Dear Ed,
I’ve encountered the dreaded unspecified job listing! Some huge
corporations that own a bunch of magazines will keep the exact glossy they’re hiring for under wraps. How do I create a cover letter without knowing which magazine they’re hiring for?
Love,
Chrissy, Chicago
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Dear Chrissy,
Those sneaky job-posters! Both Conde Nast and American Media are notorious for this. With the latter, Ed thinks they do it because the job description sounds great (staying up-to-date on the gossip columns!), but a title like National Enquirer may deter a lot of ethics class-loving recent journalism grads. As for the former, Ed’s not sure what their motivations are!
Either way, try to figure out what magazine it is before you start writing. Ask on Ed’s message boards, poll your circle of magazine folks, and check Mediabistro’s Revolving Door, a daily list of mag editors who have left their posts—these can clue you in. If you can narrow down the posting to just a few magazines, you can try calling editorial assistants at those pubs and ask if there are openings.
If you’re truly stumped, focus your cover letter on the info you have. Conde posts usually say what the position title is and what that person’s duties will be. When that’s the case, use your cover letter to talk about how you’ve held similar responsibilities and how your past experience qualifies you to hold that position. Give specific examples! You can also talk about your favorite magazines and why you like them. This is risky, but if you have a sense of what genre the opening is in, say, women’s mags as opposed to sports ones, go for it. With all this info, you should have a complete cover letter.
Love,
Ed
