Career Tools: Cover Letters: Uh Oh, my Cover Letter Has Problems
You've finished your cover letter and everything seems perfect. Not so fast. Even Ernest Hemingway never got it right on a first draft. The most basic problems with a cover letter are poor organization, bad spelling, and grammatical errors. Frequently students try to pack their cover letter with as much information as the can. Often they shrink the margins or delete spaces in between paragraphs. Unless you proofread your draft, you're likely to miss little typographical and spelling errors. These may seem like minor points but they are the quickest way of ending your job hopes. The impression they give is one of carelessness, sloppiness, and lack of education. Most employers won't even bother reading to the end of a letter with these mistakes.
There are other blunders to watch for as you go over your cover letter. Are you rambling? Maybe you've just rehashed your entire four years at school without explaining why you want to work at this particular company. Make sure to keep your letter focused on a few key points.
Are you focusing the letter on yourself too much? As we noted in previous advice columns, the key to landing a job is satisfying the needs of your employer not yourself.
Does your letter come across as too aggressive, or even worse, as if you are bragging? Do you look like a self-absorbed grumbler who is likely to irritate her co-workers? Employers are turned off quickly by a candidate who over-inflates her skills and unnecessarily embellishes her past experience. There is a fine line between being assertive and being an obnoxious show-off.
Is your writing style boring and tedious? Cover letters are more than a place to summarize your credentials. They should be a window into your creativity and resourcefulness. They should give someone a taste of the work - and the spirit - you plan to bring to a new firm.
