Why Your Cover Letter Gets Rejected (5 MISTAKES TO AVOID) 

You are AWESOME 🤩@JeffSu

@@pinalpatel9374 THANK YOU!!

@@JeffSu ❤

I’m going to have an amazing cover letter!!

I believe so too!!!@@starlight4130

You must be DROWNING in offers 😏

​@@JeffSu😂🏊

Then y r u under this video?? U do not belong here!

Thank you so much for the kind words my friend 😁

Thank you 😁

Woohooo glad to hear it!!

No problem 😁

No problem my friend 😁

Oh that's an awesome tip!!! Thanks for sharing!!

Glad to hear you're driving safe!!!

Wow that's so kind of you! Thank you my friend 😁

wait why 😂

I am kinda old school. I don't have a LinkedIn account and I am not a fan of networking with strangers. But I note that so many tips are about Linkedin networking as if I will never find a decent job without a Linkedin account. That is a bit frustrating. @@JeffSu

Are you still anxious? If so, why?

I wish I knew these sooner for sure my friend 😁

How can I review my resume and cover letter to you?!!!

Because I like to engage with my viewers! Unfortunately I don't provide consultation services though

@@JeffSu no problem

No problem!

Woohoooo! Props to RU-vid! I hope you found this helpful!

Glad to hear it! 😁

No problem 😁

Haha thanks! What was the first video?

Unfortunately not :(

Glad this helped!

I never recommend optimizing resumes for ATS. You should network first to get someone to vouch for you 😁

Best of luck!!

And that's what I love to hear!! 😁

No problem!

No problem! Good luck! 😁

Thanks for the kind words! The same concept applies! The point is to focus on the company and role you're applying for, not so much on yourself (i.e. doesn't matter if you're a masters student, undergrad, or working professional)

Of course I did 😁

yay!

You're very welcome!! 😁

Woohooo thanks 😁

No problem 😁

Tips 2-5 feel sad now 😂 Glad you enjoyed the prompts as well!

@@JeffSu 😂😂😂 2-5 are good too

@@Sannaland 😂😂

Check out my videos aimed at people with 0 experience

You're very welcome 😁

I'm super sorry to hear this, and thanks for articulating your situation so clearly. I think it's a cultural difference (I'm more familiar with Western application methods), so I'm not sure I can be of help to you :(

@@JeffSu hey Jeff quick update. I just wanted to see if I made my resume again as per your advice and see if it works for applying jobs in Cannada, United States etc and to my surprise I have been getting positive replies from recruiters asking for an interview haha. Even though I do not get selected later since I don’t live there, it was refreshing for me to get such a response since it had been months just sending cold emails with no response at all. Thank you again for your precious content and knowledge.

@@l_Darkwulf_l nice!!!!

You can if you find their name! But hiring manager will always be the best bet!

@@JeffSu Thank you, Jeff!

@@MariaCristina901 Anytime!

Thank YOU so much for your support 😁

Best of luck! Let me know how it goes!

You should always tailor your resume and cover letter for each position 😁

What did ChatGPT give you?

Because ChatGPT sometimes hallucinates 😂

😂 hate the game not the player Matthew

@@JeffSu my friend, I am merely a brain and a heart floating in a vat somewhere in another reality at this point. I am too old to be human haha

Ah I don't have experience in that area, sorry about that!

@@JeffSu Thays alright .Thank you for the reply 🙂

Haha no worries Andrea, definitely not a hard requirement! And re:the joke, 😉 it was hard to insert something witty into this serious video, but glad I managed something

What kind of automation are you talking about?

@@JeffSu rewriting cv towards s specific job posting. Automated using tools like langchain etc

What's the worst that can happen?

Depends on the role you're applying for

No need to "Save" any for the cover letter, rather you should expand on your best one in the cover letter 😁

@@JeffSu gotcha, thank you! 😊

Best of luck and let me know how it goes!

@@JeffSu will do!

Glad to hear it!!

In my opinion it shows you're proactive 😁

@@JeffSu Okay well, I'm going to give it a shot🤞🏽

But you can find their employees on LinkedIn and engage with them 😁

Thank you!

Hahaha thanks 😁

Sorry which letter series?

Did you not put together a sequence of emails one would send in succession for a job search campaign or am I mistaken

@@curtisgilbert5301 cold email outreach? That’s my LinkedIn playlist 😁

Okay.... Cool...So I need to go to LinkedIn or ??

@@curtisgilbert5301 no, my RU-vid playlist called LinkedIn tips and tricks!

Why do you think you need a portfolio?

You can, but you want to customize it for your own use cases 😁

Schoolwork + extracurriculars 😁

Interesting! Is that a Portugal-specific or European thing? We're all about fair competition 😁

@@JeffSu Just a Portugal thing. From my experience here, the most important things are: work experiences, age and the conversations we have in the interviews. And that's why it's important to watch your videos.

@@LuisjmGil Gotcha

Given that the normal practice is not to use Cover Letters, and interviewees are picked from the metrics you mentioned. I wonder if it would be advantageous to include a cover letter? because no one else is doing it, and maybe the hiring manager gets curious and opens it you could have an awesome advantage over the competition. If it were me in portugal I would definitely try it.

Director of HR works, and yes look for their profile on the website AND on linkedin

Yes of course 😁

Yup you found her

Thank you 😁

Did you search on LinkedIn?

