8 Cover Letter Mistakes That Kill Your Job Search

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Hannah Morgan

Cover Letter MistakesI was helping a friend fill a job opening. In doing so I shared some of the job details with some groups on LinkedIn. In my message, I said:

“For more details, send me your resume and a super cover letter explaining why you are the perfect fit.”

In my mind, I thought I was pretty clear the cover letter should be super and explain why the candidate is the perfect fit. Perhaps I wasn’t as clear as I thought. This is one of the cover emails I received (click to enlarge).

cover email

This cover letter, clearly a template with parts literally cut and paste (different font types and sizes appear throughout the email), is a good illustration of all-to-common cover letter weaknesses that will keep you from getting an interview.

Here, I have highlighted 8 of the “thoughtless” (and easily avoided) mistakesthat too many job seekers make:

8 mistakes

1. Different font style (appears smaller and this is the first thing I see when I open the email)

2. Again, different font style; clearly typed in as part of a form or template

3. Varying sized text

4. & 5. This font style is different

6. Not sure what school this refers to, but it clearly has nothing to do with the job I was promoting

7. The email had the person’s name, but no telephone number or “signature” for me to easily contact the candidate or know anything more about the candidate.

8. This candidate expects me to call? Isn’t she the one who is looking for the job? Shouldn’t she be following up with me? She stated that her aim was to meet with me…

What a Cover Email/Letter Should Contain:

  • Why you are interested in the job and the company
  • Who told you about the job (if applicable) or where you heard about it
  • Examples of use of specific skills mentioned in the job posting
  • Information that would make the reader believe you are genuinely interested in working for them

Using these points, you will show you know how to follow directions, you are a thoughtful communicator and will set you apart from your job search competition.

No, your cover letter might not get read. However, if it does, it should knock the readers socks off, not bore them, annoy them… or cost you the interview!

 

For this post, YouTern thanks our friends at Career Sherpa!

Career-Sherpa

HannahAbout the Author: Hannah Morgan brings over 10 years of experience helping displaced workers search for their next opportunity, and has developed and delivered workshops as well as managed the implementation of Career Navigator, a five-day intensive boot camp for professional level job seekers.

In addition to her blog, Career Sherpa, Hannah is honored to be designated as Job Search Navigator on Job-Hunt.org as well as a featured blogger on HerRochester. She also contributes to Career Collective, a community of expert career coaches and resume writing professionals who write monthly on job search topics, and guest blogs for Brand-Yourself.com on social media trends and tools. Follow Hannah on Twitter!

 

 

 

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  • ranavain

    The font and size mismatch is a problem I see constantly, I’m glad that someone is addressing it!

    However, please tell me you’re not advising people to email or, worse, call to follow up on their applications. That is soooo irritating! Applicants, do NOT CALL most jobs to follow up. Many jobs, especially entry level, have hundreds of applicants. Do you think I want to spend all day fielding phone calls (where I’ll tell you “you’ll hear from us when we move to the next step of the process) or follow-up emails? If you have a real reason to think your application didn’t make it intact, or if you were interviewed and never heard back, shoot an email. Don’t do the constant follow up. It’s irritating.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-DJxclusive/100001503665738 Tony DJxclusive

      Tell my dad that. He thinks you should follow up every two weeks, even if a place said they will contact me if they are interested. difference between persistance and aggravation!!

      • ranavain

        My dad always said the same thing. His strategy was to sit in the interview room and refuse to leave until he got a job! Different times…

      • http://youtern.com Dave Ellis – YouTern

        If the application says “No calls” or “We’ll contact you”… you have been given specific instructions.

        So you should obviously call to follow up right? Show that you can’t follow directions?

        No. Employers have their preferences and they expect you to respect them. If you don’t, they’ll move on to someone who can.

        Dave

        David Ellis
        Content and Community Manager
        YouTern

    • http://youtern.com Dave Ellis – YouTern

      I have to respectfully disagree with this.

      It’s a matter of personal preference… yours is to not have job seekers follow up on their application. Each to her own, and that’s fine. For me, and many other recruiters I’ve spoken with, read their blog posts etc… when I have hundreds… or even just several candidates to review, I’m looking for a way to distinguish them… to weed them out. Typos are an immediate weed out. Delete!

      In the other direction, if someone politely, and professionally, follows up on their application, that stands out. It can spur me to action to take a look at that candidate. I now have their words on paper… and I heard the confidence and professionalism in their voice. I know a bit more about them… more than I know about the other candidates. My voicemail and email can take the calls and emails if I’m busy.

      Now, that said… there is a BIG difference between following up politely and professionally… and being a stalker / pest.

      Dave

      David Ellis
      Content and Community Manager
      YouTern

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  • http://mycareerchoice.net/ Career Choice

    There have been a lot of common cover letter mistakes and this post is a good reminder to everyone who wants to get an interview or make a good impression on their potential employers.

    • http://youtern.com Dave Ellis – YouTern

      Good point. Employers have choices. (Job seekers, repeat that to yourselves 100 times…) Imagine them as the proverbial “only girl in town”. They can afford to dismiss resumes because they have many more behind yours.

      Typos and other flaws that should have been caught by the writer tell the employer “I don’t have good attention to detail… even though on my cover letter I state ‘I have great attention to detail.’” Remember that the employer doesn’t know you. They don’t know how hard you’ll work for them. They don’t know that you’re a great person with witty charm. ALL they know is that you can’t write a short and extremely important document without a typo.

      And they know they have a several candidates in that pile where your resume came from who CAN be bothered. So yours gets deleted. And they move on.

      That’s reality. Your resume and cover letter must be perfect.

      Dave

      David Ellis
      Content and Community Manager
      YouTern

  • Really?

    Poor article. It’s not really 8 cover letter mistakes, since 5 of them are the same thing. You and this candidate should get together and compare notes. Plus, this looks automated, like SPAM, can you not tell the difference? I suspect that job listings are also hit with SPAM bots too. So, in conclusion … what a waste of time reading this article.

    • http://youtern.com Dave Ellis – YouTern

      When you say “5 of them are the same thing” what do you mean?

      Dave

      David Ellis
      Content and Community Manager
      YouTern

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