Your cover letter shouldn’t be your resume in paragraph form.
Say something like, “I am a marketing professional with 10+ years experience in the banking industry,” or “I am writing to you today in regard to your marketing associate position.” 10Making Your Cover Letter a Written-Out Version of Your Resume Instead, start off your cover letter with a relevant qualification, or mention what position you’re applying for. Nothing says “rookie mistake” like opening your cover letter with “My name is Joe Schmo.” Your name should be listed in the sign off of your cover letter, in your resume, and elsewhere in your application materials. 9Starting Your Introductory Paragraph With Your Name
That way, they’ll have an easier time imagining the sort of tangible impact you’ll have if you’re hired. Recruiters and hiring managers love to see verifiable proof of your deeds, so make it easy to see how you’ve added value in the past. Whenever you can, include numbers to make a bigger impact with your statements. Notice how the above example also quantifies the writer’s accomplishments. Support your statements by giving examples of jobs or roles where you used these strengths.įor example, instead of just saying “I have great organizational skills and I’m a hard worker,” say something like, “I personally organized our annual fundraiser and increased employee participation by 30%.” Much more convincing. The skills and qualifications you claim to have in your cover letter are meaningless if you can’t back them up. Keep your explanations short to make sure that the employer is able to focus on your skills and experiences. Some people feel the need to explain career changes or why they’re applying for a job from somewhere far away. Address their concerns and let them know that you have all of the necessary qualifications. A second pair of eyes is great for finding errors you might not realize you’ve made.ħIncluding Too Much Information or Over-Explainingĭon’t include more information than the employer needs to know. If you can, ask a friend to look over your cover letter and point out any mistakes before you send it in.
Use free editing software like Grammarly or spell-check in Microsoft Word to catch the obvious mistakes.įor more nuanced changes, try reading your cover letter backwards - it’ll minimize the risk of reading over the same mistake over and over without noticing it. We all know that writing a cover letter can be a painful process, but do yourself a favor and just proofread.
Sending a cover letter that’s full of typos and errors is a quick and easy way to get yourself screened out of a possible interview. Here are 15 common cover letter mistakes to avoid so you can land an interview and get the job. Lucky for you, we’ve made it easy for you to make sure that your cover letter is convincing and mistake-free. To make matters worse, you could be making a bunch of mistakes that are getting you screened out of the hiring process - and you might not even realize you’re making them. Writing a cover letter can be difficult, but how good yours is can determine whether or not you get the job.
You’ve got to filter through a million job listings, write a convincing resume, and now you’ve got to write a letter that’s good enough to make an employer want to call you in for an interview.