conscious of this, I'm even more convinced that as designers of experiences, we fail to understand people when we build branded experiences. People are rarely ever prepared to be in the moment when they're online. Moreover, it's incredibly difficult to get someone to slow down, breathe, and truly experience the world in front of them. Knowing this, we have two choices: 1) build experiences that play into the future-obsessed state that most people occupy, or 2) break real ground in developing experiences that coerce people into a present-conscious state.
If you're interested in training yourself to be more present, here are 6 steps from Psychology Today:
- When you're trying to do something, pay more attention to the activity, the room, the people, anything other than your own thoughts. Get out of your head and into the moment. Here's a trick: play one of these things is not like the other with things in the room.
- When worried about the future, find things to savor. Much of what we do when we think about the future is collect mental images (often quite negative ones), savoring a momentary pleasure helps you stop catastrophizing future events. As Mark Twain said, "I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened."
- Breathe. Yes, it is that simple. Take a moment to take a few deep breathes.
- Find your flow. Give yourself a clear task and focus deeply on your work.
- Accept rather than avoid. If you've ever tried to not think about something, you know it's impossible. Accept your thoughts for what they are.
- Keep a fresh pair of eyes. Don't let routine turn your life into a haze – try to notice what's new around you, all the time.
04 Jan, 2010 – 6 comments
to a decade unrealized
Dear Two-Thousand-Teens,
You're the unborn son/daughter of an entire world – what a heap of expectations – that's the bad news, unfortunately.
The good news? Well, it's an amazing time to be alive. And there are so many amazing people to be alive with who are dedicated to making the world a better place during your time with us.
Oh, and the technology… It's an amazing time to be alive with a pair of thumbs. And you have 6.7 billion pairs of them (give or take a few unfortunate accidents).
But the most fascinating tech isn't what's in our hands, it's what's in our heads. We, the once predictors of rocket cars, summer vacations on Mars, and robotic sexual partners, we the over-achievers and over-dreamers, we've begun to fail at predicting the new pace of technology. Our wildest dreams are now in our nearest grasp.
From Ray Kurzweil, he of the Singularity,
Progress is exponential–not just a measure of power of computation, number of Internet nodes, and magnetic spots on a hard disk–the rate of paradigm shift is itself accelerating, doubling every decade. Scientists look at a problem and they intuitively conclude that since we've solved 1 percent over the last year, it'll therefore be one hundred years until the problem is exhausted: but the rate of progress doubles every decade, and the power of the information tools (in price-performance, resolution, bandwidth, and so on) doubles every year. People, even scientists, don't grasp exponential growth. During the first decade of the human genome project, we only solved 2 percent of the problem, but we solved the remaining 98 percent in five years.
But Two-Thousand-Teens, let's not lump you in as the next decade. You're more than that. You're our second chance at a new century. We've stumbled, we've lost the faith in ourselves, we've made promises we knew we couldn't keep, and we've spoiled the first few blank pages of our masterpiece. But that's why you're here. Again, expectations… but in this endeavor, you are not alone.
But, Two-Thousand-Teens, we have our work cut out for ourselves.
Between 1910 and 1920:
- Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture.
- Motorized movie cameras were invented, replacing hand-cranked cameras.
- The crossword puzzle was invented by Arthur Wynne.
- Mary Phelps Jacob invented the bra.
- Gideon Sundback invented the modern zipper.
- Stainless steel was invented by Henry Brearly.
- The pop-up toaster invented by Charles Strite.
- Short-wave radio was invented.
- Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays.
- Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for chemistry, discovering a new source called radium.
- Einstein published his general theory of relativity.
From the most banal experiences of the 21st century to the most sublime, much of the foundation was put in place during that second decade of the 20th century. It's the same story again – the world we want to build, the society we want to live in, the future we want to dream, it all begins right now.
Like you, our dreams are yet unrealized and perhaps even undreamt. Two-Thousand-Teens, remind us to be hopeful, to be bold, to make ridiculous predictions, and to attempt foolish feats. To borrow a phrase, remind us that he not busy being born is busy dying.
To the inhabitants of the Two-Thousand Teens, let us not make another resolution for another year. Let us make a resolution for the 21st century and let's use our time here to realize it. For perhaps the first time in our modern history, our vision is small compared to our grasp. Our culture is afflicted with short term thinking, quarterly demands, and our obsession with the present. It's our future that matters most.
And let us have the strength to weather our mistakes and our misfortunes.
The phrase too big to fail was perhaps first uttered right before the Titanic embarked and sank in those icy waters in 1912.
World War I, the Great War, The War to End All Wars… well, didn't. But within the decade it took with it over 16 million lives and 16 million possibilities for a different world.
Two-Thousand-Teens, we'll never know who among us will have the pleasure of seeing you through. But while we're here, it's a pleasure to have you, and a pleasure to be your partner.
I promise not to take you for granted.
11 Nov, 2009 – 5 comments
there's more time than the present
How do we design experiences with an understanding for how humans perceive time?
I've been obsessed with this deck from Matt Jones ever since I posted it last week. Presented with a few days off myself, my obsession was allowed to run rampant. I cherry picked quite a few things from his presentation and then dug a little deeper with the help of a couple books and the internet.
I would have liked to spend a wee bit more time with this one, but I'm trying out this new philosophy of not letting 'the perfect be the enemy of the good.'
I'd love to hear some thoughts on this one, so donate your two cents in the comments.
26 Oct, 2009 – 4 comments
time as a material for design
Time + Data = Story
Lots of excellent stuff here, too much to cite, but definitely worth a spin.
Don't say I don't show you new things.
23 Apr, 2009 – 2 comments
fans: mobilize a conversation
To be marketable the new cultural works will have to provoke and reward collective meaning production through elaborate back stories, unresolved enigmas, excess information, and extratextual expansions of the program universe.
- Jonathan Gray (Editor), Cornel Sandvoss (Editor), C. Lee Harrington (Editor), Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World
The best conversations are ones where I know something you don't and you know something I don't. We share what's new. Too bad this isn't how most marketing and advertising works; marketers love conversations (about their products).
Advertisers look for the big message. They spend weeks in front of a white board crafting the perfect tag-line, one that says it all. Then they buy up all the mass media airtime they can afford to make sure that big message saturates the most people. End of conversation.
