[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-256194-105":53,"doc-detail-256194-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","sample-cover-letters-first-impressions-count-avoid-common-cover-letter-mistakes","Sample Cover Letters - First Impressions Count - Avoid Common Cover Letter Mistakes","","Guidance on writing effective cover letters that create strong first impressions and avoid common pitfalls. The text emphasizes sending a complete, readable letter with an appropriate paragraph structure, avoiding overly humorous or “clowning” approaches, and preventing grammatical and spelling errors through careful proofreading. It also warns against cliché wording, pretentious language, egomaniacal tone, and insincere flattery, urging clear, sincere sentiment when explaining interest.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/sample-cover-letters-first-impressions-count-avoid-common-cover-letter-mistakes/256194/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/sample-cover-letters-first-impressions-count-avoid-common-cover-letter-mistakes/256194.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Sophia Brooks","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-09-13",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"How long and how many paragraphs should a cover letter be?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Aim for three to four paragraphs. Keep paragraphs under six lines, with the longest in the middle and the shortest for the final summation.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What proofreading steps help reduce grammar and spelling errors?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Ask someone else to proofread. If that’s not possible, read the letter aloud slowly and word by word, and after each correction read the whole document again.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why should you avoid clichés and overly impressive wording in a cover letter?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Clichés make the letter unremarkable and insincere, while labored, unfamiliar big words can cause embarrassment and lead to prompt dismissal.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},256194,1790121894,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":76,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":9},962084925636,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Sample Cover Letters: First Impressions Count-Avoid Common Cover  \nLetter Mistakes  \nBy Mat Johnson  \nDespite the fact that companies consistently demand applicants to submit cover letters along with their resumes, many still believe the cover letter to be nothing but a mild formality. Sometimes they don't bother sending a cover letter at all or just one paragraph notes, quickly belted out with little thought.  \nWhen you send a poor cover letter, you send the message that you can't get the job done, even when quality is essential. Unless you enjoy sitting around in the house ducking calls from bill collectors, that's not the kind of message you want to send.  \nToo short is too bad  \nMany people send one paragraph, two-or three-sentence throwaway notes in place of real cover letters. Or, they confuse the Cover Letter with a dashed-off note, such as the fax coversheet. A cover letter should have three to four paragraphs, no paragraphs of over six lines long, with the longest one being the middle one or two, and the shortest one being the final, summation paragraph. The idea is to make the document brief and easily readable while still demonstrating a professional, thoughtful manner.  \nSilliness  \nIn attempt to let their personality and humor soak through the cotton-bound paper, many applicants try to make their cover letters funny. But these attempts rarely work. You have no way of knowing if your prospective boss shares your sense of humor. More broadly speaking, the cover letter offers a sample of your ability to conduct business-like communications. Clowning around can disguise your professionalism.  \nPoor Grammar and, Mispelings  \nNo one wants to make grammatical or spelling errors but many applicants nevertheless submit cover letters with small and thoughtless, yet deadly, errors.  \nMany problems slip through because people have a difficult time seeing the mistakes in their own writing. So ask someone else to proofread the cover letter for you. If that's not possible, read  \nthe document aloud, slowly and word by word. Every time you make a correction, read the whole document over again. Writers make many mistakes during the final editing process as they make corrections, particularly with tense and word placements. Spell checks can also be typo insinuations, causing writers to change misspelled words into wrong words, as demonstrated by one cover letter writer who boasted that \"Referees are available on request.\"  \nCliches put egg on your face  \nIt goes without saying that the best way to sound unremarkable and insincere is to fill your cover letter with cliches. So if that's what you were planning, go back to square one and get busy as a beaver at putting together a collection of original thoughts instead of a collection of those same old employee buzzwords. Even if those buzzwords represent honest information you are trying to relay, remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The best way to express your desires is to say how you really feel. True statements run circles around cliched phrases. So if you come up with the real McCoy, take a bow, because you're moving in the right direction faster than a speeding bullet.  \nPontificating with immoderately labored interpretive phraseologies (That is, writing overdone sentences)  \nSometimes, in an effort to impress, writers go overboard. How many times have you seen someone strain to play it cool, only to crash and burn after misusing an impressive-sounding word? In an attempt to sound intelligent, cover letter writers regularly produce sentences that use big, impressive, but unfamiliar words. The resulting mistakes cause embarrassment for both the reader and writer, and ensure prompt dismissal of your application. (Even if the reader understands your meaning, she may be put off by your pretentiousness) .  \nEgomaniacal tone  \nA golden rule for cover letter writing: make sure that by the time you've finished your writing, the person most impressed by your letter ","cbCailrTWi3nBxnL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailrTWi3nBxnL","pdf",23124,"English","# First Impressions Count\n## Too short is too bad\n## Silliness\n## Poor Grammar and Mispelings\n## Cliches put egg on your face\n## Pontificating with labored phraseologies\n## Egomaniacal tone\n## It's the sentiment that counts","[{\"question\":\"How long and how many paragraphs should a cover letter be?\",\"answer\":\"Aim for three to four paragraphs. Keep paragraphs under six lines, with the longest in the middle and the shortest for the final summation.\"},{\"question\":\"What proofreading steps help reduce grammar and spelling errors?\",\"answer\":\"Ask someone else to proofread. If that’s not possible, read the letter aloud slowly and word by word, and after each correction read the whole document again.\"},{\"question\":\"Why should you avoid clichés and overly impressive wording in a cover letter?\",\"answer\":\"Clichés make the letter unremarkable and insincere, while labored, unfamiliar big words can cause embarrassment and lead to prompt dismissal.\"}]","Sample Cover Letters - First Impressions Count - Avoid Common Cover Letter Mistakes | PDF",1789299506]