A cover letter serves as a professional introduction to a potential employer, offering a narrative context that a resume alone cannot provide. Its primary function is to pique the hiring manager’s interest and secure a closer look at the applicant’s qualifications and professional history. This document allows recruiters to quickly assess a candidate’s communication skills and genuine motivation for the role. Understanding the proper focus and presentation of this letter is paramount, and knowing what information to deliberately exclude is often as important as knowing what to include.
Content That Is Already on Your Resume
Repeating job duties, technical skills, or professional achievements exactly as they are listed on the accompanying resume is inefficient use of the cover letter space. The purpose of this document is not to offer a redundant bulleted list but to provide a narrative supplement that adds depth and context to the summarized history.
Instead, the letter should function as an interpretive layer, connecting past successes and the requirements outlined in the job description. This involves highlighting two or three select accomplishments and explaining how those successes directly prepared the candidate to solve the employer’s specific needs. By focusing on the why and how rather than merely the what, the letter transforms into a persuasive argument for candidacy.
Highly Personal or Irrelevant Information
The limited space of a cover letter should be exclusively reserved for demonstrating professional qualifications and motivation for the specific position. Including non-professional details, such as age, marital status, family planning, or general health status, adds no value to the application. Similarly, disclosing political affiliations, religious beliefs, or detailed accounts of personal hobbies that do not directly relate to the job function introduces irrelevant information.
Unless the personal interest directly relates to the job function—such as a journalist mentioning involvement with a local newspaper—it should be omitted. Providing excessive biographical detail can unintentionally lead to unconscious bias in the review process. The hiring manager is interested only in the candidate’s professional capacity and ability to perform the job duties.
Negative Talk About Previous Employers or Jobs
Expressing criticism or negativity regarding previous employers, managers, colleagues, or company culture is one of the most immediate red flags an applicant can raise. Recruiters interpret this behavior not as an objective assessment of a past workplace, but as a reflection of the applicant’s own professionalism, discretion, and ability to manage conflict. A candidate who speaks poorly of a former situation suggests a potential for future interpersonal issues within the new organization.
The cover letter must consistently maintain a positive, forward-looking, and constructive tone. Even when explaining a career transition, the focus should be on the attraction of the new opportunity rather than a flight from the old one. For instance, an applicant should frame a departure as seeking a more challenging environment or aligning with a company whose mission resonates more deeply.
Focusing on growth opportunities and professional ambition avoids the appearance of being driven by past grievances. This level of professional decorum assures the hiring team that the candidate possesses the maturity and positive outlook required for a successful team member.
Salary Expectations and Financial Demands
Introducing specific salary figures or financial demands prematurely shifts the focus from professional qualifications to personal cost. This is ill-advised in the cover letter stage, as it can lead to immediate disqualification if the stated figure is significantly outside the company’s budgeted range. An applicant with suitable qualifications may be instantly screened out simply because their number did not align with the initial internal budget.
Salary discussions are best reserved for later stages of the interview process, after the hiring manager has become invested in the candidate’s potential and confirmed their suitability for the role. The only exception is when the job application instructions explicitly request a salary history or expectation. Otherwise, candidates should focus the letter purely on their value proposition and professional fit, allowing the financial conversation to occur when a mutual interest has been firmly established.
Excuses, Apologies, or Explanations for Shortcomings
A cover letter is intended to be a confident and persuasive presentation of an applicant’s strongest qualifications and professional readiness. Candidates should never use this space to apologize for perceived weaknesses, draw attention to employment gaps, or explain a lack of experience with a specific software program. Introducing these mitigating explanations proactively forces the reviewer to focus on perceived deficits rather than demonstrated strengths.
The letter should project an image of competence and capability, focusing entirely on what the candidate can deliver. If an employment gap is unavoidable, the explanation should be brief and framed positively, such as “time spent pursuing advanced certifications” or “focusing on independent consulting projects.” This brief framing addresses the gap without sounding defensive. The goal is to establish a narrative of success and future potential.
Generic or Automated Language
Submitting a cover letter filled with boilerplate phrases, vague professional objectives, or generic salutations like “To Whom It May Concern” immediately signals a lack of effort and genuine interest. Hiring managers can instantly recognize automated applications that fail to tailor their content to the specific role, company, and industry. Using a template that merely replaces the company name without altering the core messaging fails to show the necessary research and commitment.
A compelling cover letter must demonstrate that the applicant has invested time in understanding the prospective employer’s current challenges, recent projects, or stated values. Whenever possible, candidates should use the hiring manager’s specific name, which requires preliminary research. The letter should reference a specific company initiative or a recent press release, explaining how the candidate’s unique skills directly align with that particular activity. This specificity validates the application’s sincerity and transforms the document into a highly personalized professional communication.
Formatting Errors and Length Issues
The mechanical presentation of a cover letter is a direct reflection of the applicant’s attention to detail and professional standards. Ignoring the universally accepted “one-page rule” by extending the letter to a second page suggests an inability to communicate concisely. The document should maximize readability through the use of professional, non-decorative fonts like Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial, and maintain ample white space around the margins.
Poor formatting, such as dense paragraphs or overly small font sizes, fatigues the reader and makes the content difficult to process. The letter must be completely free of grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, or typographical omissions. Major typos signal that the candidate lacks the necessary precision and quality control required for any professional setting. Flawless presentation is just as important as the strength of the narrative content.