5 Ways Your Cover Letter Lost You The Job

Source: Forbes

Cover letters are demanding especially if you do not know which direction to take when writing them chances are most of us have made mistakes.

Read on to learn five of the most common cover letter mistakes—and how you can turn them into successes.

1. You Didn’t Listen to Your Career Counselor
Mistakes still make their way into even experienced job seekers’ writing. If, for example, you address the cover letter “Dear Sir” when the hiring manager is a woman, you fill three entire pages with your every achievement, or you forget to proofread and let the opening line read: “I absolutely love you’re company!”—it’ll go straight into the trash can.

Next Time
Keep your cover letter to a single page, pay attention to details (e.g., address the hiring manager by name), and most importantly—proofread.

2. You Repeated Your CV
Your cover letter is meant to complement your CV. So, it won’t do you much good if you simply take the best bullet points from your CV and repeat them in your cover letter.

Next Time
A job application should aim to convey a variety of pertinent information. Instead of just repeating yourself (“I was in charge of reviewing invoice disputes”), say; “By resolving invoice disputes, I gained a deep analytical knowledge and learned how to interact calmly and diplomatically with angry customers.”

Expand upon your CV points and tell the story of why you’re the perfect fit for the company.

3. You used the same cover letter for every job
A recruiter does not want a stock cover letter that you’ve mass-distributed to every place in town.

Next Time
Write a cover letter that’s specific to the job and company you’re applying to, explaining why you’re interested in that particular position. If you take the time to write something thoughtful, you’ll instantly convey that you are genuinely interested in that particular company.

4. You Highlighted Your Weaknesses
If you don’t meet the basic requirements of the job, your CV will clearly indicate that—so you don’t need to begin your letter by stating, “I know I don’t actually have any coding experience or know much about computers, but…” That simply shines light on the fact that you’re not qualified.

Next Time
Focus on explaining how your past experience—regardless of how irrelevant it may seem at first—will translate to this new role.

5. You Focused on What the Company Can Do for You
When you apply to a job you’re really excited about, it’s natural to want to convey your enthusiasm to the company: “I’ve wanted to work for your company since I was little—this would be my dream job, and it would mean so much to me if you would grant me an interview!”
But when a hiring manager reads a cover letter, she wants to see what a potential employee would do for her company—not what the job would do for you.

Next Time
Use a slightly different angle—one that shows how your enthusiasm will directly benefit the company: “I was very excited to find this open position because I’ve been following your company since its start-up phase. My thorough understanding of your company’s background and mission means that I can jump in and make contributions to your marketing team right away.”

It’s not too late to start making corrections.

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