5 Common Cover Letter Mistakes to Avoid - Tips From Applycup's Expert Recruiters

With every resume submission, you have an option to send a cover letter. Most candidates avoid sending a cover letter but consider it as an opportunity to explain more about your career progression. A cover letter helps you present yourself as a positive and qualified candidate for the job. It highlights areas of your resume that promote your professional experience and address any questions an employer may have about hiring you for the job. There are five common cover letter mistakes job seekers make, and you may have been making.

Applycup’s expert recruiters have gone through hundreds of cover letters and below are those common cover letter mistakes outlined that you must avoid to get through the first round of resume review and move one step closer to getting the job you want.

1. Wrong Addressing

Addressing the cover letter using a generic greeting, or misspelling the name of the personal contact or the company.

The address line is the most prominent part of the cover letter; it should be included even if the cover letter is sent via email. Generic greetings are not favored; they make it seem like you have a template for your cover letter and you simply send it to all employers you are interested in working for. Do the research and find out who the appropriate contact is for the cover letter. However, make sure that the name and the company name are spelled correctly. If your address line contains errors, your cover letter is likely to never make it to the hiring manager.

2. The Receiver Mindset

Simply stated, employers care about your qualifications and what you can do for the company. Employers are very keen on finding the right fit for the company, let them know why you are a great fit and not the opposite. Do not spend your time telling the company how working for them can be great for your career. While that could be true, it certainly is not what employers want to hear.

Your potential employers want to hear how you can benefit their team, what you can bring to the innovative table, and focus on results. Make sure that your resume and cover letter highlight how you have the desired skills and achievements in your current role.

3. Rewriting your resume

Do not go over the information that is already in your resume. It is easy to include all information from your resume to make your cover letter wordy. Your cover letter is meant to entice, and provoke the employer to review your resume in great detail. Re-stating the information in your resume doesn't address what the employers want to know, which concerns why you are the best candidate for the job. Highlight certain areas of your resume but do so in the context of your career goals and how such qualifications benefit the company.

4. Starting every sentence with ‘I’

While your cover letter is about you, starting each sentence this way will make your employer believe that your communication skills are not up to the level of your professional background. Discuss your qualifications, your goals, and what you bring to the table in terms of the company, and your professional attributes.

5. Wrong Follow Up

The most generic closing statements in cover letters ask the employer to contact you at their convenience. If you are truly excited about the opportunity with the employer, you won't want to wait for them to call you back whenever they feel like it. What you should do instead is let them know when you want to follow up and then do a follow-up. Close your cover letter by letting your potential employer know that you will contact them, as well as how you will do so. This shows your interest and your take-charge attitude.

Job search is not an easy task but putting in the work with these small steps will take you closer to your dream job. What mistakes you have made in your cover letter that served as great learning lessons for you?