COVERING LETTER CHECKLIST 

You have now written a covering letter. Place an X next to each of the following characteristics that your letter has. Make adjustments to your letter as needed.

Content of my letter

• In my letter, I take an original approach towards convincing the employer that I am ‘made’ for the job.
  
  
• In my letter, I write why I am interested in the job (not: ‘I saw your job offer and it looked interesting to me’).
  
  
• My letter contains only the information which is relevant to the job for which I am applying.
  
  
• My letter makes mention of my accomplishments and qualities. I make no mention of my weak points and failures.
  
  
• I make no demands (such as salary requirements) in my letter.

 Style of my letter

• My letter is no more than 1 page in length.
  
  
• The content of my letter is nicely distributed over the length of the page. I make use of extra blank lines between the various sections of my letter where necessary.
  
  
• My letter follows capitalisation and punctuation rules.
  
  
• My letter is succinct, straightforward and businesslike, but exudes a clear personal style as well. The letter matches my personality.
  
  
• My letter consists of brief sentences. I use a new sentence for each new idea.
  
  
• I avoid grammatical errors or unusual abbreviations.
  
  
• My letter contains ‘active’ sentences, such as ‘I worked as’, not ‘I was employed as …’.
  
  
• My letter uses a standard, professional-looking font (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.). I only handwrite my letter if requested to do so by the employer in the job offer.
  
  
• My letter looks clean and sharp.
  
  
•  The layout and style of the letter and the CV are consistent with each other.

General

• My letter has been proofread by someone else.
  
  
• I am sending my letter to the employer along with my CV.