How To Write A Cover Letter : A Resume Without A Cover Letter Is Like A: Fill & Download for Free

First of all, let’s be clear: there is no perfect cover letter. A cover letter is, by definition, a static document. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, the eye of the reviewer. So stop trying to make it perfect. Instead, work to make it the best.Second, understand the purpose of the cover letter. It is NOT the introduction to your resume. I’ve reviewed more than 100,000 resumes in my career. Not once did I start with the cover letter. There is simply not enough time to start with each and every cover letter. The cover letter is ONLY reviewed if/when there is actual interest from the resume.Third, discard the notion of the neatly printed cover letter on parchment paper folded in front of a resume. That’s old school. Your cover letter is either: a) your e-mail with your resume attached; or b) an electronic document uploaded/attached to your electronic resume.With that in mind, here is the step-by-step, paragraph-by-paragraph to writing the best cover letter:First paragraph - why you are writing. Reference the specific job and/or connection (drop names if you have them) that referred you to the employer and/or the role.Second paragraph - why you are the best fit for the role. This is your 30-second elevator pitch in one, simple, hard hitting paragraph. Make sure you nail all of the requirements for the role.Third paragraph - your close. What are the next steps you are asking of them and what next steps will you be taking. “I am available…” is a great way to make the initial connection, since it helps me know when I can easily connect with you.The cover letter is the close on getting you to the interview, but only AFTER the resume has been scanned, screened and read.

I have a little secret to tell. I hope it won’t upset the many I (unavoidably) did not hire over the years.I skip every candidate that does not send a cover letter.Then I read the cover letters. I bin instantly every cover letter that wasn’t written specifically for the position I am offering.Why? Well, if you could not be bothered to spend 30 minutes to write a cover letter, you’re probably not that much into the job. You don’t really want it. You see, sending your CV is like swiping right on Tinder. Zero cost. If you write a good cover letter, that’s actual effort.A candidate without a custom cover letter is probably sending the same application to a hundred companies. Even if I *were* interested in your profile (ie you’re that good), chances are I’ll then be competing with the other 99 to hire you. You don’t want this job; you want any job. I’ll be wasting my time trying to hire you.Ok - so now I know you want the job. In what other ways does your cover letter help me?I can check your writing skills. To quote Ogilvy, people who write well, think well.It gives you a chance to explain holes in your CV that would unfairly penalize you (a long period out of work, a low graduating score)It allows you to explain how your skills and passion will match the job requirements. I can better judge whether the position has the challenges and compensation to match you.It gives me an idea of your personality. Recruiters, as others have written here, use stereotypes a lot. The way you’re presenting yourself in the written form is actual data.You have a chance to call out and link to your past projects and portfolio.If the cover letter is bang on, checking the CV is normally just a formality.I’ll tell you another secret. I follow my own advice. In my career I’ve applied to no more than 10, 12 positions - sometimes while residing hundreds of miles away - and have always at least got a phone call back. Most times I got an interview. Often I got hired. The secret is, I think, an excellent cover letter that’s personable, relevant and matches you to the job and the company.I know it’s not the fastest candidate processing method. But then again, I’ll be spending months or years working with you. It’s worth it.

