10 Cover Letter Mistakes That Get You Instantly Rejected (2026)
You're probably making at least three of these cover letter mistakes. The good news: they're all easy to fix once you know what to look for.
Why Your Cover Letter Keeps Getting Ignored
Recruiters spend an average of 30 seconds on a cover letter before deciding whether to keep reading. That means a single mistake in your opening paragraph can sink the entire application. The worst part? Most candidates make the same mistakes over and over because nobody tells them what's wrong.
Here are the ten most common cover letter mistakes—ranked by how quickly they get your application rejected.
1. Using a Generic Template Without Customizing
The number one mistake: copying a template and changing only the company name and job title. Recruiters can spot a form letter instantly. "I am excited to apply for the [Position] role at [Company]" is the cover letter equivalent of "Dear Occupant" on junk mail.
Every cover letter should reference something specific about the company—a product, a recent announcement, a value from their careers page—and connect it to your experience. If you can swap the company name and the letter still makes sense, it's too generic.
2. Repeating Your Resume Bullet by Bullet
Your cover letter is not a prose version of your resume. If someone reads both and gets the same information twice, you've wasted the cover letter. Use the cover letter to add context: why you made certain career decisions, what you learned from key projects, or how a specific experience prepared you for this exact role.
Think of it this way: your resume is the "what," your cover letter is the "why" and "so what."
3. Writing More Than One Page
A cover letter should be 250-400 words, three to four paragraphs, one page maximum. Anything longer signals that you can't communicate concisely—a red flag for virtually every role.
If you're struggling to cut it down, remove every sentence that doesn't directly support why you're right for this specific role. Background information about your childhood passion for coding? Cut. The full story of your last company's pivot? Cut. Keep only what earns you an interview.
4. Starting with "My Name Is" or "I Am Writing to Apply"
These openings waste your most valuable real estate. The first sentence should hook the reader with a relevant accomplishment, a specific insight about the company, or a bold claim backed by evidence.
Compare: "I am writing to apply for the Software Engineer position" versus "I've shipped three consumer products to over 500K users, and I'm ready to bring that same velocity to your mobile team." The second version immediately signals competence and confidence.
5. Being Vague About Your Accomplishments
Saying "I have extensive experience in project management" means nothing. Saying "I managed a cross-functional team of 12 that delivered a $2M product launch two weeks ahead of schedule" means everything. Specificity is credibility.
Every claim in your cover letter should pass the "prove it" test. If you can't attach a metric, an outcome, or a concrete example, rewrite the sentence until you can.
6. Focusing on What You Want Instead of What You Offer
Hiring managers don't care that this role is your "dream job" or that you're "looking for growth opportunities." They care about what problems you'll solve for them. Flip the lens: for every sentence, ask "does this tell the reader what I bring to them?"
Replace "I'm looking for a role where I can grow my analytics skills" with "I'll bring a data-driven approach to your marketing team—at my last role, I built a customer segmentation model that increased email conversion by 27%."
7. Typos, Wrong Company Names, and Formatting Errors
It sounds basic, but submitting a cover letter addressed to the wrong company is still shockingly common—and it's an instant rejection. Always triple-check the company name, the hiring manager's name (and spelling), and the job title.
Use a consistent format: same font as your resume, standard margins, and save as PDF. Run spell-check, then read it aloud. Errors that slip past your eyes often get caught by your ears.
8-10: Salary Talk, Desperation, and No Call to Action
Three more quick kills: (8) Mentioning salary expectations unless explicitly asked—it shifts the conversation too early. (9) Sounding desperate ("I really need this job" or "I'll do anything")—it undermines your value. (10) Ending without a clear call to action—"I look forward to discussing how I can contribute to [specific goal]" is stronger than "I hope to hear from you."
Each of these mistakes is fixable in under five minutes. The difference between a rejected cover letter and one that lands an interview often comes down to eliminating these ten errors.
The Fastest Way to Fix Your Cover Letter
Go through this checklist for your next application: Is it customized for this company? Does it add context beyond your resume? Is it under 400 words? Does the opening hook? Are your accomplishments specific and measurable? Is the focus on what you offer, not what you want?
If checking all those boxes sounds overwhelming, TechnCV's AI cover letter generator builds a tailored, mistake-free cover letter from your resume and the job description in seconds. It handles the structure, tone, and keyword optimization so you can focus on the personal touches that make it yours.