As if attention is a commodity you can buy…
In Pierre Levy's Collective Intelligence, he describes a future societal power structure that transitions from ownership over commodities to mastery of knowledge. In particular, this 'thinking community' taps a 'cosmopedia' or 'knowledge space' of vast information provided by the type of many-to-many connections the web facilitates. Members of this group search, inscribe, connect, consult and explore together. Pierre describes what we might call a 'hive mind,' where if one has knowledge, soon all will. And in this hive mind, "unanswered questions will create tension within cosmopedic space, indicating regions where invention and innovation are required."
The authors of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World argue that digital fan communities might be the most fully realized versions of Levy's cosmopedia. Fan communities are indeed "self-organizing groups focused around the collective production, debate, and circulation of meanings, interpretations, and fantasies in response to various artifacts of contemporary popular culture." Moreover, fan communities mobilize around unanswered questions. This is what spawned fan fiction, ARGs and other multi-player transmedia storytelling games. Fans rush to create meaning where meaning appears to be missing.
Advertising is made for people who care… to pay attention. Fans care. Fans pay attention. But most messaging doesn't create the tension that activates full fan communities. We're still stuck on saturating a crowd of unwilling participants instead of mobilizing a community to create and spread a conversation.
21 Apr, 2009 – leave a comment
fans: wealth production
photo credit
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, fans were emblematic of audience resistance (Jenkins,1992; Fiske, 1989), understood as actively appropriating and transforming mass media content as raw materials for their own cultural productions. Mass media depicted fans as living in the shadows of mass culture (if not the basements of their parent's suburban split-level houses), and media companies saw their tastes and concerns as "unrepresentative" of the general population. By the early 21st century, fans have been redefined as the drivers of wealth production within the new digital economy: their engagement and participation is actively being pursued, if still imperfectly understood, by media companies interested in adopting Web 2.0 strategies of user-generated content, social networks, and "harness[ing] collective intelligence."
- O'Reilly, 2005
Part of my week of posts dedicated to fans and the future of digital marketing. Tell your friends.
24 Feb, 2009 – 2 comments
the hours of discovery
The internet never closes. It never shutters its doors to load the shelves full of content again. And for that matter, the internet operates outside of traditional timezones, too. But I've noticed certain behaviors amongst myself and my friends and followers. I'm particularly interested in the hours of before we all slink into bed. Those hours we meander. Those hours we discover.
Here are some random links I got some tweeps to send tonight:
- robksawyer: @bud_caddell I'm checking this out http://is.gd/gznm
- Jennyleepenny: @bud_caddell just learning to use gimp…here's my hound http://tinyurl.com/buru2o
- meadball: @bud_caddell best three minutes of your day http://tinyurl.com/cnufjp
- pheezy: @bud_caddell Preparing for the witching hour with Cage's Norton Lectures: http://bit.ly/7nAGq
- astrogirl: @bud_caddell flickr photos from Bonhams Urban Art Auction that happened today – http://is.gd/kLHP
Jennyleepenny: @bud_caddell aside from working the gimp, I am groovin' on where I'll be tomorrow night…http://www.vinylatlanta.com/index.asp
astrogirl: @bud_caddell sending out the SANER announcement to press, calendars, etc, etc….takes forever. http://www.galleryAD.com
- scribblegurl: @bud_caddell http://tinyurl.com/we3zd, because it came up at dinner tonight. Otherwise, it would totally be http://tinyurl.com/5bfeo5
My followers are mostly from the US, so that does help create these shared hours. Interestingly enough, I'm building a secret little project (codename: AYSS) that operates on discovery and mystery. It's a system that requires involvement to play, so I've gotten a fair amount of feedback asking for more ways to lurk. After tonight, I'm curious about only making that content available during a brief window late in the evening. I want to catch people during this time of invested browsing.


text:
The city of Winsted staff members are: front Winsted police officers Justin Heldt, Jim Lammers, and Dan Pohl, and Police Chief Mike Henrich; back City Administrator Clay Wilfahrt, utility billing clerk Amanda Zeidler, administrative assistant Raquel Kirchoff, Clerk/Treasurer Deb Boelter, maintenance supervisor Dave Meyer, maintenance worker Jamie Stotko, and maintenance worker John Schlechter.
The Winsted City Council includes: front Mayor Steve Stotko and Council Member Bonnie Quast; back council members George Schulenberg, Max Fasching, and Tom Ollig.
City Staff
City Administrator Clay Wilfahrt
City Clerk-Treasurer Deb Boelter
Utility Billing Clerk Amanda Zeidler
Administrative Assistant Raquel Kirchoff
Police Chief Mike Henrich (retiring in Feb. 2014)
Officers Justin Heldt and Dan Pohl, and Jim Lammers
Public Works Dave Meyer, Jamie Stotko, and John Schlechter
Building Inspector - Metro West Inspection Services
City Attorney Fran Eggert
City Engineer Bolton & Menk
City offices
City offices are located at 201 1st Street North. The mailing address is Winsted City Hall, PO Box 126, Winsted, MN 55395. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the phone number is (320) 485-2366. Other important numbers include:
Fax (320) 485-2858
City Administrator (320) 485-2366
Building Inspector (763) 684-0383
Police Emergency 911
Fire - Emergency 911
Police Department (320) 485-2600
Public Works (320) 485-2201
Website www.winsted.mn.us
The mayor and city council
The mayor and city council serve as the local legislative body in Winsted. They adopt an annual budget, approve expenditures, appoint all staff, and ratify all policies and ordinances of the city.
Mayor and council members
• Mayor Steve Stotko, 372 South Shore Drive, (320) 485-3898. His term expires in 2014.
• Tom Ollig, 141 George Ave. E., (320) 485-3987. His term expires in 2016.
• Bonnie Quast, 429 Lake Court, (320) 485-2353. Her term expires in 2016.
• George Schulenberg, 530 Kingsley Ave. S. (320) 485-4730. His term expires in 2014.
• Max Fasching, 404 Lake Drive, (320) 485-4871. His term expires in 2014.
City council meetings are conducted the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at city hall, located at 201 1st Street North. To request that an item be placed on the agenda, contact City Administrator Clay Wilfahrt.
