Top common cover letter mistakes to avoid

Did you know: 48% of recruiters will toss out a cover letter that’s not customized and full of typo errors (Source: Career Builder)

While you should spend more time to polish your resume, it’s important to fine-tune your cover letter so that it won’t cost you an interview. Here are top common mistakes to avoid: 

• Highlight any lack of skills

It’s not a bad thing that you are being honest, but you should focus and draw more attention to your expertise and talents. You should only write about these when the recruiters ask you to. When you do, remember you back it up with your other experience. For example:

Instead of saying: “ I’m a new graduate and I don’t have much experience”, you should say “ even though I’m a new graduate, I have the willingness and positive attitude to learn and adapt to new things. I’ve also learnt about a new engineering system and have applied this to my part-time job…”

• Focus on yourself and why you’ll be the best candidate for the role

The company wants to know what you bring to their table not re-read what you put in your resume. Therefore, clearly state how your experience will make you a good candidate for the company.

• Typos and grammatical errors

Your professional communication is perceived by how well you write your letter. You can use different tools for spell checks and ask your friends or family members to check for you.

• Addressing the letter to a wrong person

Even for you, you don’t want others to call you the wrong name. Therefore, no excuses for addressing your cover letter to the wrong person. If you don’t know the name of the recruiter, use “Dear Manager” or the company name.

• Forgetting to replace the position title for each job

Even though you apply for the same position in different companies, some companies might use different titles for the position. Make sure that you replace the title to match to job description in all your cover letters.