Best Ways to Screw Up Your Cover Letter

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Everyone struggles when it comes to writing a cover letter.  You're already giving them your resume.  Can't they just read it and see what you have to offer?  No.  No they can't.  Actually, it's more that they won't.  Most hiring managers only spend 20-30 seconds scanning your resume.  Mostly it's just used to give them something to do with their hands while they're interviewing you.  They get their information about why they should talk to you from sources other than your resume.  Your cover letter is one of them.  

Related:  Why You Should Be Actively Using LinkedIn

But, like most everything else related to finding a job nowadays, the cover letter has changed.  The length, format, and the information expected are different now than they were just a few years ago.  About 5 years ago I had my resume written professionally for the first time.  Included was a formatted cover letter designed to let me customize certain parts depending on where I was applying.  Five years ago this was pretty standard.  It doesn't fly anymore, and here's why.  Today's job market is tough and highly competitive.  Companies can be pickier about who they hire.  And they want to hire someone who wants to work specifically for them, not someone who's just looking for any job.  The fact is, if you're out of work you'd be grateful for just any job.  But you can't come across that way.  You have to present yourself as that particular company's ideal candidate who is also enthusiastic about the company itself.  And a boiler plate cover letter just doesn't do it.

There are a few things that used to be standard that are now considered deadly errors.  Doing these things can kill your chances of an interview.  Here's what not to do on your cover letter:

Related: Questions To Ask During Your Interview

1.  You know you're supposed to address your cover letter to the hiring manager.  But what if the company doesn't put that person's name out there anywhere and you have no way of finding it out?  Do not put "To whom it may concern".  Seriously.  Don't do this.  If you don't have a name to address it to, just start by introducing yourself.  Try,  "Hello, may name is Ideal Job Candidate and I'm applying for the position of The Answer to All Your Problems".  You've gotten around the tricky part of who to address it to and introduced yourself professionally.

2.  Make sure your cover letter is short, sweet and gets to the point.  Long cover letters aren't going to get read.  Keep it to just a couple of short paragraphs and avoid big blocks of text.  You should be able to give 2 or 3 reasons you can make a contribution while communicating your enthusiasm for the company or industry in that amount of space.  If it goes beyond a half page, you risk losing the reader's attention.  And boring someone before they even meet you does not inspire them to call.

3.  It used to be that all cover letters were painfully dry and professional.  One of the positive ways they've changed is that they've become a bit less formal.  This doesn't mean you should write your cover letter the way you text.  You still have to use proper grammer and spelling.  And don't forget complete sentences.  They're important.  People notice.  But you don't have to make it cold, impersonal and stiffly professional.  Communicating your friendly personality and enthusiasm for the job/company are a great way to stand out.  You'll come across as genuine and personable which is a whole lot more interesting than icily professional.  And if they find you interesting, they're more likely to want to meet you.

Cover letters don't have to be so hard.  Keep it short and to the point.  If you communicate your awesome personality and genuine excitement - ok, it might not be genuine at first but if you fake it long enough it will be - you'll stand out from your competition.  And, like anything, the more you practice the better you'll get at it.  Write a fresh cover letter for each job you apply to.  I know it takes time.  But if the cover letter gets you an interview, it was time very well spent.

Our next blog post on Thursday will give some examples of good cover letters and how to write them.  Now that you know what you shouldn't do,  it wouldn't be fair if we didn't give you some examples of what you should do.  And how to do it.