Seven Cover Letter Mistakes Hiring Managers Say to Avoid

A top result that came out of our national survey of 600 hiring managers and human resources personnel was best summarized by Melanie Prinsen, a Vice-President of Human Resources, who said: “Applicants must use a cover letter!”

“Cover Letters are very influential,” says Jim, a Cingular human resource manager, “and a well written letter can grab an interview just on its own merit. It’s too bad most job hunters are so lazy they don’t write one. That’s a mistake no savvy job hunter wants to make.”

Some other mistakes noted in the survey included:

1. Don’t lose them with your first sentence. Imagine yourself with 300 resumes to sort through and 295 start their cover letter this way: “I’m applying for the job I saw on your website.” According to the survey results, a cover letter and resume only get a 15 second glance, so your first line either grabs the reader’s attention or loses it. Hiring managers prefer you use a powerful first sentence that summarizes the top skills and experience you can bring to the job.

Gary Perman is President of Perman Technical Search Group, a national search firm that specializes in recruiting Executives to Engineers in the technology industry since 1996.
If you have questions about this article, feel free to contact him at [email protected]

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