Recruiters arenโt reading them. In fact, weโre not even looking at them. Iโve always wanted to encourage an official โCover Letter Burning Day.โ Sadly, Iโve never sold HR in the companies I’ve worked to go along with it. Oh well, maybe I can convince enough that cover letters really arenโt effective as they may have once been.
Think about it from just a numbers perspective. An average 250 people apply to one job. A recruiter is working on an average 25 job openings. That means they are reviewing a total of 6,250 resumes. Yes, an applicant tracking system and keyword searches will limit that number down but even if I get each job opening down to the top 15 that is still 325 resumes to review. Iโm just not as likely to read an additional cover letter if you couldnโt sell yourself in your resume. Having a strong marketable resume is going to be more effective in getting a recruiter to call you for a phone interview than any cover letter will ever do.
So please, feel free to burn it, delete it, have a touching goodbye ceremony over the paper shredder but whatever you do, please, stop wasting your energy on your cover letter.
Whatโs that you say? What if is there is an option to include it in the application process? Itโs optional, you can opt no. Itโs okay to say no. I believe in you. You can do it! Unfortunately, someone is some meeting announced their need for adding cover letters to the applicant tracking system and it remains there in many applicants tracking systems today. Yet another misstep in an already lengthy applicant experience. Just because you can doesnโt mean you should.
Okay, so now that Iโve completely trashed the cover letter there will still be a few of you who are like but I really want to write one. Okay, knock your socks off, but hereโs the only reason I would and how to do it effectively.
When Itโs A Hard Requirement. Yes, I will agree that there will be some job openings that still ask for a cover letter. If they do ask for one, then write one. While recruiters are less likely to read your cover letter it is more likely a hiring manager will. The types of jobs where I see cover letters still asked for are usually with non-profits, academia and sometimes healthcare and government positions. Overall, though, most jobs are not asking for it as a hard requirement.
Make It Specific to the Company and Job. If you want it to be effective you need to write it specifically to the details of the company and job. Donโt be generic with it.
Make It You! You may want to express some personal values that donโt come across your in your resume. The cover letter can be an effective tool to share these values. Remember to keep them cohesive with your overall career brand story.
Get to the Point. If resumes are read in 8-10 seconds, well, you can imagine that it would be even more important to keep your cover letter short and to the point. Good career marketing is short, concise and to the point.
Recent Comments