{"id":2686,"date":"2023-09-29T10:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:14:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:14:05","slug":"the-lost-art-of-being-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2023\/09\/29\/the-lost-art-of-being-ourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"The lost art of being ourselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

CVs and cover letters are personal marketing documents. They exist to show an employer how you<\/strong> are a good fit for them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Most of us have fallen into the trap of listing our skills and experiences, without explaining how these make us ideal candidates for the role. But the flipside can be just as bad. If we are too eager to meet the employer\u2019s expectations, it\u2019s easy to lose our originality. In this blog, we\u2019ll look at ways to stay true to ourselves when writing job applications.<\/p>\n

Edit with caution<\/h2>\n

When I was fourteen, I wrote a \u2018story\u2019 (heavy quote marks) where I vowed never to use the same word twice. I used words like \u2018casement\u2019 instead of \u2018window\u2019, thinking this would make me sound clever. In truth, it sounded ridiculous. A window is a window, and there was no good reason to call it anything else.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s important to avoid excessive repetition in your writing. But when editing your CV or cover letter, make sure you are using the right<\/strong> words, and not the words that sound the most impressive. Not all synonyms are interchangeable!<\/p>\n

Unless you use words like \u2018casement\u2019 in real life, you risk sounding disingenuous. Employers want to hire you<\/strong>, not a heavily edited version of you. Also, they may only skim your application, so don\u2019t make life harder for them by using flowery language. It should be readable and make its point from the get-go.<\/p>\n

Avoid exaggeration<\/h2>\n

I see a lot of applications claiming the candidate is the \u2018perfect fit\u2019 for the role. Do you really need to be perfect get the job? This can feel clunky, exaggerated and, again, disingenuous, especially if you don\u2019t back up this claim convincingly. It also implies you meet every one of the essential criteria and have no room for improvement. Contrary to popular belief, this isn\u2019t always what employers want.<\/p>\n

Instead of perfect, could you argue that you are an ideal fit, or perhaps even excellent? This suggests that you are confident your skills match their requirements, without sounding cocky. Don\u2019t forget to evidence this claim. Show them how<\/strong> you\u2019re an excellent fit by giving examples of your skills and experiences, and link these back to specific criteria in the job description.<\/p>\n

This should go both ways, so think carefully about how you write about the employer. They are rarely flattered by excessive compliments, and they don\u2019t want to hear that they are \u2018a leader in their field\u2019 because that\u2019s way too generic. It\u2019s better to do thorough research into their work and find something you genuinely love. Likewise, be careful not to come off too strong with phrases like \u2018dream job\u2019 or \u2018once in a lifetime opportunity\u2019. Even if you feel they are true, you need to convey your motivation with more than just flattery.<\/p>\n

Reflect the employer\u2019s tone<\/h2>\n

This might sound at odds with being yourself, but hear me out. If an employer uses a formal tone in their job advert, you\u2019ll stand a better chance of succeeding if you can reflect this in your cover letter. Other employers may be more relaxed. Always be professional, but don\u2019t be afraid to mirror the employer\u2019s style, even if it\u2019s more on the casual side.<\/p>\n

If you find this challenging, think about why this might be. Applications in general can be tricky \u2013 is it this? Or does the whole thing feel really, really <\/strong>off? If your application feels impersonal, put it down and try a different one. Perhaps that first role wasn\u2019t right for you, and your energy is better spent elsewhere. If you can\u2019t<\/strong> be yourself in your application, you likely won\u2019t manage it in the role. So focus your efforts on the jobs that excite you. If you get stuck, take a look at our resources, or book an appointment for bespoke feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CVs and cover letters are personal marketing documents. They exist to show an employer how you are a good fit for them. Most of us have fallen into the trap of listing our skills and experiences, without explaining how these...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1443,"featured_media":2687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[748],"tags":[4,16,384,22,9,8,41,120],"class_list":["post-2686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","tag-advice","tag-applications","tag-cover-letter","tag-cv","tag-reflection","tag-self-awareness","tag-skills","tag-top-tips"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2023\/07\/brett-jordan-D44kHt8Ex14-unsplash.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}