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.
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