Whenever I mention to my clients, who are going after open jobs, to write cover letters in their response I get incredulous looks and an insinuation that I am hopelessly out of date and impractical. Why? They have heard from many recruiters that cover letters are a waste of time because no one reads them!
Wrong!
Yes, recruiters see thousands of resumes and their job is to winnow the stack to a few and present them to the hiring manager for further action. Typically, recruiters spend from three to 20 seconds scanning a resume and then making a decision about the resume. A cover letter takes time away from this. Beside, most (90% of the applicants) do not know the real function of a cover letter and how much impact it can make in the hiring manager’s mind about your candidacy.
In all my writings about resume design I categorically state that a resume is not about you, rather, it is about how what you have to offer aligns with the job that you are pursuing. If the resume is about the job, then the cover letter must be about the company and the hiring manager’s pain!
Right on!
Most applicants, typically, summarize their credentials in the top part of the cover letter and in the bottom, they copy and paste the key attributes from the job description. The final line in the letter is typically a claim of how well-matched the two narratives are and hence their qualifications for the job!
Only a fool would fall for this trick. To make a cover letter mean anything to the reader (the hiring manager) it must have the following elements:
- A clear statement of what you bring to the job and why that is going to be important to the hiring manager
- A clear understanding of the state of the industry, the company, and the specific pain points of the department where you would be hired. How can one get all this information? If you are on top of what is going on in your own area of expertise the first two items are not that difficult to glean from the research that you can do. Now, for the specific hiring manager’s pain you must make some inferences from the available information and by talking to your network embedded in the company. All you need to make is a plausibility argument, not a forensic one!
- In your letter you must clearly show that you understand these three vital elements and that you will deliver on your promise to eliminate the hiring manager’s pain if they hired you. It is that simple.
- The entire package must be delivered to the hiring manager by some unusual means, in addition to the regular channels (responding on the company’s Website). Sending a package by US Mail or by overnight courier usually does the trick.
- You MUST follow-up in a week by calling the hiring manager!
A Cover letter is much like a closing argument a lawyer makes to the court before his case goes to the jury. It is the message that goes with each juror into the jury room and the one that carries most impact because of its freshness and the conviction it presents about your take on the case. Without that passion and conviction any closing argument will ring hollow!
If you are serious about a job opportunity you must send a great resume with an equally worthy cover letter and rest your case!
Good luck!