The Winsted City Council has also created several advisory commissions to aid the city in transportation, planning, development, recreation, and quality of life issues.
Airport commission
The Winsted Municipal Airport Commission serves as an advisory commission to the city council on all matters pertaining to the Winsted Municipal Airport. Airport commission meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the council chambers unless otherwise noted.
Fire Board members
City representatives: Vince Laxen, voting
George Schulenberg, non-voting
Winsted Township: Steve Goebel, voting
Tony Hausladen, non-voting
Hollywood Township: Ron Stender, voting
Ron Kassulker, non-voting
Victor Township: Jerry Koch, voting
Greg Bakeberg, non-voting
Woodland Township: Scott Salonek, voting
Barry Pawelk, non-voting
Fire Department
Fire Chief Chad Engel
First Asst. Chief Brian Langenfeld
Second Asst. Chief Jon Davidson
First Captain Brent Mickolichek
Second Captain Shaun Bush
Third Captain Troy Scherping
Secretary Justin Hertzog
Fire board rep. George Schulenberg
Park commission
The purpose of the Winsted Park Commission is to advise the city council on the proper use of the parks, trails, and natural environment and policies covering recreation activities. The commission recommends an annual budget, reviews equipment needs, and plans for additional recreational opportunities in the area.
Park commission meetings are the second Monday of each month in the council chambers, unless noted otherwise.
Current members:
Kimberly Moen
Steve Ebert
Petie Littfin
Tim Fury
Jordan Wolfe
City council liaison Bonnie Quast
Planning commission
The purpose of the planning commission is to advise the city council on all land-use planning matters.
Meetings take place the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the council chambers, unless noted otherwise.
The Winsted Pride Award nominees are judged by the planning commission. The award recognizes residential and commercial/industrial property owners who go above and beyond normal standards to maintain their properties.
Current members:
Chairman, Marv Ebensperger
Jolynn Cafferty
Mike Guggemos
Allison Moses
Mike Thonvold
City council liaison Tom Ollig
City services and ordinances
All terrain vehicles (ATVs)
The operation of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in the city is allowed by operators who are at least 16 years of age and have a valid Minnesota driver's license, as long as the driver takes the most non-stop, direct route in and out of town. The ATV ordinance is available at city hall, or the city's website at www.winsted.mn.us.
The residents of Winsted take extreme pride in the maintenance of their properties. As a result, the city has developed a blight ordinance, which restricts the storage of junk cars, tires, old construction materials, and other debris and garbage. If you feel there is a case of blight in your neighborhood, contact the city.
Brush/compost site
The city maintains a location for city residents to dispose of brush and compost materials. Contact city hall for hours and location.
Building permits
Winsted has adopted the state building code. The city is provided building inspection service by Metro West Inspection Services.
Building permits are needed for a variety of projects, including installation of furnace and air conditioning units, re-roofing, re-siding, sheds, garages, and new construction. Should you have any questions regarding your need for a building permit, call city hall at (320) 485-2366.
Burning and recreational fires
Recreational fires are allowed within the city of Winsted. Contact the city hall for guidelines for recreational fires.
City utilities
Cable Cable television is available to all residents from Mediacom Cable. If you would like to connect to cable television or have any problems with cable television, call Mediacom at 800-332-0245. Channels 7 or 8 are the local public access channels in Winsted.
Electric Xcel Energy, customer service: 800-895-4999, emergency or lights out: 800-895-1999; HomeSmart: 800-238-7378, business solution center: 800-481-4700; and McLeod Cooperative Power Association, customer service: (320) 864-3148, after hour outages: 800-927-5685.
Gas Center Point Energy, customer service: 800-245-2377, gas leak emergency: 800-722-9326. Call Gopher State before you dig, 800-252-1166.
Telephone TDS Telecom provides local telephone service in Winsted at (320) 485-4111. TDS is located at 316 Pine Street, Monticello, MN 55362.
Curbside recycling service
Recyclable materials are picked up every Tuesday by West Central Sanitation. Bins must be placed at the curb by 7 a.m. Recyclable materials must be sorted, and include cardboard/boxboard, mixed paper, plastics, metals, and glass. For more information on recycling, contact McLeod County Solid Waste at 1-800-335-0575.
Day care
For a current listing of day care providers in the area, contact McLeod County Social Services. McLeod County's local number for Winsted residents is (320) 395-2568.
Diseased trees
In order to prevent the spread of disease, all diseased trees should be removed as soon as possible.
If you have a tree or trees that you believe may be diseased, call (320) 485-2201 for assistance. Boulevard trees are removed and replaced by the city.
Dog licenses
A license is required for all dogs over 4 months of age. Licenses expire Dec. 31 of each year and must be renewed at city hall for $10. All applications for a license must be accompanied by a statement from a veterinarian indicating that the dog has current vaccinations; or a rabies vaccination certificate. City ordinance requires pet owners to clean up and dispose of any animal feces.
The city of Winsted requires a permit prior to installing a fence. Fence permit applications may be picked up at city hall.
Garbage pick-up
Garbage pick-up is provided every Tuesday by Waste Management. Containers should be curbside by 7 a.m. The company provides 32-, 64-, or 96-gallon containers. Tags can be purchased from Waste Management for excess bags of refuse. Refuse charges are available from Waste Management. Contact Waste Management at 1-888-960-0008 or via e-mail at email@example.com for customer service needs.
House numbers
In order to locate your home in an emergency, owners are required to display their house numbers so they can be seen easily from the street, with a minimum size of 4 inches in height.
The City of Winsted requires a permit prior to any sign being installed. Sign permit applications may be picked up at city hall.
Snowmobile usage
The city allows snowmobilers to drive the most direct route from their house on city streets to outside city limits and return to their home on the same route. No snowmobiling is allowed between the hours of 1 a.m. and one-half hour before sunrise.
Water and sewer
Water and sewer customers are billed by the city on a monthly basis. For more information on your utility bill, contact the utility billing clerk at (320) 485-2366.
Winter parking
From Nov. 1 through March 31, there is no parking on city streets from 2 to 6 a.m. In the case of more than 2 inches of snow, parking is not allowed on any streets until the streets have been cleared of snow.


