How to write an effective cover letter

I had a candidate reach out to me last week seeking advice on how to write the "perfect" cover letter.  She wanted to get her resume to the top of the pile and make a good first impression.  All good goals, but I believe my advice may have surprised her at first.

How many times have you seen online posts for cover letter writing tips?  Or the guide to a perfect cover letter?  Most of those authors have solid ideas and if implemented correctly could really have an impact.  But I'm here to argue the opposite - writing a cover letter can harm you as much as it can hurt you.  Here's why:

1)  Being too generic shows lack of thought process.  I can't tell you how many cover letters I get that start with "Hello, Ms. Winterboer."  I may not be the most handsome man, but I would sure like to think that if someone had taken enough time to look at our company website or my Linked In profile that I am not a female.  Seems like a minor point and even a bit humorous, but I will let you guess where those emails end up in a priority rating in my inbox.......

2)  Being too assumptive or arrogant is a death sentence.  Another common way to start a cover letter is to say something along the lines of "Don't look at another resume, I'm the person you are going to hire next."  While some may argue that is a differentiating factor and could wake up the reader, I tend to think again this person didn't research the position at all and just hopes to get on the phone with me to sweet talk me into an interview.  I am looking for facts and objective reasons first why you might be worth a second look.

3)  Being redundant shows lack of effort.  When a candidate sends me their resume for different positions, yet has the same cover letter, that lets me know again they are just seeking a token interview.  If you are a sales/service hybrid and want to apply to both a sales and a service position separately, I am actually okay with that.  But clearly outline in each case why you are good at sales and why you are good at service.  Then follow up directly with me to let me know you may fit in the middle, but wanted to talk through what your greatest strengths and weaknesses are.

4)  Being unable to have a grammatically correct cover letter is a bad thing.  If you have plenty of time to create and structure a complete message that provides me with a first impression of your writing skills, be sure you have at the very least conducted a spell check.  It is incredibly simple and seems like a "no duh" sort of thing, but I receive cover letters all the time with misspellings, grammatical errors, and no sense of what a paragraph should look like.  It is hard to make me believe you will be effective in your job if you cannot even complete this task with a fair amount of clarity.

I almost titled this blog "Why NOT to write a cover letter", but I think they can still play a role in an introduction.  You just have to really think things through if you really want to make it to the top of the pile.

Any other ideas regarding a cover letter?  Have you ever seen horror stories like mine?