Do You Need a Cover Letter?
By Soozy G. Miller, CPRW, CDCC, CDP
Next to ATS and AI, the cover letter is the most requested discussion topic for job seekers. Even in the career services field, the cover letter is hotly debated. Whether or not and how to use one is a big topic for everyone.
Professional resume writers and career coaches say that they either love cover letters, and encourage their clients to keep using them, or hate cover letters and wish they would go away. I’m in the latter camp. I hate cover letters. I think they’re worthless and useless.
The funny thing is, historically speaking, the cover letter was the original resume. Way back when, if you wanted a job, like an apprenticeship, you would write a letter to a company requesting employment.
But now, only about 10% of applications call for a cover letter. Google was one of the first big companies to make cover letters optional years ago.
Tip: If the company does not ask for a cover letter, don’t send one. It means that they don’t want to see one. Don’t try to get around this by attaching your cover letter to your resume in one big document. That is a turnoff.
When I’m a recruiter, I don’t want to see a cover letter, because the resume tells me everything that I initially need to know. When resumes are badly written, cover letters are usually worse. But that’s also because nobody knows how to write an enticing and effective cover letter, so they’re often off-putting. A bad cover letter can actually detract from your application.
But as little as I enjoy cover letters, job applications still request and require them from time to time. Some recruiters think that the cover letter is a great way to get to know the candidate. Hiring teams can use the cover letter as a means to reduce their applicant pile; as in, we made it an option to see who puts in that extra effort. However, they do not necessarily read the cover letter.
The problem lies in the cover letter content. People think that they need to write about their entire lives to sell themselves in the cover letter. A lot of people end up disqualifying themselves because no one on the hiring team wants to read about your passion for metallic engineering since you were 6 years old.
So you really want to be careful with the cover letter. Apparently a well-written one does serve a purpose for hiring teams.
What does well-written mean?
Lots of white space
One or two short-sentence paragraphs at the top, explaining how you can address the company’s needs as outlined in the job posting
Three bullet point accomplishments/value-add statements taken from your resume that address the needs of the company
One final paragraph thanking the company for taking the time to read the cover letter and resume
That’s it. Plain, simple, and to the point.
A cover letter template is available here.
Don’t think of the cover letter as another way to sell yourself. Think of it as a way to get the hiring team excited about the resume. The cover letter is a preview document, that’s it. At its best, the cover letter simply encourages the hiring team to check out your resume.
Stop trying to connect with the hiring team by writing about how much you love roses or how proud you are that you’re the fifth generation in the industry. Make life easier for the hiring team by getting to the point. You have the skills, tools, and expertise to do the job, so give them a taste of that in the cover letter!
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Better job. More pay. More control.
For a resume review, please contact us at Control Your Career!