Similar to a resume, a cover letter is one page long and has the power to make or shatter your employment prospects. New job seekers may rush through the drafting and submission of their application materials in an effort to secure a position quickly, which sometimes results in some common cover letter errors. Here are some frequent cover letter errors that fresh graduates may make and advice on how to avoid them:

● Prioritizing Education

You certainly take pride in the diploma you received from the posh university you attended. However, your employment history is significantly more important to companies than your school of graduation. Therefore, it's advisable to include your schooling on your resume rather than your cover letter unless it's incredibly relevant to the position you're applying for.

● Downplaying Qualifications

Stop writing if you catch yourself saying, "Although I don't have much experience..." Never admit to an employer that you aren't fully qualified for the position. Instead, you should utilize this paper to demonstrate that you are a serious candidate for the job.

Therefore, avoid including anything in your cover letter that can reflect poorly on you. Remove that phrase from your cover letter, along with any others that are similar, and concentrate on the experience you actually have and how you might benefit the firm. Additionally, you may want to think twice before applying if you're actually unqualified.

● Saying overly

You can go on and on and on in your cover letter to try to hide the fact that you might not meet all the qualifications for the post. Rambling, however, does not make for a strong cover letter, therefore you must stick to restricting it to one page. Write as much as you want in your initial draft, and then keep revising yourself until every bit of your education, professional experience, and skill set is succinctly summarized in well-written paragraphs on a single page. Ask a friend or family member to help you edit it if you're having trouble deciding which information should be kept and which should be removed.

● Not Personalized

Yes, it takes time to write a cover letter specifically for each organization you apply to. However, it's practically the only way to have a good chance of landing a job interview. Remember that hiring managers read dozens of cover letters every day and can tell almost right away if you've written one specifically for their business or just pasted the name of the company onto a generic cover letter.

Spend some time crafting a compelling cover letter for each job you apply for, and make sure you spell the contact's name and the company name accurately. Make it means above all else by connecting your expertise to what the job description asks for.

● Being Bashful

Whether you're a recent college graduate or an older worker seeking to re-enter the workforce after a break, you might be concerned that an employer will be able to see right through your lack of experience, abilities, job gap, etc. Because of this, your cover letter is brief, uninteresting, or devoid of samples of your work that relate to the position you're applying for.

The truth is that being timid won't help you land a job. When applying for any job, it's critical to project confidence. Both hiring managers and recruiters want to know that you're enthusiastic about the job you're applying for and even more so about working for their organization. So when writing your cover letter, let your enthusiasm come through. After all, your passion might make you stand out from the competition while applying for jobs!

● Leaving out Relevant Experience

You may believe, as a recent job applicant, that you don't actually have any relevant experience to disclose. Well, reconsider. Experience on the job need not always come from prior employment. It may come from your voluntary work, transferrable talents you've developed from past work in different industries, your schooling, and so on. Be careful not to immediately discount the marketing you carried out for your husband's startup or the fundraising you carried out at your child's school. All of that qualifies as experience, and you must disclose it if the position calls for it.

● Unreliable in Following Up

Even if your cover letter is outstanding, you run the danger of not getting a job interview if you don't know how to sign off. Reiterate how much you want the job in your conclusion paragraph and give specific reasons why (like great company culture or how the job is the next logical step in your career).

Write down your plan for following up to see if the recruiting manager has any further questions. By doing so, you demonstrate your interest and end your cover letter on a formal and encouraging note. Seeking further guidelines for creating a cover letter? Browse our Blogs.