Useless Phrases You Should Avoid in Your Cover Letter

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By Jose Sanchez | Business 2 Community – 3 hours ago

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Useless Phrases You Should Avoid in Your Cover LetterA cover letter is as vital as your resume, because it serves as anintroduction. It is important that you create a perfect cover letter that will match your resume. You need to realize that each word and phrase that you include in your letter will make a huge impact and will dictate your future. Using the right words and phrases will make a difference on how you will be perceived. You need to remember that the recruiter will read your letter using his or her own judgment. There are lots of sample cover letters that you can find online that you can use as a pattern, but it does not mean that you need to copy word per word.

“To whom it may concern”

This phrase nowadays will not give you an edge, because internet technology can give you a lot of means to know the person that you need to address in your cover letter. If you will not research for his or her name, you will look lazy and not interested in knowing more about the company. This can become a disadvantage on your part, so as much as possible you need to exert an effort to find out the name of the right person to address. In case you cannot find any name, then that is an excuse.

“References available upon request”

It is important that you include references, because it is already expected. This phrase is meaningless since you will put references on your resume and not in your cover letter. You should not mention it all.

“Give me a chance”

This is not the exact phrase that many applicants used, but many include it in their letter. You need to sound positive, so adding such phrase will only give a negative feeling. This might seem that you lack every opportunity that you need and you are deprive with success. If you are confident that you can do the job, there is no way that the employer cannot give you the chance that you need. Cover letters only need positive phrases, so you can convince the reader that you are the best person for the position.

“Salary amount”

This is the worst thing that you can mention on your cover letter, because you will sound rude as well as presumptuous. As you write your cover letter, it means that you are not asked an interview or offered a job, so mentioning the salary will irritate your recruiter. The amount of salary should be discussed on the job offer and it should not be negotiated using your cover letter.

There are common words used in cover letters such as hope, hone, feel and drawn. It will be helpful if you will avoid using these cliché words, because this will not impress the reader. Hope means that there is a chance that you will be rejected and it is a negative word for a recruiter. You can say “I’m looking forward”. Hone is not a good word to include, it is better if you will use develop. Drawn is not a good word to use as you are not having a romantic relationship to them. The word feel is not the right words to say, because the company is not interested on how you feel.