Don’t make these 13 cover letter mistakes and you will be ahead of the game:

1. Forgetting to include a cover letter.
For reasons noted, the cover letter is important, especially if the job description requests it. When you leave it off, you may look lazy (at best) or appear to be someone who cannot follow instructions (at worst).

2. Addressing your cover letter generically.
“Dear Sir” is totally out of the question, since it is sexist and “To whom it may concern” makes it clear that you didn’t think it was important enough to try to identify the person in charge of the search. It may be difficult to identify the correct person to address your letter, but you should try. Make a valiant effort to identify a name to include. Contact the company to ask for the correct name and use your Internet research skills to see if you can confirm a specific person to send your letter. As a very last resort, “Dear Hiring Manager” may not keep you totally out of the running, especially if the company has gone to great lengths to shield the exact name from the applicant pool.

3. Adding your cover letter as an attachment and writing a brief note in the body of the email.
If you apply via email, include your cover letter’s contents as the body of the email you send. That way, it is very easy for the hiring manager to decide whether to open your attached resume or press delete.

4. Sending a boring or terse cover letter.
If you’re going to include a letter, it might as well be good enough to give you a better chance to land the job. If you send a formulaic sounding letter with nothing more interesting than the fact that you are applying for job No. 123 and that you saw the ad in XYZ.com, you won’t pass the cover letter test for those sticklers who demand a cover letter. Make sure you write a letter that is interesting enough to read.

5. Missing an opportunity to make a great connection or to tell an interesting story.
Not everyone has a great story or reason for applying for a position, but if you do, use the cover letter to tell it. Was it the company where you launched your career, and you are ready to come back? Say so. Did you always admire the organization’s television ads growing up, and now you are applying to help create new ones? That’s a great story, and the cover letter is the place to share it.

6. Being self-centered.
The cover letter should not be a note detailing what you want. If you appear self-centered, that delete key is always handy.

7. Including errors or typos in your letter.
This is the kiss of death for many job application materials. Even if the job does not require you to wax eloquent regularly or to or create written materials for the company, if you misspell words or send a letter with typos and grammatical errors, it’s a mark against you in a competitive field. Edit your own note carefully and ask a trusted friend to review it. Read it out loud to be sure you haven’t left off words or made a typo that spell-check doesn’t pick up — for example, if you’ve said, “I’d be a terrific manger” instead of “manager.”

8. Not targeting your letter.
Just as you should target your resume for every job so you’re most likely to pass the company’s computerized resume screening system, you should also target your cover letter to each position and organization. Include specifics about the company and describe why you are a good fit for their job. Use the job description and information you can find out about the job and organization online to choose the best details to include. If you send the same cover letter to every company, you are missing an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Writing a novel.
No one needs a three-page cover letter, no matter how interesting or perfect the candidate may be for the job. Just as you don’t want to be too terse, don’t think you need to tell your life story. Write the equivalent of about one typed page at most.

10. Using the cover letter to repeat everything in the resume.
While you should make sure to include everything important in your resume (in case this hiring manager does not read cover letters), don’t just summarize your resume in your cover letter. Take the opportunity to make direct connections between the job description and your skills. Consider creating three headlines based on information in the job description the employer wants and listing under each topic why you are a good fit. The more you can make a direct correlation between their needs and what you offer, the better your letter will be.

11. Exaggerating.
Don’t say, “I’m perfect for the job” if you know you are not. Be honest in your cover letter and identify the best matches between your skills and their needs.

12. Being too humble.
The opposite of the braggart, who is “ideal” for every job, the overly humble job seeker may actually apologize for applying and explain the skills he or she does not have for the job. Hopefully, it’s obvious why the “why I’m not qualified” strategy is less than optimal! You may be applying for jobs that are a reach, and when you do, focus on what makes you a good fit and don’t dwell on the negatives.

13. Going overboard with the sell.
Unless you are actually applying for a sales job, think twice before including language such as, “I’ll call you on Friday to schedule an interview.” This may be a turnoff for some hiring managers. Is it appropriate to indicate that you hope they agree you’re a good match and that you will follow up as of a certain date, but you could lose the interviewer’s attention if you act as if you are in charge of the process.

