A bad cover letter doesn’t usually get you rejected outright. It just fails to do the one job it actually has: giving a hiring manager a reason to open your resume with interest instead of obligation.
Most cover letters make the same handful of mistakes — and most of them are fixable in under ten minutes once you know what to look for. Here are the seven that show up most often, and exactly how to fix each one.
Table of Contents
- Mistake #1: Starting With “I Am Writing to Apply For…”
- Mistake #2: Repeating Your Resume
- Mistake #3: Making It About You, Not Them
- Mistake #4: Generic, Copy-Paste Language
- Mistake #5: No Specific Company Research
- Mistake #6: A Weak or Missing Call to Action
- Mistake #7: Skipping the Proofread
- Weak vs. Strong Cover Letter Openers
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Key Takeaways
Mistake #1: Starting With “I Am Writing to Apply For…”
This opener tells the reader nothing they don’t already know from the subject line. It’s the cover letter equivalent of clearing your throat for ten seconds before saying anything.
Fix: Open with the most relevant, specific thing about you — a result, a shared connection, or a direct statement of the problem you can solve for them.
Instead of: “I am writing to apply for the Marketing Manager position at your company.”
Try: “In my last role, I took an underperforming email channel from a 12% open rate to 34% in four months — and I’d love to bring that same approach to [Company]’s lifecycle marketing.”
Mistake #2: Repeating Your Resume
If your cover letter just restates your job titles and dates in paragraph form, it’s wasted space. The hiring manager already has that document open in another tab.
Fix: Use the cover letter to explain the why behind your experience — motivation, context, and the connective thread your resume can’t show on its own.
Mistake #3: Making It About You, Not Them
Cover letters stuffed with “I want,” “I am seeking,” and “I would love the opportunity” read as self-focused, even when that’s not the intent.
Fix: Reframe every “I want” sentence around what the employer gets. “I want to grow my skills in project management” becomes “I bring three years of stakeholder coordination experience to a team that’s scaling fast.”
The best cover letters read like a business case for hiring you — not a personal wish list.
Mistake #4: Generic, Copy-Paste Language
Phrases like “I am a hard-working team player with excellent communication skills” appear in thousands of applications. They signal effort spent on volume, not on this specific role. A hiring manager who has personally reviewed more than a thousand cover letters, writing for SHRM’s own blog, put it plainly: generic letters like this can be “a total waste of everyone’s time,” while a specific one earns a callback instead.
Fix: Replace every generic claim with a specific, checkable example. “Excellent communication skills” becomes “Presented quarterly results to a 40-person leadership team for three consecutive years.”
Mistake #5: No Specific Company Research
A cover letter that could be sent to five different companies unchanged is instantly recognizable — and instantly forgettable.
Fix: Reference something specific: a product launch, a recent milestone, a stated company value that genuinely resonates with your own experience. One sentence is usually enough to signal you did your homework.
Mistake #6: A Weak or Missing Call to Action
Ending with “Thank you for your consideration” and nothing else leaves the ball entirely in the employer’s court, with no momentum behind it.
Fix: Close with a confident, specific next step. “I’d welcome the chance to talk through how this experience applies to [Company]’s current goals” reads as far more proactive than a generic sign-off.
Mistake #7: Skipping the Proofread
A single typo won’t necessarily sink an application, but it does undercut the “attention to detail” most job postings explicitly ask for. Wrong company names — a copy-paste error from a previous application — are worse still.
Fix: Read it aloud, then have someone else read it. Fresh eyes catch what a tired brain skips over on the fifth read-through u{2014} Purdue OWL’s proofreading guide recommends exactly this reading-aloud step for catching what silent reading misses.
Weak vs. Strong Cover Letter Openers
| Weak opener | Why it fails | Strong alternative |
|---|---|---|
| “I am writing to apply for…” | States the obvious | Leads with a specific, relevant result |
| “I have always been passionate about…” | Vague, unverifiable | States a concrete motivation tied to the role |
| “To Whom It May Concern” | Impersonal, often avoidable | Addressed to a named hiring manager where possible |
| “I believe I would be a great fit because…” | Tells, doesn’t show | Demonstrates fit through a specific example |
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a cover letter be?
Generally 250 to 400 words, enough to make a real case, short enough to actually get read in full.
Do I need a different cover letter for every job?
Yes, at least in the opening and the company-specific references. A fully generic letter is easy to spot and rarely performs as well as a tailored one.
Should I restate my salary expectations in a cover letter?
Only if the job posting specifically requests it. Otherwise, save that conversation for later in the process.
Is a cover letter even necessary anymore?
When it is optional, a strong, specific cover letter still gives you an edge, it is one more chance to demonstrate fit that many applicants skip entirely.
Key Takeaways
- Skip the throat-clearing opener — lead with your strongest, most specific relevant result.
- Use the letter to explain motivation and context, not to repeat your resume.
- Replace generic claims with checkable examples wherever possible.
- One sentence of genuine company research signals real effort.
- Always close with a specific, confident next step.
Conclusion
A cover letter’s only job is to earn genuine interest in the resume behind it. Fix these seven mistakes, and yours will do exactly that — without needing to be longer, fancier, or more “creative,” just more specific.
If writing about yourself convincingly is the hardest part, that’s exactly where we help. Get a professionally written, tailored cover letter matched to the specific role you’re applying for, typically delivered within 24–48 hours.