Are you making these mistakes in your cover letter?
Even though it holds all your experiences and accomplishments your resume cannot convey certain aspects of your personality or your passion about a job. Thats where the cover letter comes in. A cover letter is the perfect way to introduce yourself and talk about your achievements and what you have to offer. A recruiter can get a glimpse of your personality by the way you express yourself. Furthermore as you write your cover letter you can write your ideas as paragraphs and not just as a bulleted list. A lot of candidates spend hours in front of the computer making their resumes and then they use a lousy cover letter full of spelling mistakes. Dont make this mistake, your cover letter is as important as your resume!Try to avoid typos, spelling and grammar errors. After youre done writing read it out loud a couple of times to track possible mistakes.
Dont forget to mention the job title
After greeting the person to whom youre addressing the cover letter make reference to the job youre applying for. If the ad for the job had a reference number dont forget to add that. Its also a good idea to mention where youve seen the ad.
Impersonal cover letters
Its a big mistake to send the same letter to different employers, changing just the receivers name. To be successful a cover letter has to be personalized based on the employer, on the position that youre applying for and so on.
Dont repeat whats already in your resume.
Many candidates make this mistake, basically copying and pasting information from their resume to the cover letter. Dont fall for this one. Your cover letter must offer what your resume cannot. For instance, your contribution and achievements at your last workplace or how you managed to overcome difficult situations. The recruiter already has your resume so bring something new to the table with your cover letter.
What can you do for me?
The most frequent reasons listed by candidates as to why they want a certain job can be:
I really need the money
I think its a very interesting job
I could use the experience gained within your organization
A position within your company would help my career tremendously as you are the best in your field
Well, I got news for you: employers couldnt care less about your needs. They dont hire you to improve your life or to put food on your table; they hire you because they need you. This means that your cover letter has to focus on employers needs and how you can help and not on how the company can help you.
Read carefully the job ad and check the job requirements. Talk about these requirements in your cover letter and list your skills and abilities. Show them how you can cope with job requirements and responsibilities. Prove them that they need you! Show enthusiasm, confidence and a positive attitude and youll write a successful cover letter.