Evaluating applications for a job is a lot like evaluating applications to a college.

Many are lifeless.  They’ve got lists of involvements without explaining what each one actually is.  They’re full or jargon, buzzwords, and meaningless phrases.  Job applicants write that they, “Set goals, evaluated strategic partnership opportunities, and provided leadership.”  College applicants write that they, “Learned valuable lessons about goal setting, encouraged teamwork, and improved [their] leadership skills.”  It all sounds the same, so the applicants appear to be the same.

But then there are those applications that stand out.

It's the job applicants who send a cover letter they wrote just for you, and the college applicants who do the same with their essays.  They’re willing to let some personality fly in the writing.  They use those 300-500 words to help the reader get to know them in ways the resume—or college application—could not.

Their involvements, awards and accomplishments are forceful and detailed.  But they keep the lists short and punchy.  Better to list a few impressive accomplishments than to water down the list with everything the applicant has ever done.

And most of all, successful applicants to both jobs and colleges are confident.  There’s a sense that this person is going to do great things at whatever place is lucky enough to get him or her.  So why not let this person do it here?

Whether you’re applying for a job or applying to your dream college, write something meaningful in your cover letter or essay, something that sounds like you and helps the reader get to know you.  List what you’re proud of, describe it clearly, and leave everything else out.  And most importantly, have enough confidence to project how excited you are about this particular opportunity, but even more so, how excited you are for the next stage of your life, wherever you end up living (and working).