Please reply to m. L. Smith, Director of Personnel

When in doubt, call the company and clarify the gender of the person. If you can't track down the company or the individual, it is appropriate to write: Dear M. L. Smith.

Insincere and Glowing Comments

Sending a letter that patronizes the recipient shines through as being insincere. Making statements like "Your company is great" or "You have a reputation that is second to none" won't help your cause, especially if the company is going through hard times or experiencing a heavy turnover of personnel. You have no concrete basis to comment accurately on a company until you meet the people and evaluate the working environment. Save the accolades for the follow-up letter after you've had a chance to meet the potential employer and evaluate the situation.

Lengthy Letters

The hypothesis here: Shorter is better. Concise letters are more likely to be read. Long, flowing dissertations rarely receive cover-to-cover attention. Brief letters should be the benchmark if you are applying for an executive or sales position.

Let's face it, top executives are paid to make decisions, not to write reports describing the decisions. Salespeople are compensated to bring in orders, not to write "How to" chapters on sales strategies.

For a top position, a cover letter that is any longer than three paragraphs is too lengthy. Your statements should be concise, professional, and polite. Stick to the basics. State your interest, provide a little background that will tease the reader, and end with a request for a meeting.

Another important aspect of short cover letters is using key industry words. These words could relate to state-of-the-art technology, such as SONET in telecom­munications or TQM in manufacturing. But weighing down your letters with jargon and acronyms is a big mistake. Write so that the reader won't have to stop and say, "What the hell is he talking about?"

Another good approach when you are applying for a sales or management position is to include the names of recognizable customers. For example, if you are competing for a top sales position in a company that is a major supplier to the automotive industry, make certain names like GM and Ford appear in the cover letter. Because of significant supplier consolidations, insight into a customer's operation is a big selling point that will attract the immediate attention of potential employers.

Unsolicited Personal References

This is one of the quickest ways to eliminate yourself from the race. Sending copies of reference letters is presumptuous and indicates a total naivete on your part regarding the perception of these letters by potential employers.

Any astute recruiter knows full well that 99 percent of all recommendations are written at the request of the discharged employee. Worse yet, over 50 percent of the letters are composed by the job seeker and not the former employer. How many times have you heard a boss tell an employee who was being let go, "Just write up what you want me to say and I'll sign it"?

Letters of recommendation are not only useless, they also send a covert signal that you had problems in the past and wanted to clear your name in writing.

Avoid sending letters of recommendation. If potential employers find you to be a viable candidate, they will request references soon enough.

Extensive Use of the First Person

In an effort to remove the monotony of reading hundreds of cover letters and resumes, our company keeps track of certain applicant accomplishments. We call it our "Candidate Olympics". Here are a few appropriate categories for our discussion.

Category Olympic Record