Aileen Gallagher chats with Sharon Jautz, Director of Human Resources at Forbes.com, who fills all the jobs for the website:

What should a cover letter look like? Jautz finds careless applicants to be a turnoff. "Misspellings, bad grammar, people that don't get my name right. 'Dear Sir' drives me crazy. When I see 'Dear Sir,' I can't get past it."

Those who don't follow directions also get a strike against them in the hiring process. Many times, candidates try to evade Jautz's request for salary requirements. "I don't forget it. You have a great resume. I'm annoyed that I have to contact you and ask you what your compensation requirements are when I said, 'Please include salary requirements,'" Jautz says. "And then I get, in response to that at times, 'I'd rather discuss that on the phone.' Well, good bye. I don't want to have a conversation with you about it. I just asked a question and I want an answer. So I'd be on to the next one.

More here.