Seven Cover Letter Snafus

By Robin Ryan, author of “Winning Cover Letters”

A top result that came out of our national survey of 600 hiring managers and human resources personnel was best summarized by Melanie Prinsen, a vice president of human resources, who said, “Applicants must use a cover letter!”

“Cover Letters are very influential, and a well-written letter can grab an interview just on its own merit,” says Jim, a human resources manager for Cingular. “It's too bad most job hunters are so lazy they don't write one. That's a mistake no savvy job hunter wants to make.”

Some other mistakes noted in the survey included:

1. Losing them with your first sentence.

Imagine yourself with 300 résumés to sort through and 295 start their cover letter this way: “I'm applying for the job I saw on your Web site.” (Or “in Sunday's newspaper.”). According to the survey results, a cover letter and résumé only get a 15-second glance, so your first line either grabs the reader's attention or loses it. Hiring managers prefer you use a powerful first sentence that summarizes the top skills and experience you can bring to the job. For example: 'Five years experience as a high tech project manager with a proven track record of being on time and within budget is the background I'd bring to your position.'

2. Poorly written.

“I'm convinced when I see a meagerly written or generic form-like letter that the applicant hasn't done anything that can help us, so I never even look at the résumé,” stated one human resource manager. Over 90 percent of ...

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