Common Cover Letter Mistakes

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In most job applications your cover letter is the first document that creates an impression about you (good or bad). First impressions really count, so you need to take a mindful approach to writing cover letters in order to avoid rejection. Please find listed below the top 10 don’ts you need to avoid on your cover letter:

Don’t use cover letter templates, no matter how good they seem. There are three things you must know that go against cover letter templates: 1) they maybe stale & boring 2) most templates are free and available to not only yourself 3) therefore, yours will be exposed as being identical to many. Samples however are a great way to get ideas on how to write your own unique letter.

Don’t write a lengthy first paragraph that will only disengauge the reader. A lengthy first paragraph may dilute your standout qualities and may even weaken the entire letter and the lead in to your resume - you do not want this to happen.

Don’t exclude your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. A cover letter is your sales letter; you should highlight your main strengths and prepare the reader psychologically to want to resume your resume.

Don’t write a vague letter without mentioning specifics, for example the job title and job code/number if you are responding to an advertisement. Don’t forget to change this for every job if you are altering the same cover letter.

Don’t address your cover letter ‘To Whom It May Concern’. This may show that you aren’t concerned enough to do your research to find out who is receiving your cover letter and resume .

Don’t use fanciful fonts. Keep the formatting clean, don’t unnecessarily use capitalized or bolded words, or grandiose phrases. Check the letter for silly spelling or grammatical mistakes.

Don’t use cliché language, for example “As afore mentioned, I am enclosing…” This may irritate the recruiter. Instead use simple phrases such as, “enclosed please find my resume.”

Don’t include personal information like your race, age or marital status in the cover letter or resume. These things are against the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and as such should not impact the decision whether or not you are called for the interview.

Don’t use copies of the same cover letters with just the address and date lines changed. If you don’t customize some of the body, the cover letter may either be irrelevant or a overlooked mistake may make it into the final draft.

Don’t brag or make statements that can’t be proven. You should accurate, employers these days often verify applicants statements during reference checks. Don’t let them uncover any exaggerations.

The best tip I can offer is to capture the reader’s imagination as soon as they begin reading. Ensure you keep your cover letter neat and tidy with a simple format, and avoid common cover letter errors, such as the 10 listed above.

Related Article: How to write a cover letter

We need your help to keep our website running and helping Australian's. If you find this information helpful, consider donating.