In my first installment of this “How to Write a Successful Physician Cover Letter” series I promised you some examples of the best and worst cover letters and in this installment I have provided two in the “bad cover letter” department.
Click here to see them (opens a new page): Physician Cover Letter Examples
The first one is easy to spot. It has no detail and is all about “I”. There isn’t even the time spent to customize the letter and the date is scratched out and re-written in pen.
I’m sure no one else has used this type of intro, right?
The second is a little more tricky. Some people have told me that it shows that the candidate did research on the hospital and recognizes our values. The problem is that there are only three pieces of information in the entire letter that I didn’t already know.
1. Specialty
2. Availability
3. Tie to the area
I lost interest long before getting to those pieces of information.
Do you remember the key to a successful Physician cover letter?
cell phone spying software// a. One Minute rule
b. Appearance & Style
c. Who
d. Why
e. What
f. When
g. Accuracy
How could these letters be easily and quickly modified?
The first is a “no-brainer”, but how can I call the second one a bad cover letter?
It looks good. At first glance, It is well formatted and a reasonable length. Look more closely at who the letter is addressed to. There is no company name.
Look a bit closer and find that there are no credentials.
Is this person an MD, DO, NP, PA?
Subtle, but important when it comes to expressing your style, giving the reader a sense of who you are and most importantly being accurate. Even more importantly, there is no substance.
Next month, a couple of the best letters.
If you have specific comments or questions, I invite you to comment and give examples. We can all learn from each other.
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