What are some of the common mistakes we should avoid while writing a cover letter?

Hi Abhijeet

Cover letters are a great way to get an employer interested in your résumé and you. There are certain commonly made mistakes that will diminish all the hard work you put into writing your cover letter and résumé. You can avoid this by carefully reading your cover letter and checking for some of the following mistakes.

• Using a non-specific form of address

Make every effort to find out the specific person that your cover letter should be addressed to. Don’t take the easy way out and use a non-specific form such as “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam”. This only demonstrates that you were too lazy to find out the name of the hiring manager

• Repeating rather than introducing your resume:

Do not repeat things that have been mentioned in your resume. No one wants to read the same thing twice. The cover letter should be what sells reader on your skills. Like the jacket cover introduction to a good book, the cover letter should give the reader a taste of the great things to come and encourage them to read more.

• Inappropriate tones:

The tone of any cover letter should be polite without being obsequious and professional without being too stiff. Remember to use active language. Do not beg or sound desperate.

• Unattractive layouts or using too fancy fonts:

Do not get noticed for the wrong reasons. Be sure that your cover letter is set up to look neat and sharp, and that you follow a consistent design scheme. Separate the paragraphs through proper spacing and use Times, Arial or Verdana fonts.

• Resume not enclosed:

        Another sign that a candidate is lacking in the attention-to-detail department: sending a cover letter without a resume. Though it seems like a ridiculous mistake to make, there are far too many people that send out a cover letter and forget to include what is really important here, their credentials.

• Demanding the employer:

Never demand something of the employer in a cover letter. A common mistake is to say "I'm looking for a position that will adequately challenge me." The employer will have the impression that you expect to be put into a position that meets your needs, not the employer's.

• No signature:

One of the most important things employers are looking for nowadays is an employee with a great attention to detail. Sending off your cover letter without having signed it is one sure way to assure the interviewer that your attention-to-detail skills are certainly lacking. Remember to sign with a black or blue ball point pen .do not use a script font on your PC.