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As with anything related to job search strategies, there are many correct approaches; it is up to each job seeker to identify an authentic, strategic way to job searching. Sometimes, this may require stretching your comfort zone and taking a risk.

Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, believes getting aggressive can help job seekers. He explains, “Donâ€t be afraid of being too aggressive…You might be for some, but who cares? You have a thousand times better shot at the others on your list. Get some people to call you, your boss, your association, your congressman, whatever, to complain that you are becoming a nuisance. You will then know you are on the road to victory.”

Here is a brief summary of Hardyâ€s suggestions for job seekers:

Narrow your list to your highest-priority targets. Then unload every bit of arsenal you have. Call, fax, email, FedEx, telegram, show-up, court the gatekeeper, bring lunch, send gifts (books, magazine articles, swag, etc.), and network with the contacts around them (peers, underlings, superiors, vendors, attorney, CPAâ€s, etc.).

Get referred in. If you donâ€t know someone who knows your target contact directly, find someone who knows someone one to two degrees away. Make a new friend and climb the rings on the daisy chain to your target.

Do the unexpected. Research all the people in the organization. Take that list and run it by your entire network to see if they know anyone who might know someone in this organization. Search every name against your LinkedIn database.

If youâ€re facing 2012 thinking you have done everything you can do to land a job and it has not been successful, you may want to try these techniques to give yourself an emotional jump-start.

Read the complete post on my U.S. News & World Report Column

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They reported growth in 17 of 18 industries; only Technology was down a bit (-2.0%). Reported large growth areas: Military (22.7%), Travel (20.9%) and Agriculture (20.0%)

Month-over-month, growth in job openings (based on posted jobs on Simply Hired) were up 3.8% and year-over-year (compared to February 2010), they were up 49.7%.

There are (statistically) 4 people for every 1 job opening nationwide. Top hiring companies nationwide included:

• Home Depot
• HCA
• Securus
• Starbucks
• U.S. Air Force

Top hiring sectors based on jobs listed on Simply Hired included: agriculture, automotive, construction, education, financial services, government, health care, hospitality and legal.

Statistically, the most competitive place to land a job was Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where there are 9 candidates for every one opening. Washington D.C. has one job for every one candidate. (Remember, this is a statistical analysis, which doesn’t necessarily mean you will or will not be able to land an opportunity.)

Daniel Greenberg, CMO, SimplyHired.com, explains how they calculate these ratios and what they mean for job seekers:

SimplyHired.com’s unemployment ratio is calculated by taking the average of the total number of currently unemployed persons in the U.S. (as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) over the total number of job openings listed on SimplyHired.com each month. In February, the unemployment ratio was 4:1 nationally. This means that on average there were four job seekers for every one job opening. What this means for job seekers varies by location, if you’re looking for a job in an area like Miami, the unemployment ratio is actually 9:1, and in Washington, DC the unemployment ratio is an ideal 1:1.

This ratio also includes every job opening, meaning that part-time and contract work is considered – not just full-time jobs. Everything else being equal, job seekers in highly competitive job markets would be well served to relocate to areas that have more favorable job seeker-to-unemployment ratios.”

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If you’re looking for a job — or thinking you need to start using social media to propel your career, my book: Social Networking for Career Success is available on Amazon (at a great discount). Please order now!

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Food analogy #2: You need to spoon feed the employer exactly what you have to offer.
In other words, you would not hand an infant with no teeth a whole apple to eat; he or she wouldn’t know what to do with it. (For the uninitiated, take my word for it here. The baby may just throw it back at you and still be hungry. And crying.)

Instead, you would offer applesauce and manipulate the spoon full directly into the infant’s mouth. Similarly, (see where I am going here?), you need to give the employer exactly what he or she needs and understands with regard to what you offer that will help him or her. Just like a baby couldn’t really care less about YOUR needs, your potential employer cares most about his or her own requirements and is not all that interested in what YOU want.

To extend the analogy, you better not be serving up green beans if the baby employer wants bananas! To top it off, the bananas need to be peeled and mashed and on the spoon if you want a chance to succeed.

So, two lessons from this analogy.

#1 – The resume is about the employer and how you directly fit what he or she wants. Spending a lot of time including things on your resume that are unrelated to the job at hand is only going to confuse the employer and make him or her wonder why you are interested in THIS job.

