How to Correctly Punctuate Your Cover Letter

Laura Agadoni reports:

"Use a capital letter to begin each bulleted item. You can use a period after the last bulleted item in the list if you like...Or, you don’t need to use a period at all. You would not put a period or a semicolon after each item you list. The only time you would use a period after each bullet would be if each item is a complete sentence, such as, 'I increased home equity loans. I created a self-mail brochure on certificate of deposits. I increased membership by 25 percent.'...Semicolons are tricky to use correctly, so you might want to avoid them altogether. If you want to use them, you would do so like this: 'I have completed the following functions as marketing director: I increased home equity loans; I created a self-mail brochure on certificates of deposit; and I increased membership by 25 percent.' If you are unsure of whether to use a semicolon or not, you can use periods instead...Choose whether you want to use a serial comma or not. A serial comma requires a comma to separate each item you list and using one before the word, 'and.'...Whichever you choose is correct, but you must stick with one style throughout the cover letter. You cannot alternate. You also cannot use a comma splice, which is separating two complete sentences with a comma. You can make two complete sentences using a period instead, you can add the word 'and' after the comma or you could replace the comma with a semicolon...Although it is not wrong to use parentheses or exclamation marks, it is better to avoid them in your cover letter. You might be burying an important thought by putting it in parentheses, or the sentence might be more cumbersome to read. It would be better to rewrite your thought without using parentheses. It is considered poor writing to use exclamation marks, and they are a distraction you don’t need in your cover letter. You should never use two or more exclamation marks to create even more emphasis as might be common in informal writing, because that is incorrect usage. Keep in mind what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about them: 'Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.'"