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As the Managing Editor at Business Insider, I receive lots of cover letters every day. Some of them are really great, and tell me instantly that the applicant gets what we're trying to do here and why they are someone we might want to hire.
AdvertisementOthers are awful. Bad enough that I've started collecting them in a Gmail folder called "Worst Cover Letters."
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The offenses vary. Some people are way too long-winded and never get to the point. Others don't realize their emails are riddled with spelling errors. Some people call attention to their weaknesses in a letter that's supposed to summarize their strengths. Others can't (or at least don't) write in the language we would be hiring them to write in.
I don't mean to emphasize the negative. The next post will feature some of the best cover letters I've ever received. (Not surprisingly, most of those people now work at BI.) But still, in the name of demonstrating what NOT to do.