How to write better than perfect applications

We had a position open for a demanding, yet very rewarding position recently. As expected, I got a sea of applications. What I did not expect was the absolute flawlessness of the writing there. As I was going through them, it was frustrating. This made my job hard. My job is to make sure the right person gets the position.

It would have been easy if the applications were great, just pick one. They weren’t. They were aggressively average. In addition to being flawless, they were also empty and soulless. I had no idea whether these folks knew their stuff or not.

Imagine getting a cover letter stating that they are “an adaptable software developer adept at turning complex, evolving challenges into elegant solutions. I offer an unwavering commitment to quality, balancing the urgency of today’s schedules with the foresight needed for tomorrow’s scalability.” I won’t quote any applicants directly – those words aren’t coming from any of the applications, but you wouldn’t know them from the originals, because they’re both AI fodder.

That says nothing. The only information there is that they are a software developer with access to GenAI.

After sifting through a number of equally beautifully worded and immaculate applications it finally hit me. An application with incomplete sentences. Some minor flaws. It was clear that he wasn’t an incredible writer, but it was blatantly obvious that this person knew exactly what he was talking about.

Sir, you’re hired. Thank you for your imperfections.