Cover letters should never be ignored. A hiring manager might be very busy in entertaining different resumes but a cover letter will always be entertained by the hiring manager even for just a few seconds. A cover letter will introduce the person’s resume while impressing the hiring manager that your chain of thought is continuous and the writing style is noteworthy. Through cover letters, an employee’s enthusiasm of being hired for the job could be measured.

But a simple cover letter could never persuade the hiring manager to take a second look at the resume. In fact, the cover letter could be the cause of denial in different job applications. Companies are not looking for the same person who resigned or have terminated, they want a candidate who can provide more than just simple functions offered by the previous employees. These qualifications and intentions could be easily identified through their cover letter. A regular cover letter will never get you places and will just get you increasingly frustrated.

Common Cover Letter Blunders

The following are common writing “techniques” in a cover letter that means disaster and will never solicit any interest from the hiring manager:

1. Too Simple – There are many things that could be added in a cover letter and there are things that shouldn’t be written. Although the basic rule in cover letters is to keep it really simple, keeping it too simple is a bad thing. Writing a cover letter stating that you are interested on the job and you have included your cover letter without additional information is a bad idea for a cover letter.

2. Grammar and Misspelling – Anything wrong found in a cover letter is a sign that you are never interested in the job. You can never be too careful in proofreading your resume.

3. The Pleading Argument – A cover letter stating that you need a job because you are unable to support your family without it immediately spells disaster. Working should be for personal fulfillment and the salary is just a compensation based on what you are able to provide to the company you are working with.

Tips for an Interesting Cover Letter

1. Offer what you can do for the company – A cover letter stating that you need a job because your family needs it will never make it. However, a cover letter that states the things that you can do for the company is very impressive. This is a sign that you have researched on the available job position and knows the skills required to fulfill them.

2. Common Point of Reference – If someone from the inside gave you a tip that there is an available job, use that name to catch the interest of the hiring manager.

3. Not too Long but not too Short – Restrict your cover letter up to four paragraphs only. You can say what you can do for the company in gist while attempting to identify yourself and what you can do.

Cover letters should be short by highly informative. By carefully writing and proofreading them, the resume will be evaluated and a job offer is not that far.