text:
the torment of terrible cover letters
|June 10, 2011
|Posted by Jenica under Growly, Libraries, Misc., The Profession, Uncategorized
I have been compiling this post for a while. I think about cover letters when we have an open search, and moments when we have an open search are precisely the wrong time for the Director of Libraries to talk about how to write a good cover letter. So I write a few sentences to get some of the firey rage out of my brain, and then I hit Save Draft.
Well, no one here is reviewing applications right now, so I feel like I can safely speak without compromising any integrity. So here's my take on how to write a good cover letter, or, more specifically, how to not write a bad one. I write this on behalf of all those who are currently searching, and tearing their hair out over bad letters, and all of those of you who are looking for a new gig and really deserve a chance to shine.
*steps up on her soapbox*
So, we get between 40 and 120 applicants for every search. That means that you, Applicant Q, are one of many, and we are looking for ways to distinguish the excellent from the mediocre from the poor. We're looking for a great new colleague, so we're optimistic. We want to love you. And then. We read all of your materials — every cover letter, every CV, every reference sheet. Those are, in fact, the only materials we can consult as we work to distinguish the excellent from the mediocre from the poor. And our ad instructions say "applicants must submit a cover letter that addresses details of both the required and preferred qualifications". So that's step one.
First, read the instructions. We wrote that ad thoughtfully. Read the ad. Particularly note the specific instructions you are given. "applicants must submit a cover letter that addresses details of both the required and preferred qualifications". Do that. Do not begin your application by failing to read the instructions. We will notice.
Second, stop talking about yourself in your cover letter. Yes, you're trying to sell your skills and personality in this letter, but I mean it: Stop talking about yourself. Talk about us instead. Think about it with me: We have your CV, which, if it's good, tells us a lot. Therefore, we don't need a paragraph that tells us what you did at your last job. You're just repeating yourself in your limited communication space. What we need is a paragraph that tells us how you intend to apply what you know to the job we described in our carefully worded ad. Tell us how you're gonna help us and contribute to our insitution. And do it well, so that you stand out from the dozens of other applicants, whose CVs and cover letters we also have. Ask yourself: how does this letter make my application stand out as a potential member of their team?
Third, go back, and read the ad again. All of it. Including details like who the search committee chair is, what the required qualifications are, and what kind of work we're describing in the Responsibilities section. That ad is not rote, or careless, or irrelevant. We wrote that ad carefully, intentionally, and with great thought and care. Read it. Make a list of its key points. Read it again, and check for nuances — descriptive words, active verbs, and things that look like "filler" to you. Consider that every word was chosen, so they all matter. Now, go back to your cover letter. Do you talk usefully about all the things we talk about in our ad? Have you made thoughtful reference to our required qualifications? Have you highlighted experience that you will bring to our relevant preferred qualifications? Have you indicated why you are excited about doing the things listed in our description of responsibilities, or why our description of our ideal candidate matches your skills? If the answer to any of these is "no", rewrite your letter.
Fourth, seriously, just stop with the cut-and-paste jobs, already. We can tell. We're more experienced at this than you are, we've just read 75 cover letters, and you're not fooling us. We know that you're tired of applying for jobs and eating ramen and suffering under your terrible current boss, but the fact that your cover letter is a cut-and-paste job from the fourteen jobs you applied for last month shows. And we hate you. If you can't be bothered to match your fonts, get the name of our institution right, list our job position title correctly, and write something that indicates you read the ad… Just no. You just wasted our time, and you're out of the running.
Fifth, whatever else you do, whatever advice you take or don't take, don't do this:
[this is representative, though several sentences were harvested from varied actual applications received here.]
I am interested in the [job title redacted] position would like to learn more about your available opportunity. I am currently working [redacted]. Along with my work experience, I am finishing my last course online [name of course redacted] by May. (Although I will be available, to begin work by the the end of February. [unadorned statement of previous work experience redacted]. I believe my skills would be a good match for your organization and would appreciate to opportunity to discuss my qualifications. Feel free to contact me any time with questions or concerns. My transcripts can be faxed from my School upon request.
Don't do this. Let me tell you why this is wrong.
1. "Hello" is not the opening of a business letter, and you failed to sign it. I am unimpressed by your professionalism.
2. Odds are, the job has "strong communication skills" somewhere in its requirements. If you present poor written communication skills (or cut and paste badly) in your letter, you just failed.
3. Commas and parentheses are not decorative; use them right.
4. The job says it starts in some other month which comes after February. Don't talk to me about February. You are not reading the ad, or you are not respecting our institutional needs and expressed desires.
5. Too short. You had my attention available for one to two pages, and you wrote a (boring) paragraph. What a waste of an opportunity.
6. No one asked for your transcripts. Therefore, we don't care. Don't waste the words on that.
7. Overall, this letter is useless. It tells me nothing additive to what will be in the accompanying CV. It tells me nothing about why I should consider you over the dozens of other applicants. You are treating the cover letter like a hoop to be jumped through rather than a crucial part of your application package.
tl;dr: The cover letter is not a formality. Use it to present yourself really well. I already have your CV; I don't need a repeat. Read the job ad very carefully, and use your letter to say something about yourself and the job. And spell everything correctly and learn to punctuate.
*steps off the soapbox*
See also: Open Cover Letters and Cover Letters as Narrative and Arc
97 Responses to the torment of terrible cover letters
The tone is grating but the message is clear.
I have been looking for something like this on cover letters for a while. There a good books and articles out there on writing cover letters but what makes this useful is the fact that it is your opnion and personal perspective presented in a rather raw and ruthless fashion.
I'm not masochistic and as indicated I did find it a bit grating. (Sorry. Don't take it personally I find most Blogs to be like that.) In this case as harsh as it may come across it brings home the point as to why we should take care to write cover letters carefully and professionally. Simply, you don't want to irritate the person you want to hire you. You want to impress them.
Have you offered additional insights from employer perspectives on related topics such as "interviews" and other important stages in the employment process?
PS> If you're looking for a good cutter/paster I do a pretty good job of matching fonts and style as well as taking care to proof and smooth out transitions in the targeted text. I have reames of experience in cover letters I will now have to rewrite.
Oh by the way: what are the qualifications for taking over the world?
