For the past 14 years, I have taught a required Grand View College course that trains communication students to prepare materials for the job-search process. During that time, I also have been part of several hiring committees, both on campus and in the community. After recently heading up another search, I’ve concluded that many applicants sabotage their chances by failing to present themselves well on paper.

Amazon.com lists almost 500 books on the subject, ranging from the popular annual “Knock ’em Dead” to the out-of-print “Kinko’s Guide to the Winning Resume” for 32 cents plus shipping. You would think that anyone trying to find a job would pick up at least one of these books to review some of the job-search basics.

Take a simple thing like putting your name and contact information on the resume. One gentleman’s application that we received included his nickname in parentheses (“Sparky”) and his birth date, but failed to list his address or phone number.

One man’s cover letter started with, “I was registered at the American Embassy in Singapore as a ‘child born of American parents abroad’ Although I am now a Canadian citizen and have lived in Canada most of my life, I have been told that I would qualify for dual citizenship if I but make the proper applications.” He ended the note by adding a personal touch that “the family graveyard” was only a hundred miles from Des Moines.

A female with a doctorate applied for a journalism teaching job, but instead of typing a new cover letter, she sent a copy of a letter she used three years earlier to apply for an opening in a different department at another institution. She hand-wrote at the top, “This is a sample job letter I have used for applying for positions in English. I can not alter this much to specifically address it more directly to the communications position.” Instead of selling herself as well qualified, she communicated that she was lazy.

Some appear to think that the more they write, the better their chances of attracting attention from the hiring committee. They attract attention all right – but it’s often the negative kind that immediately removes them from consideration.

One Illinois applicant began the first page of his cover letter with a non-stop, 164-word sentence that described his most recent position.

Grand View College requires graduating seniors to have a “capstone” experience that typically involves learning about resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills and goal-setting. Training future employees in the job-search process leads to an improved work force.

If every college graduate were required to go through such training, maybe then our search committee would never again have to suffer through anything like one applicant’s 72-page packet. She squeezed in a five-page job history, nine pages of work evaluations, 18 pages of reference letters, 32 pages of writing samples – when all we asked for was a resume and list of references. Too bad her cover letter failed to include her address and phone number.

Stephen Winzenburg is a professor of communication at Grand View College.