What Should You Not Include in a Cover Letter?

Mentioning salary in a cover letter before you've been asked is one of the most common mistakes candidates make — and one of the most damaging.

Bringing up salary first signals desperation, misreads the stage of the process, and immediately shifts the conversation from "are you the right person for this role?" to a negotiation the employer didn't invite. At the cover letter stage, neither party has enough information to have a useful salary discussion. You don't know the full scope of the role; they don't know what they'd be getting.

There is one exception: if the job posting explicitly asks candidates to include salary expectations or current salary in their application. In that case, provide a range with a brief, confident framing — "I'm targeting £X–£Y based on the market rate for this role" — and move on. Don't elaborate, and don't apologise for having a number.

In all other cases, leave salary entirely out of your cover letter. The time for that conversation is when it's invited — typically after an initial screening call.

Employers hire people to solve problems. They do not hire people to solve the candidate's personal financial, career, or life problems.

Cover letters that include phrases like "this job would really help me get back on my feet financially," "I've been out of work for a while and this opportunity would mean a lot to me," or "I'm looking to take my career in a new direction and this feels like the right moment" are all making the same mistake: they're about what the candidate gets, not what the employer gets.

Your personal motivation — why you want to move, what you're looking for, how this fits your life — is not relevant to a hiring manager assessing whether you can do the job. They're not unsympathetic; they simply need to know you can solve their problem, not that solving their problem also happens to be convenient for you.

The rule is simple: if you find yourself writing a sentence that describes a benefit to you — financial, career, personal — cut it. Replace it with what that same role gives the employer by hiring you.

There is no version of "I'm leaving my current role because my manager is difficult" that reads well in a cover letter. Even when the underlying situation is entirely reasonable, any negative statement about a previous employer triggers immediate scepticism about your professionalism and judgement.

Hiring managers know that every candidate's story has two sides. When a candidate volunteers criticism of a former employer in a cover letter — before being asked, before any relationship has been established — it raises a direct question: is this how they'll talk about us to their next employer?

This applies to direct criticism ("my current company has poor leadership"), indirect criticism ("I'm looking for a more supportive environment"), and even framing that implies problems without naming them ("I've learned a lot but feel I've exhausted the opportunities available to me there").

If you're leaving for legitimate reasons that reflect poorly on the employer, find a neutral framing: "I'm looking for a role where I can take on broader commercial responsibility" says what you're moving toward without describing what you're moving away from.

"I am writing to express my interest in the [Job Title] position at [Company Name] as advertised on [Platform]."

This sentence — and all variants of it — wastes the first line of your cover letter. The hiring manager already knows you're interested in the position; that's why you submitted an application. Opening by stating the obvious is not an introduction; it's a placeholder.

Generic openers are a signal that what follows will also be generic. They make the reader expect a templated letter that wasn't written for them. Even if the rest of your letter is strong, you've already lost goodwill by the time they finish the first sentence.

The same applies to other common filler openers:
"I was thrilled to come across this opportunity..."
"As a passionate and driven professional..."
"I believe I would be a great fit for this role..."

None of these add information. All of them have been read thousands of times. Start instead with something specific — a piece of knowledge about the company, a direct connection between your work and their current priorities, or a single sentence that makes it immediately clear you're not using a template.

Your cover letter and resume are read together. If your cover letter repeats what's already on your CV — the same employers, the same achievements, the same dates — you've given the reader no new information and no reason to value the cover letter.

This is the most common structural mistake in cover letters. Candidates write sentences like "As you will see from my attached CV, I have five years of experience in digital marketing, during which time I managed campaigns for..." and continue for three paragraphs restating resume content.

A hiring manager reading this is not learning anything. They're being asked to read the same information twice, formatted differently.

The cover letter should add context that the resume format can't: why you're interested in this company specifically, what draws you to this problem or industry, how your experience connects to something the company is currently doing or building, or why a less obvious part of your background is directly relevant to this role. If everything in your cover letter is already in your resume, you've written the wrong document.

Certain phrases appear in so many cover letters that they've lost all meaning. Hiring managers read them on autopilot and retain nothing.

The most common offenders:
- "I am a hardworking, dedicated professional"
- "I have excellent communication skills"
- "I am passionate about [industry/field]"
- "I am a team player who also works well independently"
- "I have a proven track record of success"
- "I thrive in fast-paced environments"
- "I am a quick learner"
- "I am highly motivated"

Every one of these phrases describes a quality without demonstrating it. Saying you have "excellent communication skills" in a cover letter that is not itself excellently written is actively counterproductive. Saying you are "passionate about marketing" tells the reader nothing about what you can do for them.

The fix is always the same: replace the claim with evidence. Instead of "excellent communication skills," mention the specific thing you wrote, presented, or negotiated that shows it. Instead of "passionate about sustainable energy," reference the specific aspect of the company's mission that you've followed or something you've done in the space. Evidence is memorable; adjectives are not.

Unless it directly supports your candidacy, personal information doesn't belong in a cover letter. This includes:

Your age, family situation, nationality, or religion. You are under no obligation to disclose any of this, and doing so creates legal complications for employers in many jurisdictions. Most employers will not ask — if they do, you don't need to answer in a cover letter.

Hobbies and interests that have no connection to the role. "In my spare time I enjoy hiking and cooking" adds nothing to an application for a software engineering role. The exception: when an interest is genuinely relevant — a finance candidate mentioning they manage a personal investment portfolio, or an environmental consultant mentioning they volunteer for a conservation organisation — it adds substance. The test is whether the information would make a reasonable hiring manager think "that's relevant" rather than "why are they telling me this?"

Your home address in the opening line. This is a holdover from physical letter conventions. Modern cover letters don't need to open with your address block in the body — your contact details are on your resume header.

References to references. "References available upon request" — whether in a cover letter or on a resume — is redundant. Employers know you have references. They'll ask when they want them.

Two tones reliably undermine cover letters: desperation and over-justification.

Desperation language includes anything that makes the reader feel you need this job more than you want it: "I would be incredibly grateful for the chance to interview," "I would work extremely hard to prove myself," "I really hope you'll give me a chance," or "I know I might not tick every box, but..." This language doesn't build goodwill — it signals a lack of confidence in your own candidacy.

Over-justification is the cover letter equivalent of talking your way into doubt: spending two paragraphs defending why you're qualified despite a perceived weakness, or apologising for a gap before the employer has expressed concern about it. If you have a genuine gap or unconventional background, address it briefly and move on — one sentence, not two paragraphs. Dwelling on perceived weaknesses draws far more attention to them than a confident one-line acknowledgment.

Write from a position of confidence, not supplication. You are a professional considering whether to work for this employer as much as they are considering whether to hire you. A cover letter that reflects that posture reads differently — and better — than one written from a place of anxiety.

LoopCV's cover letter generator produces confident, professional letters across four tone styles — avoiding all the pitfalls above by design. Free, no sign-up required.