It would be great to be able to right the perfect cover letter every time. However, over the past nine months of applying for dozens of various jobs I believe that the electronic method of submitting your resume and cover letter prevent you from being able to fulfill all of the steps that are usually prescribed. Here are a few I found:
1.) Usually you do not know who the application, resume and cover letter are going to, so you are unable to address the individual personally. Sometimes you can research the web site and find out who is working in the HR department, but there is still no clue who will be reviewing the applicant packet.
2.) Most larger institutions use recruiters.
3.) Unless there is another way I'm not aware of, physically signing the cover letter would require you print and scan the letter which might leave the letter in a format which can not be uploaded into the employer's system.
The bottom line is that the electronic submission of resumes and cover letters often prevents the applicant from having a perfect submission for the job.
1. But the problem comes when the job ad clearly states *a person* and the cover letter is written to a generic search committee or dear ma'am sir. Don't do it.
2. No, many don't. Many use a HR system to collect "stuff" and this system may in fact toss you out if you don't meet the most minimal requirements (hence reading the job ad and how they want things submitted is even MORE important) but for places like libraries that care about personal service, there is still a fair amount of human involvement from the people who are working with them.
3. You type it, you print it, you sign it, you scan it and save as a pdf. If you can't do this, then you make it clear by not leaving a huge space for your actual physical sig in the letter.
And if you find this all bothersome, then don't blanket apply to every job that is out there. Yes you need work. But applying for jobs that you are not actually in anyway qualified for does not help anyone at all, including you. Spend more time creating better quality materials for the ones you do apply for.
I have to agree with some of the commenters here, you sound kinda cranky. And as much as its nice to hear you've put a lot of time into your job ad, I'm afraid they can be hellish to read. All that management speak jargon re competencies and skills: it can be quite difficult to figure out something original to say in response. It's like writing an essay for a subject you're not that enthusiastic about because you don't understand the question. I can see you're rather fed up though…but hey, so are we.
I love this post! And am curious to read a response to Theresa Pye's comment about electronically submitting cover letters and formatting. So many places require different things – I have uploaded things in pdf, jpeg, bitmap – you name it – as per their requirements. Everything I have is now in about six different electronic formats. It's an exhausting process. As harrowing as it is on your end, I think it's worse for those of us who are applying trying to figure out what everyone wants and match ourselves to it – like you said, it's a hiring market.
Man, I'm so mean and crabby, I even demand that page applicants write cover letters.
Must be my advancing age.
Cover letters are good practice for writing grant proposals, reports, presentations, etc. The ability to identify an audience, speak clearly, and stay on message is even more important after you get the job.
I have had many jobs in the past, I am 49 years old. I have a MA in History, I graduated December, 2010, and I am working on a MS in LIS. I am not without writing skills, but there is often a gap in communication, either from the potential employer or the employee. Another aspect to consider is not everyone can write well about themselves from a marketing perspective. I believe that is the biggest problem I face right now.
I agree with Theresa Pye. She has many points I would be interested hearing your thoughts on. Many of the institutions I've applied for state they don't want paper applications they want everything online.
In my own opinion, each person will look at a cover letter sent to them differently. What one person wants in there one another won't. Ultimately I think a person has to do their best and be happy with what they sent out. You can't please everyone. Perhaps it's better in the long run because if your best doesn't land you the job in one place it'll get you a job in another.
That being said I agree with you "your best" is the key there. People need to read and research to help themselves secure that job.
Also another point on what someone else said (I don't remember who). I think library schools do need to offer required workshops/courses/classes on resume and cover letter writing.
Theresa Pye, the biggest challenge you'll face is how to downplay the over-45 factor. I'm 47, a 20-year MLS, and I can land interviews, but when the interviewer is my age and sees me going for $16/hr. jobs, he wonders why I would want such a low-paying gig.
"It's because my unemployment compensation dries up in 5 weeks, dummy," is what I want to say.
Jenica, if I were in Potsdam, I'd apply for the gig at your library, but oh, how we'd clash. I'd be more responsive to an over-40 boss. Maybe that's ageism in reverse, but it's the truth!
I'm just reading "Three Ways to Pitch Yourself in 30 Seconds" by Jodi Glickman in Harvard Business Review OnPoint Summer 2011 (free for Nook last week or the week before). If you think of the cover as a 30 second pitch you will be ahead of the pack: Think relevant, not recent; Focus on skills-based versus situation- or industry-based qualifications; and Connect the dots.
Having sat on many an interview committee and prescreened many many applications, I have to agree with nearly everything you stated (except the part about ads being written "thoughtfully"). For the most part, I've found that the applicant who doesn't really bother producing professional-grade application materials is the employee who is not going to go the extra mile when they get the job. The way they "represent" for themselves will be the way they represent for your institution later.
However, I also have to say I'm personally loving that so many MLIS-holders can't write a cover letter to save their lives. I have helped many friends/colleagues with writing and refining their CVs and letters, and I am always open to doing that. But given how competitive the job market is right now, I need any advantage I can get. I know that my cover letter is the thing that has gotten me in the door more than once (even when I didn't meet all the requirements).
Thank you for this peek behind the curtain on the application process at your library, and for the thought-provoking, honest, and inspiring blog. I sent the link to this post immediately to my soon-to-be-newly-minted MLIS students who are working as interns on our reference desk (with the caveat of course that this is *one* director's thoughts, but also is probably representative of the thoughts of many among the sort of directors for whom they might be most happy to work.) I will not speak to what my interns do or do not get in this regard in the classroom in our university's program; I am library faculty, not library *school* faculty. My role is to guide them in applying what they learn in the classroom to where the boots meet the carpet at the Desk. I have six on the market now for whom I can say, from 10 months' direct observation on the job, that if the hiring institution is ready to appreciate their energy, professional ethics, and on-the-Desk experience, they will rock from Day One.
…I ran out of space before I could say that your advice very much mirrors what I and my 3 colleagues in charge of training for our system's intern program share with our students as they begin the heart-breaking process of searching for and courting that One Perfect Job. We hold workshops where our colleagues (younger and older) read over interns' resumes and letters, we have our system's Personel Librarian speak to the group, we help all we can when any of them come to us for advice on approaching a particularly promising "best fit" position or institution. Getting them through to the phone interview is the goal…after that, if the match is a good one, they're golden. The cover letter is the bottle-neck, which is why posts like this one are so valuable. If I may be so bold, I have a request to all search committees: when you see a really good applicant but they just didn't beat the competition, tell them in the "sorry" letter what they did *right*…the market is so tight, they need that confirmation.
