A cover letter cannot get you a job on its own, but a bad one can lose you an interview you would otherwise have had. After reading hundreds of letters sent by job seekers in Pakistan, the same seven problems come up again and again.
1. It repeats the CV
The recruiter has your CV. If your letter is a paragraph version of the same facts, it adds nothing. A cover letter should do what a CV cannot: explain why you want this role at this company, and connect one or two of your strengths to what they need.
Fix: Pick the single most relevant thing you have done and tell it as a short story with a result.
2. It starts with "I am writing to apply for…"
Every letter starts this way. It is not wrong, but it wastes the most valuable line on the page.
Before: "I am writing to apply for the position of Marketing Executive as advertised on Rozee.pk."
After: "Your Ramadan campaign last year was the one everyone in my marketing class talked about. I would like to help build the next one."
You can still mention where you saw the job — in the second sentence.
3. "Dear Sir/Madam" when the name is findable
Ten minutes on LinkedIn or the company website usually gives you the hiring manager's name. Using it shows effort. If you truly cannot find it, "Dear Hiring Manager" is better than "Dear Sir/Madam" or "To whom it may concern".
4. It is about you, not them
Count the sentences that start with "I". If it is most of them, the letter is unbalanced. Employers are hiring to solve a problem — growth, backlog, a gap in the team. Show that you understand the problem.
Fix: Include one sentence that mentions something specific about the company: a product, a recent expansion, a value on their careers page.
5. Vague claims
"I am a hard-working, dedicated professional with excellent communication skills." Nothing in that sentence can be checked, so the reader ignores it.
Fix: Replace adjectives with evidence. "In my last role I handled the client reporting for eight accounts and none of them missed a monthly deadline in two years."
6. Too long
One page, three or four short paragraphs. If your letter needs scrolling, it will not be read.
A clean structure:
- Paragraph 1: Why this role, why this company (2–3 lines)
- Paragraph 2: Your strongest relevant evidence (3–4 lines)
- Paragraph 3: What you would bring, and a polite close (2–3 lines)
7. Careless errors
The wrong company name pasted from the last application. "Manger" instead of "Manager". A letter addressed to a bank that mentions your passion for telecom. These end the application instantly, because they signal that you will be careless with the job too.
Fix: Read the letter aloud. Then read it backwards, sentence by sentence — errors jump out when the flow is broken.
A complete short example
Dear Ms. Farooqi,
I have used your app to pay my bills for two years, and the update that added Urdu support was the moment I decided I wanted to work on it. I am applying for the Junior Flutter Developer role on your careers page.
At TechNest I built and shipped three Flutter apps to the Play Store, including a delivery app that reached 50,000 downloads in its first year. I handled the UI, state management and Firebase integration, and reduced the crash rate by 40% using Crashlytics.
I would bring the same attention to shipping reliable features to your team. My CV is attached and I am available to start within two weeks.
Yours sincerely, Ayesha Rahman
The free cover letter maker on this site follows this structure. Answer a few questions, choose a tone, and edit the result before you download it.