You know those people who tend to think out loud and you don’t know if you should react or let them catch up with their thought before you react? Well you don’t want to come across as this person in your cover letters. Writing can be a contemplative act. That means you often discover things as you write. That’s great, but make sure that period of discovery doesn’t make it into the final draft. Here are the signs of sloppy thinking that will not get you the job.

Spelling and Grammar

You have to show thoughtfulness and care as well as the ability to express complete ideas. Autocorrect is your friend, until it becomes your enemy. If you’re using someone’s name, make sure autocorrect doesn’t change it.

The Cardboard Cutout

Personalize all of your cover letters. This is the most appropriate written place to tailor your skills and experience to the specific position you are looking to achieve. If it looks as if you’ve sent a form letter then you will be perceived as someone who’s just phoning it in.

The Russian Novel

We love Russian novels, but a cover letter needs to be more economical and mindful of your reader’s time. Your cover letter should be brief. It sets the human tone and demonstrates your interest and suggests why they should be interested. That’s it. Don’t talk about former bosses or the restaurant that you feel serves the best hamburger in a certain town. Short and sweet; show enthusiasm and make the connection.

Your cover letter is incredibly important. Think of your resume as your stats (well-chosen stats), and the cover letter as your connector to the prospective manager. Have someone proofread your work if possible. If not, then read and re-read it until you’re sure every word is doing what it should be doing.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.