Brian Golod, CSPO

I can’t emphasize enough how inefficient and ineffective it is to apply for jobs that require to submit cover letters. Apply to all the ones that don’t require one first. And when you’re done with those, still… don’t apply to jobs that require cover letters, there are more efficient and effective things you can do with your time, such as expanding your search onto other platforms and even networking. Cover letters should be the very last thing you do. And even if it’s the last thing, I would find something more valuable to do with your time and effort than writing a cover letter from scratch or tweaking your existing one to seem like you wrote it from scratch. So many better things to do with your time to land interviews.

Stop applying with cover letters. They were not needed 20 years ago, and they are still not needed now. Ask yourself, how many times you wrote a cover letter that was ignored and no one even got back to you? How many times they decided to reject you when you submitted a cover letter and were perfectly qualified for the job? Expressing your passion authentically will not necessarily make a difference, knowing how to navigate the job search process will. Just because they asked you to submit a cover letter, it doesn’t mean you should. I have never submitted one and when I tried to trick the system by submitting an empty one with the word ERROR, I still landed the interview, which goes to show you that there’s a lot more behind it.

Building team confidence in Information Technology is heavily influenced by clear and frequent communication. Regularly update the team on organizational objectives, project statuses, and individual contributions to ensure everyone is aligned and aware of the broader mission. Encourage open dialogue where team members can express their ideas, ask questions, and clarify doubts. By maintaining transparent communication, you ensure that the team feels valued, informed, and confident in their roles and contributions, thereby fostering a sense of ownership and engagement in the team's IT projects and overall strategy.

Ensuring that your team learns from mistakes is pivotal for continuous improvement. Foster a blameless environment where team members feel safe to share their mistakes and learning experiences openly. Promote a culture of accountability rather than blame, encouraging individuals to analyze errors as learning opportunities rather than punitive occurrences. Enable team members to collaboratively discuss, dissect, and understand what went wrong, facilitating the development of strategies to prevent similar mistakes in the future. Such an approach not only augments learning but also nurtures resilience and innovation within the team.

When building an effective IT Strategy team, carefully consider the size and scope of the team to align with organizational objectives and the complexity of projects undertaken. A team that is too large may lead to coordination challenges, while a too-small team may lack the diversity of skills necessary for comprehensive strategy development. Aim for a cohesive group comprising members with a diverse array of expertise, ensuring various critical areas such as network security, system architecture, and project management are adequately covered. Tailor the team's size and competencies to be agile and adaptive to the evolving IT strategic needs of the organization.

Preparing your environment is key in boosting confidence for an online presentation. Ensure that the space is quiet, well-lit, and free from distractions. Position your camera at eye level to maintain natural eye contact, and ensure your background is neat and professional to maintain the audience's focus on your presentation. Test your audio and video equipment beforehand to prevent technical issues during the presentation. Having everything set up in an organized manner allows you to focus solely on delivering your content, thereby enhancing your confidence and the overall effectiveness of your presentation.