The Ten Worst Things to Put in a Cover Letter

Good tips. You wouldn't believe how many times I've seen #8. I've received letters addressed to GE and I've also been addressed to as "Sir".

Uh oh...

This may explain why you haven't called me for an interview. I'll fix it and send again.

^{That action may be a candidate for tip #11.}

I get letters addressed to Mr Rose English....

(_{^{well, ok, they use my real name, but you know what I mean...and I don't have a unisex first name}})

I just tell them I'm a Guru on CR4 and they drop to their knees and beg me to work for them

Ya know, that should probably be on the extended list.

We had a member who DID use his membership at CR4 as a job reference...

like this :-

Me am retrenched CR4 guest , You give me job now!!!

My special is 11 kv steps in power generation and HHO engine.

Hopeless

When I did a lot of hiring it was usually for an engineering related job, where accuracy and communication were important.

Any misspellings or poor grammar got the letter and resume tossed. If you can't take the time to get that right, what incentive would I have to hire you for a technical position?

This is a good one. The position I hire for most often states attention to detail as a requirement right in the job description. Often candidates say that's a quality they have in a cover letter that's sprinkled with typos. I spent a long time recently trying to figure out what a "smoothing stand" was. Engineering jargon I wasn't aware of? Stance on smoothing? Applicant meant "smoothie stand". Quite different!

"Engineering jargon of which I was not aware?" surely....

Anyway it's good to know that grammar and spelling DO matter...I am told so often that they don't. I share Lyn's opinion that if you can't be bothered to get that right, why should I trust you with my widgets?

My grammar is good in cover letters where the first impression counts. Not so much when I take 30 seconds to reply to a forum post. (Everybody makes mistakes, right?) Ideally it'd be good all the time since a prospective employer could research my work online... but it's been busy these past few days.

Just teasing Savvy...the juxaposition was a temptation I could not resist

whats is a "juxaposition"?

is that one of those quaint 'english' words?

"That is the kind of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put."

--Winston Churchill

Man, something must be in the air! My youngest daughter asked me last night if I could help her construct a resume and cover letter for her. She just graduated High School in June and started College in July and wants spending money. Is this a coincidence or what?? She's wanting to major in Digital Forensics, and we had a good laugh about the previous thread Cell Search and Seizure DJ

No wonder I don't get any calls when I add my cover letter! It is too short and isn't set up as a sales brochure. "HELLO, I am an engineer, not a used car salesman!" is how I feel about the entire process.

It would be helpful if the HR dept would send out a form that would be used by filling in the blanks. That way the applicant could get in the head of the person reading the cover letter. Cover letters are really unnecessary and only add to the confusion of the hiring process. I want to know what the person has done, what his qualifications are, and where he has worked. A face to face interview will tell me the rest. I think many good people that would fill the position never get the chance because the put the wrong "to" in their cover letter. Just saying!

Not knowing who to address a letter to within an organization is one thing - especially if that information isn't provided in a generic job ad. You're usually cut some slack for that; for example, my name isn't published anywhere on our website as being a manager so nobody would know they're interviewing with me for certain jobs.

The real problem is when people don't pay attention and submit repurposed cover letters that were used for previous job applications to other companies/people - and don't change the name. That shows a lack of attention to detail and really turns the interviewer off.

I fully agree with this. Cover letters are not neccessary. What we want to know is covered in the resume, additional thing generally covered in cover letter is additional request and additional promise which probably is not desired.

_{Tip # 2}

_{Thumbtack.com, a San Francisco-based site that connects customers with small business services, asked potential employees to submit in their cover letters feedback about their website. One candidate, a contender for an entry-level position in April, didn't pull any punches.}

_{"The engineering of your site looks lazy and ineffective," the applicant wrote, proceeding to describe the color scheme of the site as "disconcerting to my eyes."}

_{Needless to say, he was not considered for the position, though not before the hiring manager got in some laughs around the water cooler at his expense.}

Needless to say ? The employer is an ostrich....would you work for someone who can't take criticism ? Do you want to be a yes-man ?

Not a good tip in my opinion.

So should I include my experience in hunting down and killing Jedi Knights in my resume?

depends on the 'target' audience... ;)

And I thought you'd moved up into management. Your practical skills of of less import there, after all, it must be some time since you last hunted.

Well I do walk the talk & lead by example you know.

You know the old saying "If you want something done right do it yourself"? Well my friend, do you have any idea just how DUMB these @$$#()?& stormtroopers are?!

Quite right too ! i have done that very thing most of my life. Only the last job i had, where i was fortunate to have many outstanding assistants, that i realised that i was micromanaging, and relaxed blissfully.

Coming back to Managers, the only thing "they want done right" is for them to go up the corporate ladder by whatever means. So while you are busy doing things right, your manager is busy taking the credit for it

i was fortunate to have bosses who were the opposite. They went out of the way to praise whatever good work i did to their bosses. So, i not only got the due credit, i got the cash too...

Hi mismary, welcome to CR4, I'm sorry, but I'm not quit sure what search box you were referring to? Is this in response to #25, kvsridhar comment or is this in response to the OP, PWSlack's link?

mismary207

This has to be the most confusing post i have ever read. i am not alone, as dj95401 also says the same thing. What do you really want to say? We will forgive and forget if you give a rational explanation, seeing that this is your very first post.