18 cover letter mistakes to avoid

18 cover letter mistakes to avoid, by Ashraf Chaudhry

1. Addressing letters, “Dear Sir:” or “Dear Sirs:”

Readers may be women. If gender is unclear, the salutation should be

something like “Dear Hiring Manager,” or “Dear Human Resources Manager.”

2. Addressing letters, “To whom it may concern.” Or “Dear Whomever”.

Find out who will receive the correspondence, and address it personally.

3. Sending emails to large number of IDs at the same time.

This is a real turn-off for the recruiters. This shows the sloppiness of the applicants.

4. No signature.

Even if you type your name at the end of correspondence, you should sign the page in your own handwriting to give it a personal touch.

5. Spelling errors.

One applicant said he was well suited for “writting and editing chores… contact me at the eddress below.” Would you give him your editing work? Another writer said she’d enjoy “hearing form you.” Word processing spell checkers make mistakes; so proofread everything.

6. Not checking grammar.

Check your letters for correct sentence structure. Have friends review them too.

7. Using clichés. You’ll receive many letters that say:

“I’ve come to know through reliable sources that a position lies vacant under your kind control. If you give me a chance to work, I’ll leave no stone un-turned to please you.”

8. Using the word “I” too much. Some letters are filled with 20 or 30 I’s.

Advertising is all about “you.” Emphasize “you” rather than “I.”

9. Cluttered desktop publishing. With the advent of PCs, some job seekers feel the urge to

be “creative” using various type sizes and fonts. Avoid this in business correspondence.

Except in rare cases, business letters should look conservative. If you want to be creative,

do so in your choice of words. Save Microsoft Publisher and Photoshop for your Season’s

Greetings Cards.

10. Oddball phrasing, such as “an opportunity to expand my strengths and delete my weaknesses… “Or, “You may feel that I’m a tad overqualified.” Or, “Enclosed herewith please find my résumé.” Do you talk that way? You should write the way you talk. Avoid bad phrasing by having others critique your letters.

11. Typos, like “thankyou for your assistance.”

12. Not saying enough like “Please accept my enclosed résumé for the position of Executive

Director. Thank you.” That’s too short. A letter is an opportunity to sell. So say something

about yourself.

13. Ending with “Thank you for your consideration.” Everyone ends their letters this way, so

you may avoid it. Try something different, like “I’m excited about talking further”. The

same goes for “Sincerely,” and “Sincerely yours.” Everyone uses them. Find something

different like “With great enthusiasm.”

14. WRITING IN ALL CAPS. IT’S HARD TO READ. DON’T DO IT.

15. Forgetting to enclose your résumé. If you say you’re enclosing one, then don’t forget to

do it.

16. Forgetting the date and/or salutation.

17. Using fading printer cartridges. Whenever possible, use a laser printer.

18. The 300-word paragraph.

The worst mistake in marketing is writing too long. Limit sentences to seven or eight words, and limit paragraphs to four or five lines.

In letter writing, short is usually better. I try to limit my own letters to one page, seldom two.

I believe if I can’t say it well in one page, I probably can’t say it well at all.

As it has been sagaciously said by William Shakespeare too that brevity is the soul of wit.

So always try to be mindful of this golden rule that will retain an articulate impact of yours on others.