Amen to that, Patricia. I finished 2nd in a $53,000/yr. gig last summer, and it was useful to hear from the assistant director (via phone call) that it was only my lack of experience with Ubuntu Linux that prevented my selection.
Today I am composing this letter via the Opera browser on my Ubuntu Linux laptop. One more skill added, and it's kinda fun, too.
@Stephen B. – Excellent display of taking away the *positive* from a potentially disheartening experience. You have a very healthy attitude: I lost for not having that? OK, next time I will have it. Most of the MLIS students I've had the honor of coaching and training these last few years are, like yourself, very open to advice and to working constantly at adding to or improving their skill set and experience. I wish you well in your continued search!
[…] made an awesome post about cover letters and there's extensive discussion in the […]
[…] Please, please, please, focus on that cover letter and […]
Thanks for this! I've passed it on to all my job-searching friends.
Last fall I participated in a hiring committee for the first time, and it was also the first time I really grasped why cover letters were so important. I had a pile of resumes, some of which were more suited to the posted job and some less, and every time I got an application with a good cover letter I would breathe a sigh of relief. Here, at least, was someone who wasn't going to make me GUESS how their experience would be relevant to the position. Here was someone who'd taken the time to write three paragraphs to help me understand why they wanted the job!
I have always hated writing cover letters, but I now realize how damned important they are.
Hey there!
I just wanted to say thank you for this advice! I found it through the Library-Grrls livejournal page. Although I'm only starting my MLIS this Fall 2011, I did use this advice to write a cover letter for a library internship for this summer before school starts. Not only did I score an interview, but I also just landed the job!
Thanks again
Thank you for your advice! I appreciate your thoughtfulness and valued opinion. Although I do most of what you suggest in the article, I was delighted to review your article and will incorporate your suggestions into future cover letters.
[…] the torment of terrible cover letters from Jenica over at Attempting Elegance. Take away message: read the instructions and the other stuff that's been posted about the position. Then read them again. […]
[…] The Torment of Terrible Cover Letters […]
[…] there have recently been great library cover letter specific posts – one from Jenica at Attempting Elegance, that inspired Steve to create OpenCoverLetters (it's library specific, but he encourages […]
on the subject of cover letters – I obtained my current job by 1) addressing the needs and wants mentioned in their job ad (yes, right down to ripping off the buzzwords) and 2) making connections between library promotion and my summer "job" working at renaissance faires. Oh, and lifeguarding. Every library needs a lifeguard.
[…] the torment of terrible cover letters at Attempting Elegance […]
[…] Attempting Elegance – Cover Letters – http://www.attemptingelegance.com/?p=922 […]
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[…] Attempting Elegance – Cover Letters – http://www.attemptingelegance.com/?p=922 […]
[…] and interviews. Also, Jenica Rogers on her Attempting Elegance blog had a must-read post on The Torment of Terrible Cover Letters. I would also encourage anyone applying for librarian positions to look at Stephen X. Flynn's […]
[…] The Torment of Terrible Cover Letters – A blog post written by Jennica Rogers in 2011. Rogers is Director of Libraries at the State University of New York at Potsdam and offers some excellent and easily applicable advice on writing a good cover letter. Or, at least, she tells you what NOT to do. Highly recommended. […]
Jenica, thank you so much for this firm and no-nonsense post. I completely agree with your thoughts here and have long attempted to to craft a thoughtful and well-written cover letter as an integral part of my application package. When applying for positions, I always find the cover letter to be the most difficult part to perfect. I apply my skills and previous experience to the desired qualifications & duties as best I can, but I really like the specific wording you used in your response to @red. Excellent suggestion!
In previous cover letters I've always tried to write a little about myself, a little about the opening, and a little about what a perfect match we are together. I try to strike a balance between professionalism and all-out enthusiasm and excitement about the job.
I'm not certain I understand why some people posting replies here seem to be so angry, but I know that when I send out my cover letter that is punctuated correctly and appropriately discusses all skills of concern, I normally get an interview as a result. Thanks for the excellent advice!
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[…] the torment of terrible cover letters at Attempting Elegance […]
[…] I post something highly incendiary — see my forays into cover letters and Jeff Trzeciak for examples — I hold my breath and obsessively hit refresh on my email, […]
[…] I recommend reviewing Jenica Rogers' excellent posts of Cover Letters and Questions to Ask Interviewers December 3, 2012 @ 11:20 am […]
I'm late to this wonderful post, but I hope someone can still answer this question for me. The advice I've read often comes down to two points that seem to contradict each other:
1) address every part of the job ad, every qualification
2) keep it short.
I see job ads for entry/mid level positions with 10-15 minimum qualifications. I can address each of these points. I can even address it in such a way that I throw in some stuff about the institution as you suggest, but that makes my letter at least 2 pages long. What should I sacrifice? Shortness or content?
Not sure if this old post is even still being monitored but for any manager/hiring types still hanging around, I have some questions that have been causing me no end of grief in my job search process. The original post says I should stop talking about myself so much in my cover letters. Later on, I see some posts that suggest I match every single requirement in the job ad in order in the cover letter. 1) How is it possible to match requirements like that without effectively making a long boring list that is completely about me going "I match requirement A because I did X. I match requirement B because of Y." 2) If my cover letter is meant to be proof of my skills at professional presentation and writing expertise, why would a manager want a long boring list in which I explicitly spell out how I match each of the 15 bulleted points? That's basically how high school students are taught to write to pass standardized tests. I've always written cover letters by synthesizing the main skills of the job ad ("okay, this library especially needs somebody good at literacy instruction, database research, and community outreach programs") and then providing examples of how my experiences/skills/attitude make me a good candidate for doing that at your library. I don't address every highly specific bulleted point with a list of bulleted points about myself. Apparently, that's the total wrong thing to do because I have yet to get any kind of response.
Short follow-up to the above:
In short, I find it somewhat contradictory that I'm supposed to use my cover letter to prove I'm intelligent, professionally savvy, and good at synthesizing information but the search committee also wants a clear, simple list explicitly connecting all the dots because they don't have time to consider how working as a waitress might give me customer service skills. "Explain for busy" and "make yourself shine" don't usually occupy the same space.