@@JeffSu Yes, I did actually not only LinkedIn. Once I gave the same company a letter with an actual persons name(Supervisor of Technical Apprenticeship). Then my application was rejected and I reached out for feedback and additional consideration but their feedback mail didn't actually felt like the application reached to the supervisor(the name I addressed). Now I am preparing a brand new cover letter considering your valuable advices but the application process has ended. Do you think I should make a contact with the supervisors?

I might do a video on that in the future 😁

See if you can find the closest person on LinkedIn!

No problem and best of luck!

Woohooo welcome!!

Did you watch the video? 😅

Yes; however, I don't feel confident. I decided to do as you say and address it to someone who seems to be in the chain of command. This way they can tell I did do research.

The wrong one is still better than "To Whom It May Concern" and the 52 managers will roll up to 1 partner anyways

@@JeffSu❤

It would be if it weren't a joke

You don't have to hope, you can just check by clicking the link in the description to the PDF version

How? In the Amanda example she wouldn't have talked to 20 professionals in the other companies

@@JeffSu Ok, I see.

They're different things though

Thanks for sharing your perspective! It's not "a problem" per se but you would be losing out to candidates who find the name of the recruiter or hiring manager! 😁

True very true when you put it like that your right. I never thought of it like. Thank you for making me see this aspect in a new light. 😀

@@lfung2213 No problem!!!

@@JeffSu Just one quick question to ask, if its not too much trouble, its not to do with the cover letter but rather the CV or LinkedIn profile. If you have done like a CPD/training course that, lets say, is relevant to highlight for the job application, which section of the CV would you say you should put that in? Education? Experience? I am unsure.

Hello 😁

😂

I would say most hiring and recruiters don't read cover letters but if I can get a 1% edge on another strong candidate...why not :)

An estimate is better than no number at all 😁

So just bullshit the numbers

You gotta back it up in the interview though 😂@@james-wx6jh

Follow instructions for this updated video 😁

The PDF version is free 😁

I don't think the advice in this video is in conflict with showcasing our individual talents 😁

Ah I'm sorry to hear that. What input are you giving it?

Yes unfortunately

You should never rely on ChatGPT outputs alone 😁

Thanks for the feedback!

Just a suggestion! One extra pair of eyes is better than none 😁

Thanks for the feedback!

As short as possible to convey your key messages across 😁

@@JeffSu

Still not recommended 😂. At this point the CEO's name is better than a generic opening

Just call them and ask the receptionist who is in charge of hiring for that position.

This is precisely why the advice for "mistake #1" is just completely overblown and unnecessary. You're scrambling to find a name with the deadline approaching when you can just give a generic salutation and move on with your job hunt. Just use "Dear Hiring Manager" and move on. No you do not need to go desperately hunting for the hiring managers name or the name of your potential direct report. If that hiring manager or employer has gone through the trouble of hiding their name for privacy reasons, then they don't expect to see their name in the cover letter. If the hiring manager wants to be addressed in the letter, then they won't make it impossible to find their name, and if they did expect you to hunt for their name You. Don't. Want. To. Work. For. That. Narcissistic. Person. And your cover letter is more often going to be read by an applicant tracking system before it's read by a human, so that should be your focus. Give the ATS some meat to chew on with all the keywords necessary according to the job description. The logic behind the advice of adding their name is it will increase the visibility of your cover letter to the hiring manager. So like of the 500 applications, 100 cover letters, and the 10 or so with a name, the ones with their name stand out as "odd" so they look at them more often. So it's a probability thing, not a hard formal rule. It increases the odds of it being viewed and considered more thoroughly. It's the same story with education and school names even though the curriculum is precisely the same. But not having the managers name doesn't make you a bad candidate nor does it mean you will immediately be ignored. And if you have an impossible time finding the name, then it's super likely that everyone else is having the same hard time UNLESS they know the hiring manager or someone at the company personally, ala Nepotism. Now sure in some circumstances it shows that you made some effort, but if you can't find anything and the company you are applying to has thousands of employees and you aren't sure of the 300 sales managers you could be applying to which is the right one, then just use a generic salutation. It's not a hard rule that you absolutely have to follow otherwise you are a terrible applicant and don't deserve any job where you can't find the name of the hiring manager. Like are you kidding me? You're absolutely worth it, but you have to balance the time spent trying to find the name for one job when you could be applying to more jobs in that same amount of time. In other words, you have to balance the odds of getting a job at one place with a perfect golden cover letter vs the odds of getting a job from 1 of 10 places where you wrote "Dear Hiring Manager". So sure spend a couple minutes searching, if you can't find anything move on. You do not have to grovel at the feet of these hiring managers just to survive, you're time is worth more than that. Call them? How many companies actually have an open line for hundreds of candidates to contact the HR department? They have OTHER things they need to do. Use the CEO's name? How is that any different from using a generic name, especially when that CEO has no idea who the company is hiring for. At the end of the day remember that the hiring process is super subjective and opinionated. You will constantly hear conflicting opinions DIRECTLY FROM HIRING EXPERTS. One recruiter expects a cover letter, the next despises them. One expects Times new roman, the next expects a fancy format. You just need a job to pay the bills and put food on the table, so your best bet is to cast as many lines as possible, not spend time making the absolute perfect lure. If it's your dream job at your dream company, that's a different story but that's also so rare. And you're better off networking at events than applying to a posting anyways.