By Mat Johnson Despite the fact that companies consistently demand applicants to submit cover letters along with their resumes, many still believe the cover letter to be nothing but a mild formality. Sometimes they don't bother sending a cover letter at all or just one paragraph notes, quickly belted out with little thought.
When you send a poor cover letter, you send the message that you can't get the job done, even when quality is essential. Unless you enjoy sitting around in the house ducking calls from bill collectors, that's not the kind of message you want to send.
Too short is too bad
Many people send one paragraph, two- or three-sentence throwaway notes in place of real cover letters. Or, they confuse the Cover Letter with a dashed-off note, such as the fax coversheet. A cover letter should have three to four paragraphs, no paragraphs of over six lines long, with the longest one being the middle one or two, and the shortest one being the final, summation paragraph. The idea is to make the document brief and easily readable while still demonstrating a professional, thoughtful manner.
Silliness
In attempt to let their personality and humor soak through the cotton-bound paper, many applicants try to make their cover letters funny. But these attempts rarely work. You have no way of knowing if your prospective boss shares your sense of humor. More broadly speaking, the cover letter offers a sample of your ability to conduct business-like communications. Clowning around can disguise your professionalism.
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