As a headhunter since I was 23 and now owner of my own recruitment agency, the answer to this question is NO 99% of the time.Here’s why:#1. The cover letter is an outdated legacy process to job applications that is no longer relevant or useful.As a modern day job seeker, candidates need to understand first of all the origin of why a cover letter exists. Back in the day, before the internet existed, everyone needed to read the newspaper for roles available and apply by literally faxing and mailing letters with resumes attached and, lo and behold, the cover letter.Of course sending in a random resume would be weird and out of context, so a cover letter was created to explain what was going on. Fast forward 50, 20 years, we no longer need cover letters because we have a MULTITUDE of sources to get a feel of who a candidate is and obviously the internet substitutes the need to write a diligent letter upon every application.#2. Other than the one or two hiring managers who like to read cover letters, the rest of them (recruiters included) have zero time to read every letter.Here and there, you’ll hear of a hiring manager who lauds and praises how a cover letter changed the candidate’s perception or was so critical to a candidate being hired. That’s called hype, folks. In the real world, NOBODY reads these things. It’s a complete waste of time.If I wanted to interview a candidate, the first thing I do is ignore the self-proclamations of awesomeness and go straight to the internet (surprise, surprise), hop onto LinkedIn and bam, that tells me a LOT more about a person than what they write.The main reason why so many people in a hiring capacity are NOT reading cover letters is 100% related to the speed at which modern corporate cultures work. Everyone is so stressed, running low on time, and in a rush to hire, that they’re not going to carefully dissect cover letters. In the real world, you’re lucky if your interviewer really studied your profile. Sadly, in many cases, interviewers are so harried they’re literally just refreshing their mind immediately at the interview with you and they’ll repeat themselves more often than not.TIP: Many junior hiring managers (or old school hiring managers) are excited to read cover letters, but again, that’s not the norm. Most HR staff/internal recruiters, hiring managers, headhunters, and even colleagues will not read cover letters, the resume (and LinkedIn profile) is much more important.#3. A cover letter is not indicative of anything other than the ability of someone to write one document that is hopefully coherent.Other than the skill of writing one cover letter, a cover letter doesn’t really prove anything about a candidate. Worse yet, God forbid if you have spelling or grammatical errors in your cover letter, that actually hurts you a LOT more than it helps you.Similarly, if your reader just doesn’t like the way you write, you’ll end up really screwing yourself over if your reader infers all types of incorrect assumptions about you based on what you wrote about. Don’t forget, unconscious bias, personal views, play such a big part in the job-getting process that you really want to limit issues on that front.Again, due to the limited use and outdated nature of what a cover letter is used for, there really is no utilitarian purpose this document can do so don’t waste too much of your time with this. Keep it as simple as possible.What does this mean for you, the candidate?Knowing how the job ecosystem works, it’s not like you have a choice about the cover letter subject, ESPECIALLY if you’re a new grad or a job-seeker mainly using portals to apply for jobs. It’s a mandatory field for the most part that you’ll need to either attach or copy-and-paste the cover letter in the portal to continue along the online application process.Only candidates being represented by headhunters like myself that are highly prospected and sought out by employers in extremely candidate-tight markets, can bypass all these steps. Recruiters will submit your resume directly to the hiring manager. I don’t know about other recruiters, but nobody I know in my industry (and I recruit recruiters for a living) EVER sends out a single cover letter. I certainly didn’t.Why don’t recruiters submit cover letters of their candidates to their client, the hiring manager?It’s because it’s our job to screen the candidate and write the coversheet that summarizes our findings. It’s in our words, not in the candidates’ own words. The client who is the hiring manager ultimately who will hire the candidate, wants to understand what we covered in our interview process. They don’t want to read all these self-written self-promoting documents. They want to understand the candidate’s story from our vantage point after the interview.So recruiters will submit the resume, a coversheet that go overs key points (they should, some don’t bother), and also a write-up that summarizes why you think the candidate is a strong one, worth interviewing. Most times, candidates who are prospected by recruiters in such hot demand that they can bypass every step, and again as long as they’re willing to talk, they can just use the LinkedIn profile in lieu of both the resume and the cover letter.NOTE: Sometimes, it’s like pulling teeth to get candidates to send their resumes. Most recruiters just end up doing whatever they can to get the interview booked, with or without the resume. If you ask a top candidate to write a cover letter, you may just get laughed out of the room. These top candidates in their fields don’t have any extra time to write college-level essays that junior candidates or the unemployed must do. I (nor any colleagues of mine or my team) don’t ever dare to ask, let alone submit, cover letters.In certain markets where there just aren’t enough talented niche specialists, our clients will literally say to us, “we’re so desperate for candidates, you don’t even need to send me their resume, just send me their LinkedIn profile and we’ll interview.” This has happened so many times, it’s almost the rule, not the exception.However, most candidates are not in a position that they’re being highly sought after by legions of recruiters, thus you need to be prepared how to work each step of the recruitment process.What should you do in regards to the Cover Letter?The best strategy here is to toe the line and write a solid, basic cover letter that provides as little information as possible. Don’t write an essay, it is sure to be ignored most of the time. Again, worse yet, it can hurt you if it’s egregiously long-winded, self-aggrandizing, or just irrelevant to the task at hand that the employer is looking to hire for.Write a simple cover letter according to the how-to here and just get on with the rest of your application portfolio. Build out your LinkedIn profile, obtain LinkedIn recommendations, create an amazing resume, and send out as MANY reachouts as you can directly through LinkedIn to direct hiring managers. If you qualify for recruiter representation, leverage them as well.TIP: In most cases, if you’re to be represented by recruiters, they would have already reached out to you assuming you are searchable via LinkedIn with the right title/profile built out. If headhunters haven’t already tried to solicit you, it could very well be that there aren’t a ton of recruitment agencies operating in your job type/skillset/career level/location to help represent you. Headhunters don’t exist in all markets, in fact, it’s more often than not that they don’t exist in most markets.In ConclusionThere’s the mumbo-jumbo la-la-land advice that most schools, teachers, educators, theory-based recruitment “experts” will present to you as the gospel when it comes to careers and job stuff.But the real world usually is completely different. You’re better off utilizing your time to build up your job experience, learn communication skills, written prowess to write strong content for your resume and LinkedIn and to learn how to use LinkedIn and direct reachouts to engage in creating phone calls. That’s the real opportunity to increase your odds of finding a job by selling yourself verbally to present yourself as a cut above the rest.