Also, because I'm in a bad mood and feeling borderline obsessive I'll just ask this.
Why are so many blogs like this so belittling of people looking for career advice? I know it's not your job to give me handouts or make me feel good, but 90% of the time I come to places like this genuinely wanting to improve my chances and I come away feeling like I'm some dirty vagrant who can't spell and I'm wasting some *REALLY IMPORTANT BUSY PERSON'S* time every time I submit an application. Many advice columns like these seem to assume everybody applying is the lowest common denominator or something.
Jenica, thank you for posting this (though I know it was posted quite awhile ago and you may never see this comment). I find cover letters tricky because the issue of "How do I frame this without making it all about me?" is often a fine line to walk. I appreciate your insights on this matter.
[…] some fresh opinions. If you'd like some other good advice, Jenica Rogers has a great post here (check her archives for other job hunt posts), Gavia Libraria discusses the process and some good […]
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Jammer's Review
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Final Mission"
Air date: 11/19/1990
Teleplay by Kasey Arnold-Ince and Jeri Taylor
Story by Kasey Arnold-Ince
Directed by Corey Allen
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Wesley is accepted to Starfleet Academy — this time for real — which means he's leaving the show and this episode should therefore automatically get four stars, right? Kidding, kidding; I don't hate Wesley. At least not always. In seasons three and four he was not nearly as annoying as in previous years. Always too smart, yes, but not as obliviously obnoxious about it. Wesley accompanies Picard for a routine mission, but that mission is interrupted when the broken-down shuttlecraft they're riding in with the pilot (who calls himself "captain") Dirgo (Nick Tate) has a system failure and crashes on a desert moon.
The Enterprise has its hands full on another emergency mission (a disposable procedure plot) and won't reach the crash site for some time, so Picard, Wesley, and Dirgo must in the meantime survive in the desert with no water or supplies.
One of the story's points of labor is that Dirgo is obviously too stupid to live. The first tip-off is that he argues when Picard suggests heading to the mountains, the only possible shelter in sight. The second is that he drinks alcohol in the desert sun. The third is that he fires his phaser into a force field when he very obviously should just wait. That last example comes when the stranded party finds a cave with a fountain of water protected by an automated energy field (a prize behind an obstacle that seems more like the end of a video-game level than something that has a plausibly legitimate reason for being there). This results in a cave-in that critically injures Picard. Wesley must then figure out how to get the water to save Picard's life. Dirgo (as I said, too stupid to live) ends up getting killed behind his own impatient plan that Wesley said was a bad idea — which goes to show that you should never blow off the teenage genius.
The real point of the story is the relationship between Picard and Wesley, and their scenes while Picard appears to be dying. It's heavy on sentiment, gratitude, mutual respect, and the deep-down previously unsaid truth that Wesley considers Picard a surrogate father whom he just hopes will be proud of him. It's earnest, pleasant, intimate — but in the end, "Final Mission" is a little too much like Wesley Crusher: a bit cloying.
Previous episode: Future Imperfect
Next episode: The Loss
13 comments on this review
The basic structure of the episode -- wherein Picard is injured and Wesley has to take charge -- is setup for Wesley getting on in his life without Picard. For now, that means going to the academy. In the long run, I think it means realizing that he doesn't want the academy for himself after all, and going with the Traveler (though even then, I wonder if he'll eventually leave the Traveler and go find a different path; is the Traveler just another temporary mentor on his way?). I used to be annoyed that the episode is entirely about Wesley's relationship with Picard and not at all about his relationship with his mother, but of course Beverly will always be Wesley's mother, and Picard stops being Wesley's captain the moment he steps off the ship. Wesley mentioned the shuttle ride in "Samaritan Snare," and how Picard opened up to him, and that reminds me how in that episode it was not just Wesley but Picard, too, who benefited from the exchange. Picard doesn't like children, and part of that I think is that his own childhood was spent both intensely studying and somewhat mindlessly rebelling; it's only ever been to Wesley, so far, that Picard has admitted the side of his youth that he regrets, the side that runs counter to the narrative most commonly accepted of Picard having always been a golden boy -- i.e., his not getting into the Academy the first time ("Coming of Age"), the Nausicaan incident ("Samaritan Snare"), and here that Boothby was the person who got him out of some trouble that was very serious. Wesley does remind Picard of himself at that younger age, and his ability to grow to be proud of Wesley runs in parallel with Picard being able to accept his own childhood and his own frailty.
I talk about Wesley and Picard's relationship over the course of the whole series partly because this episode itself leaves me with so little to discuss. The episode doesn't add much to Wesley's story, but is a capstone to his years on the Enterprise, which have not always been handled very well; Wesley uses his bright mind to solve the problem and save the captain, but (while it's not entirely clear how the tricorder thing he does works) it's not the type of frustrating and improbable instant solution of the kind we'd see in season one. As to the execution of the Wes & Picard character work, I think Jammer says it perfectly: "it's earnest, pleasant, intimate — but in the end, "Final Mission" is a little too much like Wesley Crusher: a bit cloying." The episode has well enough good to earn its 2.5 stars, but no more than that.
(It's amazing how low-urgency the garbage scow plot is at the end, and how seriously they expect us to believe that thirty seconds before you get a lethal dose of radiation, you suffer zero ill effects.)
It would only take minutes to plot a course, lock the tractor beam and get the combined mass of two vessels up to speed to escape the gravity of the planet, sending it on it's slow journey to a safe destination (the sun?). Just tell the audience the search took as long as the story demanded (strange electromagnetic interference). I don't know how long the search would actually take but I do know about momentum in the vacuum of space.
(It's amazing how low-urgency the garbage scow plot is at the end, and how seriously they expect us to believe that thirty seconds before you get a lethal dose of radiation, you suffer zero ill effects.)
Yeah, it's a bit of a corollary to the "Star Trek countdown", where someone (often Crusher, but sometimes LaForge or Data) will arbitrarily estimate how long it will be for Something Awful (®) to occur, and then that estimate then becomes a to-the-second accurate deadline for resolving The Crisis (®).
Picard: "Please don't make a liar out of me."
