Cover Letter Fails and How to Avoid Them

You worked so hard on your cover letter. Double check it for these common mistakes that could take you out of the running.

We’ve reviewed a lot of cover letters during our time in the repro movement. Thousands of cover letters over the years. As we’ve read them, we’ve noticed common mistakes that people make on their résumés and cover letters that will make your application stand out in a less than stellar way. Here are a few things you should look for before you submit your application.

Proofread your materials. Even if you’re up against the submission deadline, use spell check and proofread your application materials. Check for typos in spelling; do not rely on Google Docs' spell check because it misses stuff. Print out your application materials and look at them word by word, line by line. Make sure you’re using the right words and that they’re spelled correctly. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen applications from candidates who write that they want to be apart of an organization, when we know they mean a part of the organization; meaning with the organization, not separated from it.

We suggest you read your materials aloud to make sure your sentences make sense and read as you intended them to. You’ll be able to hear run-on and incomplete sentences, and check for a cohesive flow of your cover letter.

Make sure it’s all correct. A common unforced error is applying for a position with the wrong organizational name, incorrect position title, misspelling of hiring manager’s name or other incorrect information. Take a moment to double check that the cover letter you’re attaching is for the right position and has all of the right information.

Read the job description. As you write or customize your cover letter, read the job description. The job description is a road map of the position and what the organization is looking for. The organization spent time crafting the job description to describe what it is you would do in the position and the skillset they’re looking to hire. Don’t just tell the hiring team about your experience, be clear about why your skill set matches what they are looking for as outlined in the job description. What does the job entail according to the job description? Be clear that you understand what the position would do, not what your interpretation of what you’d like the job to be. Often we’ve read cover letters that write about a position, basing it on their interpretation of the job title, not the tasks outlined in the job description. Demonstrate that you read the job description.

Fix your fonts. If you’re going to copy and paste sections from old cover letters, websites, or other documents, be sure to fix your fonts and colors to make sure they all match. Use the Clear Formatting function to remove all formatting from your text and then reset it all to match.

Tailor it to the job. We understand that you’re applying for a lot of jobs and it’s a lot of work to write cover letters from scratch every time. You don’t need to rewrite it each time, but customizing the cover letter to the position will go a long way. To someone who reads cover letters often, it is clear when a cover letter is a standard one with an organization’s name and position dropped into the opening and closing paragraphs versus one that has been tailored for a specific position.

Check your file name. Review your file names to make sure they don’t have another organization’s name in them or something else that isn’t correct for the application. You should also take a few moments to double check the application process to make sure you submit the files with the correct file names, as the application requests, and in the correct file types. When in doubt, convert your documents to a PDF to make sure they look as you intended them to. Some application submission programs are unable to open Pages or other files.

Remember, we all work in repro and are overworked and there just aren’t enough hours in the day. There’s a good chance your reviewer is reading your application late at night, on the weekend, or in quick moments in between meetings and patient care. A great cover letter draws the reader in quickly, not only addressing the skills you possess that are perfect for the position, but also tells a bit of a story that interests the reader. They are assessing your skills and fitness for the position, as well as whether you’re the right fit for their team. Demonstrate it by bringing your personality into your cover letter as you would in a workplace.

In some organizations, the person doing the initial sorting of applications is a recruiter or HR staffer who is gathering qualified candidates for the hiring team. They’ve been given an assignment to find candidates with certain skills and personality for the team. Reviewers in this position are looking for specific things to check off of a list—usually skills—and then of course an engaging writer catches their eye too. They’re scanning your cover letter for specific keywords and information based on the reviewing task they’ve been assigned. They may not be as well-versed in the specific functions of the job, so making sure that you spell out your qualifications (without random acronyms!) is critical to making it past their screening.

The reality is that typos and mistakes can be what makes or breaks your application making it into the final review pile. Take the extra 10 minutes to make sure you don’t make these common mistakes.