#2 – Don’t expect the employer to spend a lot of time figuring you out. If you aren’t making it easy to “eat” your resume – if you are passing crunchy apples when applesauce is preferred, you are not likely to pass the initial screen, no matter how great your underlying skills may be.

The fact is, recruiters and hiring managers are too busy to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your job is to break things down for them into easily digestible, bite-sized pieces AND spoon feed it directly to them. When you do make solid connections between what they want and what you offer, you will find that your search goes much better and your chances of landing an interview increase exponentially!

If you are ready for a change and could use some help with your search, follow THIS LINK to learn more about me and how we can work together!

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Once you have a great resume, writing a terrific cover letter is the next important step. It’s not a good idea to skip the cover letter, as many employers think of it as the equivalent of an introductory handshake. If you wouldn’t skip the handshake, don’t skip the cover letter!

I’ve written all about cover letters…Follow THIS link to read my suggestions for how to compose yours.

I recently read a post by my colleague, J.T. O’Donnell that I thought offered some terrific, thought provoking questions for job seekers to consider when writing a cover letter. She suggests that they answer questions such as:

—Looking at your past professional success, what makes you good at what you do?

—How has your work inspired you?

—What value does it provide?

—If asked to describe yourself in an honest, humble, funny yet confident sort of way, what would you say?

The key thing is to connect what you have to offer with what will appeal to the employer. I think these questions are a great way to start thinking!

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Need a great resume? Career search advice? Mock interview? Visit Keppie Careers online for information about our services: www.keppiecareers.com.

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To conclude this week’s posts about cover letters, a few points about following up…

What About Follow Up?
Follow up of your letters is essential! The success of your job search will be directly related to how well you do this. Employers simply do not have enough time to respond to every letter they receive. Consider preparing a script to help you make your calls. Try to make your calls between Tuesday and Thursday and either first thing in the morning (8:30-9:00) or at the end of the day (4:30-5:00). These are times you will catch more people at their desks.

Try to avoid leaving a message on an answering machine if possible. If you do not leave a message, you have the option of calling a few more times and thereby keeping the “ball” in your court. However, if you call at various times and never reach a person, leave a message with your name, that you are following up on correspondence, request a return call, and leave contact information. If you do not hear from them within a week, try again. Your persistence should pay off.

If you do not have any luck reaching someone via the telephone, it is not a bad idea to touch base via email. Explain that you are following up regarding applying for a position and that you will continue to try to reach them by phone.

Be persistent without harassing the recipient and you will make an impact.

Keppie Careers is here to guide you in your job hunt: www.keppiecareers.com.

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Since I’m on a roll this week with cover letter tips, I thought I’d continue the series with some obvious, but still overlooked things to consider!

Personalize each letter. You should make every attempt to be able to address each letter to a specific individual. This may require that you contact the organization to get the name and title of the appropriate person.

Use non-sexist language. If you are answering a blind ad with no way of obtaining a specific person to whom you can direct your letter, do not use “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam.” “To whom it may concern” is appropriate, but only do this when it is impossible to get a specific name.

Limit your letter to one page. Clear concise writing will ensure that you say everything you need to say in as few words as possible. Cover letters should never be more than one page and usually not more than 3-4 paragraphs.

Avoid overusing the word “I”. For example, instead of saying, “I have enclosed a copy of my resume” you can restructure sentences to use “you” more often. The result would be “Enclosed you will find a copy of my resume.” A rule of thumb is to try not to use “I” more than twice per paragraph.

Vary your writing. Variety makes your letters more interesting and easier to read. Try to offset long sentences with short ones. Use transitional words and phrases to help your ideas flow together more easily.

Use attention-getting action verbs and adjectives. When describing yourself and your qualifications, use adjectives and action verbs to add flavor and arouse interest. Check out our “Skills List” for examples.

Proofread, proofread, proofread. Check and check again for spelling errors. Don’t rely on your spell check alone. Read your letter backward to catch your spelling errors and typos. Check for grammatical errors by reading your letter out loud carefully from beginning to end. Have other people check for errors as well. Nothing shatters a good first impression faster than work that appears carelessly done.

