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Especially with the rise of "ghost postings" so quantity over quality is greater than ever these days
Cover latter? Is it the 50ties? If a company wants a cover letter, I ain't applying. You got my CV. Need more info? Call me, the number is on the CV.
Spray and prey?
Applying to every available posting even loosely matching what you're looking for, and hoping something sticks.
I read the title, salary, if it's remote and maybe skim the "what we're looking for" section. Maybe. Me personally, will also skip any posting that has an application that'll take me longer than like 20 seconds to complete. So basically a resume upload and basic info form only. Registration? Skipped. Cover letter? Gone.
In an average search, in about a month I can have hundreds of applications in
Plot twist: make a one size fits all resume, but have AI tailor it and transmit it everywhere.
Double twist:
Just go work for the AI
Triple twist: Be the AI
Don't use the sword. Be the sword.
As someone from outside the US, I have no clue wtf is a cover letter, this isn't a thing in Brazil, you just send your resume.
I'm Australian and was always told the cover letter was unnecessary, especially if your CV has a bio.
The cover letter was for additional information not covered by the resume - name dropping the manager at the company you know who inspired you to apply, explaining why it appears your changing industries, justifying "overqualifications", mentioning a personal hobby that's relevant to the industry and isn't technical work experience.
Basically the things you plan to bring up in the interview to wow them, you can introduce them while introducing yourself in a cover letter.
But if your resume lines up with the position description, you don't need a cover letter.
Basically I was told a cover letter is necessary when you're a burnt out nurse or teacher applying to be a cashier at kmart to avoid having your resume immediately thrown out.
That said. I've literally never written one, even as a serial industry hopper. If there's no email address to send my resume too, then the system is too auto for a cover letter and they don't want to read it anyway, if there is an email address, just include a few lines of a short cover letter in the body text of the email before attaching your resume.
It isn't a thing in the US anymore either.
It's totally a thing here too. I've been asked for one when I apply for a job.
Maybe it's the shit market that I'm applying to, but when I apply for a retail job, they want a fully filled out application (that auto fill always Borks, so I have to type everything in manually) as well as a cover sheet and some places want you to take a personality quiz that you have to pass for hr to even see your application. I couldn't imagine applying to 4 jobs a day, let alone 40.
I imagine we are talking about corporate postings where you just paste a link to LinkedIn and that does most of the work?
if indeed doesn't allow me to quick apply, it's gotta be a dream job to even want to go to their site and do even more work.
Yeah, about that cover sheet. Did you not get the memo? We're putting new cover sheets on all the applications now, mmmkay? If you could just do that from now, that'd be great.
I've worked for several big corps have never seen anything like that.
I think cover letters are still absolutely relevant to the job process.
I liken cover letters to cheat sheets that you prepare for an exam. You may not need to make one to be successful, but can be very helpful.
Usually with cover letters, I try to make the argument that I'm good for the company, and the company is good for me. This usually allows me to frame the way I look a new job as a business agreement where both parties can benefit, and that I'm not a parasite taking from them and not giving.
I don't make cover letters for each and every position I apply to or look into, but for those ones i think I have a good chance of landing and those companies I believe in, I'll absolutely put in more effort with cover letters.
Nobody in my industry bothers to read them. You'd be lucky if they spend more than a minute on the resume so they're a waste of time.
Some organizations in my industry require them, so guess it depends.
Regardless of if it's required, however, I would still argue that it's good even if you don't have to send it to the company. To me, it helps me put my head in the right mindspace to argue for myself and make a case that I'm the person for them.
Interesting. I'm a hiring manager, and I've seen many cover letters that actually hurt the candidate because they have typographical errors, poor grammar, or are addressed to a different organization entirely. Probably 85% of cover letters I see do no harm; most of the rest hurt the candidate. The way you're describing a cover letter sounds like it would be beneficial, but I don't see ones like that very often. I definitely would appreciate that you took the time to tailor it to us.
My advice for everyone is, if you're going to write a cover letter, proofread it just like the resume. If you're short on time, focus on the resume and skip the cover letter (if you can - they might be required for some applications). I definitely notice a sloppy cover letter, so not having a cover letter will hurt far, far less than a sloppy one.
I wouldn't toss someone's application just because their cover letter had a typographical error in it, especially if the candidate is otherwise well qualified. But, if I'm borderline on whether I want to interview someone, and the cover letter is sloppy, I'm probably going to pass. We're pretty detail-oriented, and a sloppy cover letter makes me worry about the details.
To me, I don't understand why someone would proofread their resume but not their cover letter.
Then again, I'd be someone that would put in the same degree of effort to the resume as the cover letter. Not everyone is like that.
Guess it just depends on if you find it worthwhile or not. If you can't seem to land jobs following interview after interview, it might be worthwhile to look into cover letters if only to help you orient yourself better to the job and company.
To me, I don’t understand why someone would proofread their resume but not their cover letter.
Yeah, I hear that...but you'd be surprised at how often I see perfectly-rendered resumes, and then multiple obvious issues in a cover letter.
The cover letter helps you get the interview - after I make the decision (offer or not), I pretty much forget about the cover letter.
I think cover letters are still absolutely relevant to the job process.
Nope.
Great dialogue!
You're welcome.
Unless something really good comes up yeah. Also most of the time I just put my generic CV up and get calls from recruiters. So the actual people hiring don't even see my CV
Tried both, tried a normal resume and a resume with an ATS-focused layout, tried AI-based tools meant to help you improve your resume, and a few other things, and after more than forty applications in six months, what finally got me an interview and then very quickly an offer was an internal referral from a friend/ex-coworker. For context, I am a software engineer.
Fun fact: the average response time after submitting an application was 48 days.
Same here. I changed my LinkedIn status and a former coworker pinged me and said he set up a Discord for other job seekers. I joined and posted my skills and desired role and he forwarded my resume to his employer because they were in the early stages of finding someone for that role.
After a week of interviews I had a new job. Of the 60 or so applications I sent to similar roles during that week only about half replied, and all of those were rejections.
Yeah, as I’m going to move across my country I’m basically calling on everyone I know to give me references there. I figure it’s time that my extroversion help me instead of hurting me like usual
Had one guy apply for a job in my field saying "My experiences in different field> will help me as ."
There is very little overlap in hard skills (soft ones obviously do help). Not like that matters a whole lot - their actual list of past jobs and skills would have landed them an interview at least, because we already expect it to be a learn-as-you-go type of deal. Bro would have been better off leaving it out and I would have just assumed they're trying to strike out in a different direction.
(I told HR to invite them for an interview anyway, because fuck cover letters - I'm not gonna hold anyone to a higher standard there than I'd like to be held to)
In biology, the top one is called K-strategy and the bottom one R-strategy.
Both are valid strategies.
But generally, K is better suited for highly developed, intelligent, cooperative and social animals.
R is better suited for animals that live alone in a hostile environment full of predators.
There's a message about the modern job market in here somewhere I guess.
When you're an R-strategy being in a K-selection environment. 😔