Resumes & Interviews >> Browse Articles >> Cover Letter Help
5 Cover Letters That Worked
Tania Khadder | Excelle
February 23, 2010
 |
We share general tips, explore best practices, and warn of the most common cover letter mistakes.
What we haven’t done is give you specific examples of real cover letters that worked. Until now!
Excelle has tracked down five cover letters that helped job seekers land an interview. Sometimes, they even got the job. Each one is different, but they all — in one way or another — manage to avoid some of the most common blunders.
| 1. The Mistake: Repetition The Cover Letter That Worked 2. The Mistake: Being Too Vague The Cover Letter That Worked 3. The Mistake: A Weak Opening The Cover Letter That Worked |
4. The Mistake: Not “Answering” the Job Description The Cover Letter That Worked 5. The Mistake: Not Customizing The Cover Letter That Worked |
About the Author:
Tania is a writer, editor, blogger, and TV enthusiast. She likes indie rock, good food, vodka gimlets, and living in San Francisco. She also likes dancing, but of course, not to indie rock. Tania has a BA in Anthropology from UCLA, and an MA in International Journalism from City University in London. She’s also co-founder of the blog Unemploymentality. When she isn’t writing, she’s spending time with friends and family, obsessively surfing the web, or much to everyone’s annoyance, doing both simultaneously. Check out her latest blog, Lipstick & Lemonade. Add her to your Excelle network!
Sharifoe
almost 2 years ago
2 comments
No idea how this cover letter managed to be successful. The first paragraph alone is riddled with errors and an attempt to be fancy with use of hyphenations.
"I understand that we are in midst OF a recession..." -- Like really, how the hiring manager didn't notice the lack of preposition is beyond me. Maybe the writer and hiring manager both think we should revert back to the 1800s in regards to language.
And then to no avail, the very next segment the writer pretends to know how to use hyphenations. "... and as unemployment rises -- your inbox fills with applicants." "Hey, look mom, I can use other symbols in my writing besides commas and periods I'm so smart." Last time I checked, hyphenations are supposed to be used for adding onto an already complete sentence providing further information whether it be an opinion or fact. Removing, "... your inbox fills with applicants." and your left with "... and as unemployment rises." Yes, good job Scotty leave the hiring manager hanging, but maybe he likes cliff hangers because apparently thats how you got hired.
I don't know if this article gives me hope or despair. Hopeful in regards to someone as verbally challenged as this miscreant is capable of landing a job or despair in the fact that someone with the same lack of finesse in the English language probably will take my job.
kelsey_jenks
about 2 years ago
34 comments
This is very helpful!
CHPhillips
over 2 years ago
14 comments
Wow, this article helps a lot. For a long time I was frustrated when it came to writing cover letters because it seemed I had no direction. I didn't realize I should be writing my letter for the company and what qualifications I meet that are beneficial to the company, instead I just wrote about me and my achievements and/or qualities. If you hadn't guessed by now, I wasn't very successful. Thanks for the great advice!
igarcia1313
over 2 years ago
2 comments
I need to Print out three sample cover letters for my class, then i can make my own.
rsbryson53
over 2 years ago
4 comments
I need to write a real good cover letter for collector position
Montannam1
over 2 years ago
2 comments
I need to write a cover letter for a management position.
srjimmy1941
over 2 years ago
2 comments
I need to write a cover letter for a Security Officer position
migdalia1021
over 2 years ago
2 comments
i need to write a cover letter for a child care position
Frank_Ball
over 2 years ago
19756 comments
Please keep your comments on topic to the article -- Any comments posted with embedded links leading to questionable infected sites outside MonsterCollege will be removed and the poster's account will be banned from MonsterCollege. Thank you.
Dpfiling
almost 3 years ago
2 comments
For all of the droning-on about typos, grammar, and proof-reading, the last sentence of the letter from the magazine editor (of all people) just jumped off of the page when I read it. Surely, she meant, "Thank you so much for your time and consideration." However, she wrote, "Thank you for so much your time and consideration." This just proves that even the best of us sometimes miss a typo or other mistake. This is why it is so important to have someone with impeccable literary skills proof-read something as important as a resume or cover letter -- actually, any important document should be proofed by more than one person. For something as important as this, one can never be too careful.
jorgeros
about 3 years ago
8 comments
These are some excellent examples of cover letters. I feel inspired to write some much better ones now. However, I don't want to write a completely new one each time, it's just not very efficient. I'm wondering how much of each of these cover letters was reused for many positions.
shollins
about 3 years ago
2 comments
Good info!
woodgt
about 3 years ago
12 comments
Good points, you have to make a letter directly to the job, and let them know why your are fit for this job more so than the other 2 hundred resumes.
Mr_College
about 3 years ago
282 comments
Good stuff, thanks Tania! Every page is really interesting.
DavidChou
about 3 years ago
362 comments
customize cover letter and resume to fit in the job applied for.