“Sincerely” is a good way to close your letter. Never forget to sign it if you are mailing it.

If you want to receive free up-to-date tips to help with your job hunt, Click here to subscribe to receive future blogs sent directly to you!

Keppie Careers – we’ll write your resume, compose your cover letters and walk you through every step of your job hunt: www.keppiecareers.com.

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Are you suffering writer’s block when it comes to your cover letters?

Your first inspiration should come directly from the job description. This is your best source of information about what the employer is seeking. In addition, be sure to visit their website and take advantage of any information that helps connect you to the organization. Finally, if you have been networking well, you may have personal information directly from employees of the targeted company. USE IT to help you draw the lines between what you offer and what they want.

How Can You Describe Your Qualifications and Strengths?

Resources that might be helpful include:

1. Phrases from prior performance appraisals, letters of commendation and letters of recommendation.
2. Current and past job descriptions and standards of performance that clearly express job expectations and responsibilities.
3. Desirable characteristics and requested skills for similar advertised jobs.
4. Newspaper editorials and business sections to help write paragraphs about your industry, occupation or the economy.

More Tips to Make My Cover Letters Effective

• Keep a copy of every letter you send as part of your job search file. Besides providing you with a record of your search, you can use portions of these letters in future ones.
• To be efficient, develop two or three basic paragraphs and modify them slightly to personalize each letter.

Read more about cover letters from Keppie Careers:

Don’t Skip the Cover Letter
Cover Letter Tips

Don’t want to write a cover letter? We’ll do it for you! www.keppiecareers.com.

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Now that we’ve established that many organizations still seek and expect to receive a cover letter, it seemed a good time to add some cover letter tips to Keppie Careers’ blog!

What Is A Cover Letter? What’s the Point?
Like all job search correspondence, a cover letter is a sales pitch. It’s an introduction to your resume and should be interesting enough that the reader will want to read more about you!
Create a new, targeted cover letter for each position.

Often this letter is the first contact you have with a prospective employer. A neat, concise, well-written letter can entice the employer to read your resume with greater interest and improve your chances of getting an interview.

How Should Cover Letters Be Organized?
A lot of cover letter advice mentions breaking the letter into three parts: Introduction, Body, and Closing. I adapt this advice for cover letters and use the following format:

1. Opening Pitch. Why are you right for the job? Sell yourself here. Be sure to take your cues from the job description, which is (more often than not) highly detailed and involved. Take advantage of all the information available to you to craft a spot-on first sentence that will appeal to your readers. Your first paragraph should focus on what you have to offer relative to the employer’s needs. A good opening may be something along these lines: As a leader and manager, I develop, build and maintain strong relationships.

In the past, coaches encouraged job seekers to start their letters, “I saw your ad in X publication and am writing to apply for the position of ________.” You do need to state the position in which you have an interest, but this should not lead your letter. Of course you are applying for the job – so is everyone else! What makes you special or unique? THAT is how to lead your letter.

2. Highlights of Qualifications. The second section should hone in on the reasons you are perfect for this job. Research the organization beyond the job description to find links between their needs and your skills. If an organization makes a big deal about their values, feel free to use that information to inform your letter. Use bullet points to group your qualifications. I suggest choosing three headers and selecting no more than 3 bullet points for each header. You can use parts of your resume, but do not simply repeat your resume. You want to use the letter as a hook to interest the reader in learning more by reading your resume. For example: My work ethic and standards fit perfectly with X Company’s values of “Honesty, Integrity and Respect for People.” Some highlights: (List highlights as bullets under these headers.)

3. Call to action. Make a point to let the reader know what you want – an interview:

I hope you agree that my extensive experience in project management and well developed written communication skills are solid matches for X Company. I look forward to putting my ideas, enthusiasm and energy to work for your team and will contact you the week of ____________ to discuss the many links between your needs and my skills.

You must follow-up as indicated. Mark your calendar appropriately.

Read more about cover letters from Keppie Careers:

Don’t Skip the Cover Letter
Cover Letter Inspiration
Mo’ Cover Letter Tips

Need a great cover letter? Don’t take a chance on sending out something that doesn’t represent you well. Keppie Careers is here for you! www.keppiecareers.com

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