More than two thirds of resumes received include a cover letter so not including one puts an applicant at a distinct disadvantage as other applicants have more opportunity to catch the reviewers’ eye and land an interview. Cover letters are also a great opportunity to draw focus to what makes you an ideal candidate or explain a period of unemployment in your past.

Nothing is more boring than receiving a two or three page resume from a prospective employee that looks more like an essay. Instead, employers want you to highlight what you think your best qualities are, and lay them out from the very beginning. Choose a few relevant qualities. Highlight them, make them bold, put them in bigger font, just do something to make them stand out from the rest of your resume. Once you’ve done that, place them at the very top of the first page. Your interviewer will be much more interested in you if you don’t waste his or her time from the very beginning.

Choppy, short sentences do not get the point across to your potential employer. Not only do they fail to get the point across, but they also let the potential employer know that you are not able to articulate yourself. The information in your resume is not only a chance to sell your qualifications to the hiring manager, but it is a chance to show a little bit of your personality. Boring sentences make managers think about boring people. Boring people don’t get the highly competitive jobs. Expand those sentences and give the managers something enjoyable read.