Common Mistakes to Avoid in a Cover Letter A great covering letter is one of the most important elements of your application, a chance to blow your own trumpet and sell your skillset to your prospective employer. Avoid these 5 common mistakes when writing your resume to make sure your application hits all the right notes‌
Avoid being overly specific about salary requirements Being too specific about salary requirements in a cover letter may act against you, but not specifying a salary range may lead to difficult negotiations later on in the application process. How to avoid: If including a salary range, use phrases like ‘My salary requirement is negotiable based on the responsibilities of the role and the total compensation package offered.’ If you include a specific salary range, be careful not to offer to take a salary lower than the one advertised.
Avoid overselling your skills While you shouldn’t be too modest and understate your skills, be careful not to oversell yourself or you may risk coming across as arrogant. When highlighting your best qualities in the cover letter, take time to consider the professionalism of your tone. How to avoid: Set the cover letter aside and return to it after an hour or so. Look for any areas where you could tone down the language while still emphasising your skill and suitability for the job.
Avoid humour The job listing may ask for a good sense of humour, but subdue any inclination to display wit in your cover letter. Humour is very subjective, and even comments that seemed appropriate and amusing at the time may come across poorly when written down. The last thing you want to do in your covering letter is offend the person reading it. How to avoid: Again, getting someone else to read it through can help you avoid this issue – if they don’t find it funny or simply don’t get the joke, try to find another way of making your point.
Avoid sharing too much irrelevant information Be careful not to over-share in your cover letter. Unless specifically required, personal details such as age, race, marital status, etc. should not be included as they aren’t relevant and employers cannot make a decision based on them. How to avoid: Check the details you’ve included and make sure you remove any that could personally identify you.
Avoid overshadowing your message The cover letter is a great place to include any relevant interests and show how they relate to your suitability for the role. Be careful not to let this overshadow the message you are trying to get across: why you want to get this specific role. How to avoid: Split your cover letter into dedicated paragraphs. Include all external interest information in one paragraph and use it to complement the other sections. Hopefully this has given you some useful insights into the task of creating a great covering letter to help you get ahead in your job search.
With over 20 years of recruiting for engineering jobs, the goal at TRS Staffing is not simply to find you a job, but to find the job that's right for you. For UK or global engineering jobs visit http://www.trsstaffing.com.