Blunders to beware: "I pay imaculate attention to detail"
Now you know what to do, but do you know what not to do? Here, Workthing presents ten of the top cover letter clangers
1 Self-obsession
However tempting it may be, don't start every sentence with 'I'. The recruiter is interested in the needs of the company and how you meet them, not just you.
2 Going on and on and on...
Recruiters are busy people. Some advertised jobs lead to hundreds of applications. Faced with that lot, a recruiter is hardly likely to read anything longer than a few paragraphs. If your letter has more than four, or goes over a page, our advice is to trim it.
3 Shooting yourself in the foot
If you're going to make grand claims for yourself, make sure you can live up to them. One recruiter we interviewed recently received a letter in which the author claimed to "pay immaculate attention to detail". His CV contained spelling mistakes, however, and it was binned. Also, don't use fancy phrases like "I'm a results-orientated person" unless you've got examples to prove it.
4 Giving unnecessary personal details
They may be more at home on a CV and, in the limited space of a cover letter, no one is interested in your love for Wrexham FC, your experiences growing up in a circus, or your views on the Canadian film industry. Stick to the point: the job for which you're applying and what makes you the best candidate for it.
5 Going for a laugh
It's best to leave humour out of your cover letter. The recruiter's unlikely to share your sense of humour, so you're far more likely to come off as a weirdo than a comic genius. Laugh-a-minute or even tongue-in-cheek statements can also backfire, and lead the recruiter to think that you don't take your career - and by extension their job - seriously.
6 Going for the sympathy vote
There is a fine line between being open about, say, a recent redundancy, and making it sound like it's the sole reason you are applying for a new job. If a recruiter thinks from your letter that you are interested in their job only because you've been made redundant, your cover letter also runs the risk of being made redundant. They won't exactly be impressed.
7 Not knowing what you're applying for
"I've had people apply for training positions when we've advertised for a branch manager," says Helen Brocklehurst, field recruiter for Manpower. Surely it's worth finding out? If you're applying for an advertised job, be sure to check that your own reference to the job is identical to that in the ad.
8 Writing to a phantom
Make the effort to find out the name of the person who will be reading your letter. It shouldn't take more than a simple phone call to the organisation. Avoid the off-putting 'Dear sir/madam', and at all costs stay away from the ghastly 'To whom it may concern'. Openings like these suggest you're not interested in the particular organisation to which you're applying, and that you're just churning out 'one size fits all' cover letters.
9 Regurgitating your CV
Please note: a cover letter is not a CV in prose. Your cover letter's role is to sell and market the marvel that is your CV. How? By pulling out the key points of your CV. For instance, if you're applying for a job that calls for a "motivated self-starter," and you once started up a company intranet under your own initiative, bring it to the reader's attention. It may have been a minor part of your job, but it shows the recruiter that you're conscious of their concerns.
10 Jumping the gun
Avoid the temptation to make salary or benefit demands in a cover letter. Save it for the interview, which is the time to get into the nuts and bolts of any job offer. Bringing up the topic of remuneration any earlier looks presumptuous, and can only damage your chances of landing an interview.
Compiled from:
Recruitment consultants
Robert Half International; Adecco; Penna Sanders and Sidney; Manpower and Pertemps
Books
Job Notes: Cover Letters, by L Michelle Tullier
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Cover Letter by Susan Ireland
Dynamic Cover Letters by Katharine Hansen and Randall Hansen
Cover Letters They Don't Forget by Eric R Martin and Karyn E Langhorne
Online sources
The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development
Jobstar
Quintessential careers
CareerLab
Back to top
|
 |
 | Me, me, me, me
Not sure how to pitch yourself in terms of what you can do for the employer? Here's how to do it.
|  |
 |  |
 |
|
|
