Let’s take some time to think about how to avoid the top five cover letter disasters. it seems a little futile spending time doing the research, setting up a logical structure and then having your cover letter let you down because of one of these issues. Although, please remember these are my recommendations, and other careers people may have different ideas so do what works for you.
1. No Photos: Avoid Unconscious Basis
My first recommendation is a little contentious. I say, no photographs. I understand that for certain industries like nursing and in the United States people are big fans of having professional cover shots posted on everything. The reason why I say no, is because your cover letter and C.V. is the only part of the recruiting process where you can try and limit unconscious bias.
As soon as you put a photograph in there, the recruiter’s unconscious biases can kick in. If you don’t have the right hairstyle, if you’re not wearing the right clothes, if there’s anything that makes you not look like you’re going to fit into the team, you can end up in the ‘No’ pile.
2. Stay Safe: No Home Address
The second thing is to make sure you don’t put your home address on your cover letter. You can put your suburb and the city that you live in. However, you never have any idea where these documents are going to end up on the internet and who could misuse the information. Despite privacy laws and everything else, for your safety, please don’t put your street number and street name on your CV or cover letter.
3 No Presumptions
Make sure you don’t make any presumptions. One of my horror stories occurred when I was a safety manager. I was recruiting for a team member and someone wrote a cover letter said ‘Dear Sir,’. Straight away I realised he hadn’t done much research about me, the team or what we were doing.
4. A Cover Letter is Not a Historical Exercise
Technology and the world, in general, are changing so fast that even if you were at the top of your game eight years ago, chances are what you were doing is not relevant today. Unless your work experience specifically relates to the role you are applying for when it comes to your cover letter you need to focus on what you have done in the last five years.
5. No Spelling Mistakes
I understand that it’s hard to pick out your typos and I am aware that my spelling and grammar is not perfect!?! I use a product called Grammarly to help me with this. You can upload your cover leader and even get it to check your emails to make sure your grammar and spelling are 100% correct. After all, showing attention to detail also demonstrates a level of professionalism.
After you’ve done that get at least two people to take a look at what you’ve written. Explain what the job is and then ask them:
- How can I make this shorter?
- What have I missed out?
- Does the cover sell the things that you’re good at?
Summary: How to Avoid Cover Letter Disasters
Make sure you avoid cover letter disasters by leaving out your photograph, home address and historical detail. Making no presumptions, use Grammarly and get two friends to check your work. Once you’ve done all that, you’ll be ready to send in a stellar cover letter.