Recently I applied to the Fnac store in Valencia in order to get a part-time job, because an ERASMUS year in a foreign country cost a lot. When you have to pay back your first student loan and really want to take advantage of your life in Spain, you have to seriously look for a job.
The first thing I have to admit is that I appreciated the fact that it was not necessary to write a cover letter. In Spain some things seem more direct and less formal; in this case it was a nice surprise, because I do think that the CV is the most important element when you apply for a job, mainly for a student job. Don't you think?
To my mind, the cover letter is a stylistic composition which lost its significance since most people copy and paste quotes from examples found on internet, type it on a computer, and just make some variations depending on the company they send it to. What matters more if an employer wants to know more about an applicant, it is not the job interview? During an interview there is no trick, you have to be real and show what you are worth.
That is what I think I did or at least I tried to do, in Spanish, when they interviewed me. In fact, the lady in charge of human resources called me just 3 or 4 weeks after I brought my CV to the store. I was agreeably surprised and really excited; my profile and my background obviously had captured her attention and she wanted to interview me the day after for a shop-assistant position in the computer department. Once I came back home I prepared the meeting with my flat mate during almost one hour. It was my first job interview in Spanish, to work for a company I like and to get a position in the department I wanted; I had to take it seriously.
Finally everything was ok. I was on time, very well dressed (maybe too much), enthusiastic and I did my best. Unfortunately there was only one vacant position, and a lot of other applicants that spoke Spanish much better than me. I was a bit disappointed but it was a very good experience. Despite the language barrier I stayed quite confident and I managed to express my motivation. This job examination encouraged me to work much harder to improve my Spanish, mainly for professional use. Which will be the following interview? Perhaps it could be next month with a HR responsible from Rural Caja, a big Spanish bank. We will see…