Common Mistakes When Writing a Cover Letter

The cover letter that accompanies your resume is almost as important, if not more important, than the resume itself. This is because it is the first impression that the employer gets about you. It has to be carefully written so that the employer has a good idea of why you want to work for them. But there are some mistakes that you need to avoid when writing your cover letter so that it can be as effective as possible. If your cover letter contains mistakes, then the employer may never turn the page to your resume.

First, it is important to look at a few basics before covering the most common mistakes so that you can avoid those mistakes. You need to make sure that your cover letter is written on letter paper because it is of a higher stock and you need to ensure that you type your cover letter rather than handwrite it. You may be wondering who actually writes a cover letter by hand, but it does happen.

Below are the rest of the common mistakes when writing a cover letter:

- The failure to address the letter to a specific person is the first mistake. It is important to find out who is doing the hiring within the company so that you can address the letter to that person. If multiple people do the hiring and you have no idea who will be reviewing your resume, you may wish to address it to the HR manager or the job title of the individuals who do the hiring.

- Many people make the mistake of not creating a new cover letter for each job they are applying for. What happens is a different employer gets the same letter, which means the career goal is going to be unrelated to one or two of those jobs that you are applying for.

- The presentation needs to be strong. Weak presentations do not keep the reader's attention.

- Make sure you stay away from clichés and anecdotes that you feel are amusing. An employer will not find these things amusing at all.

- Make sure you don't ramble in your cover letter. You want to get to the point and do it quickly rather than go on and on. A cover letter is not to tell your life story.

- Grammatical errors and typos are a huge turn off to employers. They want to see that you can pay close attention to detail. Letting grammatical errors and typos pass through to the employer does not show attention to detail.

- Make sure you sign your cover letter with your hand. This is the professional way to do it.

- Once you have your cover letter and your resume finished, make sure you don't stuff them into a small envelope. It is important that you enclose them in a larger envelope so that they are not folded.

Make sure you don't make these mistakes because these are the mistakes that will keep your resume from being the one that an employer chooses. You have to remember that your cover letter and your resume are representations of you. If they represent you well, the employer will want to speak to you to see if you really are the candidate for the job. They can tell when they meet you if you match everything you told them on paper. If they think that you are not what they saw in your cover letter and resume, then they may pass you up. So make sure you are honest, professional, and that you are everything that you say you are.