Are you looking for your first offshore rig job? If you have already gone through a few contracts, you will know what you need to do˳ But for first-timers, or even second or third-timers, here is a list of five mistakes that cause recruiters to push your cover letter/resume to the back of the queue:
1˳ No subject/ Wrong subject/ Inaccurate subject
Not many people write formal letters, so they also forget to add a subject or heading to their cover letters (even those submitted using e-mail)˳ Some will write any old thing, e˳g˳ “Hello” (yes, I’m serious) or “Looking for a job”˳ Do you know what people call these kinds of mail? Spam! That’s right, those in business, and those with jobs to do, cannot afford the time to fool around˳ If you can’t or won’t state your business, then out the door you go˳ This holds true for you in person, and it holds true for your cover letter˳
So what’s the right subject header to use for offshore rig jobs? Simple! Whatever the advertisement says to write˳ Usually, there is a code provided, as well as a standard job title˳ Use these, exactly as written in the ad˳ No more, and no less˳ Of course, if there you notice a spelling mistake in the job title being advertised, it becomes a judgment call˳ It’s possible the recruiter doesn’t know how to spell the job title, in which case correcting it could give a bad impression˳
2˳ Applying for more than one job
Sometimes, you may feel that you are qualified to do two different jobs (that are posted in the same ad)˳ For example, you may have experience as both a roustabout and as a scaffolder˳ For goodness sake, do not apply for both jobs! Make up your mind before you send in your job application˳ Do not confuse the recruiter˳ When you apply for two different jobs, he has to make a decision about how to file your cover letter/resume˳ Should he file it under roustabout? Or should he file it under scaffolder? Keep in mind that he is likely overworked and underpaid˳ If you overtax him, he may decide to make his own life easier by dumping your application into the trash˳
3˳ Spelling/Grammar mistakes
Most offshore rig jobs do not need a college degree˳ However, this does not mean you can afford to be sloppy when writing your cover letter˳ If you make spelling mistakes or have obvious grammatical errors, this gives a bad impression˳ It makes a person wonder if you will be equally careless while working on the company’s multi-billion dollar oil drilling platform (a deepwater rig can cost up to $1,000,000 a DAY to operate)˳
It’s really easy to fix spelling mistakes nowadays˳ MS-Word has a feature to detect and fix spelling and grammar mistakes (red squiggly underline for the former, green for the latter)˳ The free word processing program, Open Office, has similar functionality˳ Just run your cover letter and resume through one of these programs before you submit your job application so that you don’t look like a fool˳
4˳ No contact information
Make sure you provide more than one way to contact you – home phone number, mobile phone number, home address, e-mail address, etc˳ It is not uncommon to see cover letters and/or resume without contact information, especially those which are submitted through the e-mail system˳ Remember that the person who received your job application may not be the person who is finally going to call you up for your interview˳ If he can’t find a convenient way to reach you, he will probably NOT make any additional effort to track down your original job application˳
5˳ Not giving the oil drilling company a reason to hire you
This is especially common with first-time job seekers but can also be seen in the applications of more experienced oil workers˳ When you apply for an offshore rig job, do YOU know why the company should hire you? If you can’t answer this question, don’t bother applying for the job˳
If you have a lot of experience in the offshore drilling industry, you have better ways of looking for oil job vacancies than through job advertisements˳ Cover letters and resume are just formalities˳ But when you lack the industry contacts, the formalities become much more important˳ Job seekers who make one or more of the above mistakes have committed the cardinal sin of giving the recruiter a convenient excuse for throwing their job applications into the trash bin˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?5-Cover-Letter-Mistakes-That-Sink-Applications-For-Offshore-Rig-Jobs&id=4527242