Wesley: "No, sir."
I agree almost anything else would have been better than the garbage scow...
According to the episode, the planet's MEAN temperature is 55C. 55 degrees celsius! Likewise, Wesley warned Picard that the temperature would drop quite a bit during the night, enough to make him cold... Which means the average high during the day would have to be, oh, about 90 celsius or so... Forget crossing the desert or conserving supplies; they're dead in 5 minutes.
I suppose they could have crashed near one of the poles, but that sun looked rather high up in the sky.
Thanks for sharing. More than anything else, it's those tiny bits of humanity that keep making me revisit this site. Thank you.
@SkepticalMI - The Earth's mean temperature is 14C, or about 40C less than that planet. So, if they landed somewhere during the winter, maybe on one of the poles, than the temperatures we see in the show might make sense.
Yeah, it's all part of enabling that to-the second accurate (though always based on estimates) Star Trek Countdown™.
There was an ENT episode where they went right up to the end of the Countdown of Death, but only came away with some cracked epidermis that healed within a day.
Wesley used his communicator to jury-rig the tricorder to respond to his super fast button pushing. (Another laughable scene) But it seems that somebody should have been banging on Picard's communicator every so often to see if help was nearby. Admittedly these things could have been explained away (damaged when Picard sustained injury, etc.) but no attempt was made.
Kind of a carelessly written episode.
The aliens with the garbage scow problem.
How do they eat? Tendrils growing over their mouth. Seriously, no species would have evolved like that.


text:
- Stock Number 404764
- Exterior Silver Topaz Metallic
- Interior Jet Black
- Engine ECOTEC 2.5L I4 DGI DOHC
- 21 City* 31 Hwy
- Total Savings $6,725
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Prices do not include additional fees including but not limited to government fees and taxes, finance charges, dealer administration fees, or any other fees. Prices may not represent all dealer installed options, accessories, or packages installed on the vehicle. All prices, specifications, and availability are subject to change without notice. Contact dealer for most current information as rebates or prices can often change. We reserve all rights regarding any pricing or omission errors.
*EPA Estimates Only
** Tax, title, license and dealer fees are extra. Take delivery by 1/2/2015
*** Tax, title, license and dealer fees (unless itemized above) are extra. Not available with special finance or lease offers.


text:
Frederick News-Post
FREDERICK, Md. - At age 5, Brian Scartocci wanted to be just like Elvis Presley, but as he grew older, Scartocci says he fell in love with soul music, baptizing himself in the smooth tones of rhythm and blues artists such as David Ruffin.
Now, at 26, his passion has led Scartocci to television, where he is competing on NBC's music talent show "The Voice." His first appearance aired Sept. 17.
"It was unbelievable," Scartocci said of being onstage in front of celebrity judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine.
On the show, which airs at 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, Scartocci is portrayed as a die-hard Texan, but fans in Frederick County know of his local ties. Scartocci graduated from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in 2004.
"It's nice to see him get a break, `cause he is a really good guy," said Chris Fries, a Frederick resident who remained friends with the singer after he moved away from the area.
Fries said he lived in the same neighborhood as Scartocci. They became friends and eventually joined the same wrestling team. That's when Fries found out about Scartocci's passion for singing. His friend would often sing during workouts, Fries said.
"He was basically my iPod," he said.
Millions of viewers are now hearing Scartocci sing on television _ an unexpected detour on his life journey, Scartocci said.
"I hadn't watched the show," he admitted.
NBC scouts called to see if he would be interested in auditioning, Scartocci said. A friend of his initially took the call.
"He said, `NBC is looking for you, and I think it might be cool,'" Scartocci recalled.
Being scouted by the network meant Scartocci did not have to show up for a cattle call audition that can draw thousands of people to a venue. Instead, his experience was more intimate. The show wanted him after noticing his talent on YouTube, he said.
Months later, he found himself singing Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" in front of celebrity judges.
Contestants on "The Voice" perform for judges who have their back turned to the stage. This allows the judges to focus solely on each contestant's voice. Judges get to see a contestant only if they like what they hear.
Scartocci chose to join Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine's team, even though Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton also wanted a chance to work with him.
"Time to choose me," Levine told Scartocci after his performance on the show.
Contestants choose a judge to work with for a number of weeks and a winner is eventually chosen.
The show features dozens of talented singers who Scartocci describes as "a collection of people just like me."
He expects to appear on the show again this month.
Information from: The Frederick (Md.) News-Post, http://www.fredericknewspost.com
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Health Care
I believe that West Virginians deserve access to affordable health care services and I have long fought to help ensure that they have such access, especially in underserved areas of southern West Virginia.
We must strengthen Federal investments in community health centers that provide primary and preventive care in rural regions, along with programs that bring health care providers to underserved areas. I also believe we must update Medicare rules in order to expand health care services and the role of health care providers where doctors are in short supply.
I am proud to support legislation that would promote wellness and preventive care programs -- increasing access to vaccinations and regular doctor visits, screenings for chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer – all designed to help us live healthier and keep our medical costs down. I support our West Virginia schools developing curriculum in health, warning about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and providing physical education as well as more nutritious meals to help our young people lead long, healthy, productive lives. We also need to be sure we have appropriate mental health services and treatment services for those struggling with mental illness or behavior health.
For years, I have been active and vocal in supporting legislation that would help to root out the causes of afflictions such as autism spectrum disorders and Alzheimer's, in order to help families, schools, caregivers, and the medical community to find the best care and treatment options. Our loved ones deserve the best care possible.
I am also fighting hard against efforts to end traditional Medicare and the guaranteed benefits promised to seniors, as well as to ensure that our Nation's veterans and their families receive the health care benefits that they have earned.
At issue is addressing the basic human need for quality health care and marshalling our resources as a nation to meet that need.


text:
Quit Smoking with FC Barcelona
February 25th
In collaboration with FC Barcelona, the European Commission has launched a media campaign across the continent to help people quit smoking. The campaign which runs as print and online media was photographed by Diver & Aguilar in Barcelona endorsed by the four captains, Carlos Puyol, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Víctor Valdés and coach Tito Vilanova.
Client : European Commission/FC Barcelona.
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi Brussels.AD: Stijn Klaver.
© Copyright DMB Media 2014


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