You would be surprised at the percentage of smart, qualified job seekers that get sabotaged by common cover letter mistakes. After all, the stakes are high, and not everyone is a great writer. Monster tells you some common pitfalls you have to avoid to make sure you increase your chances of landing that job interview.
Mistake #1: Not sending a cover letter at all
The resume will talk about the facts while the cover letter conveys your voice. If you want to be unique, and stand out, the cover letter is your shot.
A cover letter can do a lot of things a CV alone cannot do: it can explain gaps in employment history, talk about special references you might have, and most importantly, tell the company why you're the right fit for the job.
Mistake #2: Addressing your letter to the old 'to whom it may concern'
Going out of your way to find out the name of the 'dear hiring manager' you may oitherwise be addressing your cover letters to is always a good idea. It gives a good impression, shows that you care and automatically earns you a soft corner with the recruiters.
If you want to advertise your acumen and resourcefulness, this is the way to do it. You want your cover letter to sound like a real person, not a computer generated letter.
Mistake #3: Being boring
The whole point of a cover letter is to balance out the fact based approach of a CV, so make sure you keep that in mind while writing your cover letter. Don't be too flowery. Do not go into details the recruiter does not need at this moment. A good rule of thumb is to pretend you are receiving a hundred cover letters a day. What would you like to read? Straight, to-the-point yet polite letters always work best.
Mistake #4: Not editing and proofreading
Typos and grammatical mistakes are a no-no. It makes you sound illiterate and/or careless, things you do not want your future employer to think about you.
