Does Your Cover Letter Make These 5 Critical Mistakes?
You’ve polished your resume to no end, especially
after finding a job posting that precisely fits your skills. But did your
cover letter merit the same attention?
Many hiring managers use your cover letter
to gauge your interest in the company, as well as your aptitude for the job.
Therefore, when you resort to “Dear Sir, I’m
interested in your open job, here’s my resume,” you’re missing out on a
critical chance to persuade employers to take you seriously.
Here are five of the most crucial mistakes made
in cover letters—those that can quickly knock you out of the running for a
leadership job:
1. Your opening line was boring.
“I am an Operations Director with 18 years of
experience,” or “In response to your ad for a CEO, I have enclosed my
resume,” really aren’t compelling enough to use as opening statements.
Instead, try a hook that makes the hiring manager
sit up straight in his or her chair, as in these examples:
“Would a Sales Vice President who
consistently pushes teams past quota (up to 52%) make a difference in your
national rankings?”
“As a CIO for global company ABC Consulting,
I’ve increased customer satisfaction to 97% in 3 outsourcing
engagements—pushing our revenue growth to its peak despite the recession. I’m
interested in creating the same results for you.”
The idea is to speak precisely to the employer’s
pain points while describing the performance impact you’ve had in previous
roles.
Note each of these sentences contains metrics, a
targeted job title, and a career-defining achievement that is framed in context
and laid out quickly for the reader to absorb.
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