本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Seven Cover Letter Mistakes Hiring Managers Say to Avoid
By Robin Ryan

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. For example, Five years
experience as a high tech project with a proven track record of being on
time and within budget is the background I'd bring to your position.

2. Poorly written. "I'm convinced when I see a meagerly written or
generic form-like letter that the applicant hasn't done anything that can
help us, so I never even look at the resume," stated one human resource
manager. Over 90% of the hiring managers agreed that SPECIFICS sell!
Mike, vice-president of human resources, said, "The cover letter is the
very first thing we see. Candidates that stand out for us used short
powerful evidence as they wrote sentence after sentence detailing past
achievements and the talents and contributions they would bring to our
company. To me, the cover letter is more influential than the resume,
because it is a truer sample of the candidate's communication skills, since
they most likely wrote it themselves."

3. Do not ignore the stated criteria. "Applicants who do not address
the qualifications requested in the advertisement or job listing make a
huge mistake. And it seems so many don't address the employer's need--at
all," said Kelly, a CFO with extensive hiring experience. "Employers
quickly search for those meeting the needs and throw out the rest," she
added. The best strategy is to address each specific qualification and
state the experience and skills you possess to perform that task or
function.

4. Don't let careless errors torpedo you. Managers repeatedly said, "I
stop reading when I see typos and spelling mistakes." Stephanie, a
human resource manager, who has hired over 500 people confirmed, "Once I
see a typo I know that this is NOT a person we want to hire into our
organization." Don't rely on spell-checkers. Proofread very carefully since
spell-checkers correct misspellings but they don't correct wrong word
usages such as using "sea" when you meant to write "see."

5. Clueless about presentation. Microscopic type is a bad choice! Every
manager reiterated that letters must be easy to read, which means no
small font type size. Keep the font clean--Arial is a good choice--at
size 12 point, especially when faxing since the type often is blurred in
the faxing process. Instead of shrinking the font size to squeeze too
much onto one page, carefully edit so your letter is enticing to read.

6. Forgetting contact information. One human resource specialist sent
along a cover letter that had no address or phone number on it. She
sarcastically wrote, "Don't you just love this" We couldn't contact this
person even if we wanted to." ALWAYS include your address, email, and
home or cell telephone number on your letter. Be certain the numbers and
email are legible.


7. Making salary demands. A significant number of hiring managers said
they were downright offended when no salary information was even
requested and a job applicant still wrote, "I need $55,000 per year, plus
full medical, dental and retirement benefits. One hiring manager revealed
on most managers felt about this saying, "Some people send us a clear
message that they are totally focused on their own needs and not on what
they can do for our company, so we immediately delete them the
competition. We continue to look to find a better team contributor to
interview."

Human Resource Manager, Barbara Baker, concisely summarized the best
strategy to follow. "I've hired over 1,200 people. I've seen so many
mistakes--too long, too short, general, non-specific content, some even
state the reasons they were fired. A great cover letter boils down to
this--a simple direct letter that mentions how their skills relate to
performing the position applied for." Many people write such a terrible
cover letter they never get an interview, let alone land the job. That's
one mistake you should never make.

The entire list of survey results and all 23 mistakes plus sample cover
letters are published in the book "Winning Cover Letters" 2nd Edition
by Robin Ryan.
ROBIN RYAN
President
Robin Ryan INC
Newcastle, WA
USA

Robin Ryan is a leading career authority and bestselling author of
"What to Do with the Rest of your Life" plus "60 Seconds & You're Hired!";
Winning Resumes; and Winning Cover Letters. She's the creator of Moving
ON: Outplacement in a Box, DreamMaker, and numerous audio and training
programs.
Robin Ryan has appeared 1000 TV and radio shows including Oprah, Dr.
Phil Show, Fox News, CNN. She is the best-selling author of: 60 Seconds &
You're Hired!; Winning Resumes; Winning Cover Letters; What to Do with
the Rest of Your Life; plus the creator of the Interview Advantage and
Salary Negotiation Strategies Audio Programs.
Robin has a busy career counseling practice providing individual career
coaching, outplacement, resume writing services and interview
preparation to clients nationwide. A dynamic national speaker, Robin frequently
teaches audiences how to improve their lives and obtain greater
success.
Her newest book, "Soaring on Your Strengths” was released by Penguin on
January 1, 2006.
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Contact Robin at 425.226.0414 or robinryan@aol.com.
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