>

Super popular opinion on Reddit. I hold the actually unpopular opinion that I like to see cover letters come with resumes, but don't really expect them anymore.
And I always used to love handing my resume with all my work history on it to places only for them to make me fill out a 15 page pamphlet with exactly the same information. >

Yes! And every company has their own website you need to make an account for and fill out the same bs too >

The fact that 95% of companies use Workday but the application information isn’t transferable under one account makes me so fucking infuriated. >

workday should just allow you to make an account and then autofill the info for you >

Workday is one of the most infuriating systems at every possible opportunity. I hope it does the death we all wanted for Adobe in the early 2000’s. >

Never dealt with Workday until my most recent job. Talk about a clunky inefficient program for business processes. The only thing it has going for it is a lack of physical paper, but if anything that actually makes it worse for the casual user. >

"Please write some fan-fiction about how much you'll overextend and exhaust yourself for this firm." >

I want to know if the person I’m considering for a job can write a letter. Part of a job is communication and putting on a smile even if you’re in a bad mood. If you don’t include a cover letter your application goes in the trash.
It's hilarious how much this triggered people. And based on your responses, it's probably best you don't write cover letters to demonstrate your lack of personality and communication skills.
It's hilarious how many people are willing to die on the hill that they shouldn't have to demonstrate a required skill that takes ten minutes before they get moved onto the next stage of hiring. Ya'll are going far in life. >

I have an app for that >

Great. Demonstrating you can at least get the job if you didn't do it still sets you apart from the dozens of other people who submit the same exact looking resume but think they are too good to spend ten minutes writing a cover letter. I'd give you an interview. Does Wednesday at noon work for you? >

Can't,  I don't get up before 2pm
Does 3pm work? Zoom call, no video? >

I usually do interviews at the brewery, but 3pm works. >

this should be the default opinion >

this is the default opinion >

If it was, there wouldn't still be cover letters. >

Employers like it because it gives them the opportunity to see why an applicant wants to work with them and how they might be a good fit beyond what is said in their resume.
Applicants like it because it allows them to say those things and stand out from the crowd. It takes additional effort that most people don't want to put in. This is a good indication that the applicant actually wants to work for the company. 
So they benefit the company, and they benefit the people who most want to work for the company. There is no incentive for either the company to stop accepting the letters (which costs them literally nothing), nor for the applicants to stop sending them (which increases their chances of being hired). Thus, the practice will almost certainly continue >

The employee wants to work there because they need money >

Some people actually want to work in places because they support the work the company does, have heard good things about the workplace culture, or want experience in a particular niche. Not saying money isn't important, but it isn't the only thing that is important to some people. >

Money is 100% the top priority when it comes to a job. You could have the best work culture in the world but if it doesn't pay the bills it means nothing >

money however is also the same motivator across the board. If you only want to work because money I will take the person who wants to work for the same money and who is actually interested in what we do, because chances are they will be a better worker, because people tend to be more motivated in stuff that interests them. >

Not at all. People with track records of high performance work better, even in jobs they don’t like. >


People with track records of high performance work better

People who work better, work better? Who knew?!? >

The good news is you can do cover letters with Chat GPT now. >

explain >

You can ask AI to write you a cover letter for a specific role / company. >

That's the future, candidates will automate job searching, and HR will automate  screening.
After the bots bullshit themselves for a few days you'll be invited for an interview where you can bullshit each other in person. >


That's the future .... and HR will automate screening.

That's been happening for a long time. Large companies don't have the manpower to sort through the piles of resumes they get. There are all kinds of tools out there to scan through resumes and look for buzzwords and phrases to accept/reject before a person ever lays eyes on it. Even after that there are all kinds of pre-interview screening questionnaires and in the tech world, quizzes/assignments. All of this happens even before talking with a real person. >

That's not real screening, as far as I saw they just randomly select one in 100 resume and call it a sucessful screening. I think there is room for improvement. >


as far as I saw they just randomly select one in 100 resume and call it a sucessful screening

Cool, that's not what I'm referring to. There are lots of AI screening tools that exist

I think there is room for improvement.

Yes, there is, but you ignored what I said and then made up some other scenario based on an anecdote. AI tools do exist for pre-interview screening. This is not an opinion. >

I fucking hated cover letters. 
Nearly every application needs a cover letter, or rather should have one. 
Some you can copy-paste, some need to be adjusted a bit per company. 
Glad I don’t expect to be looking for another job anytime soon. Hopefully ever lol >

For real. I’m casually looking right now, and the ones that make a point of requiring a cover letter, I don’t even bother with. >

It sucks, but it’s worth it. Don’t suggest limiting employment simply due to cover letters. Can miss out on a lot of opportunity.
Always having a cover letter puts you at better place than most without. Stupid, and total pain in the ass, but it shows the extra effort. >

If it's an opportunity that can be sunk with the mere exclusion of a piece of paper, it seems like a poor choice of opportunity. >

Depends upon the field and stuff. Not critical everywhere. 
But a lot of applications even make you fill out a resume on their application page, on top of the resume you already attached lol. Often it’s auto filled, but then has issues you need to spend time to rework.
You could say exclusion of doubling up the resume is a poor choice of opportunity as well. 
Overall we all agree cover letters suck. 
Some of us disagree how valuable they are. 
A weak comparison is like two people applying for a job. Asking for same pay, but one has a bachelors, the other has a bachelors and a masters. Everything else is the same. 
The one with the masters has the edge. In my opinion, and opinion I’ve heard from employers, that’s often the general comparison on difference between resume vs resume and cover letter. >

I just meant in general, if you're going to reject a person simply based on an arbitrary rule, it's not worth it, that's you (or the company, more likely) being shitty. It's like rejecting someone because they don't write in cursive. >

if you have an abundance of qualified candidates, you have to whittle the list down somehow. >

No, you really don't. Call the first x amount, if that doesn't get you your man, move to the next batch.
I realize that the business world doesn't work like that, but there's really no reason that it can't, other than "people are impatient." >

but it's a lot easier to get rid of the people who don't know how to follow rules up front. it leaves you with fewer, but better qualified candidates to go thru. >

Indentured servitude fan fictions. >

I stopped doing them a decade ago, my resume is more than enough these days and if it's not then I probably wouldn't work for you. >

If they ask for cover letters and you don't include them, you might get immediately weeded if they have enough applications. >

This hasn't ever affected me. I never write the optional cover letters, at this point I get calls on about 75% of the jobs I apply to. >

Then at least 75% of the time the thing I said hasn't applied to you. >

Right, we can't all afford to be picky and not include a cover letter when asked >

I mostly agree. The only thing a cover letter does is prove to the company that you are capable of constructing proper sentences and paragraphs & communicating efficiently. A lot of jobs have more writing than one would think, so having a cover letter as a buffer can help weed out the people who never learned to write coherently and professionally. 
That said, there are always people, businesses, resources, etc. out there that help people with cover letters and will disguise a poor writer/communicator. >

The other argument I've heard made in favour of cover letters is that they prevent candidates from trying to play a numbers game and resume-bombing as many places as possible (thus further increasing the number of unqualified candidates that need to be weeded out).
The idea is that your resume is usually standardized, while a cover letter requires at least some degree of customization (even if relatively cursory). Requiring a cover letter weeds out the people that otherwise would be like "well, I'm almost certainly unqualified, but hey... if all I have to do is click "submit resume", might as well take my chances!". 
Yeah, you might only need a couple minutes to update the cover letter, but that effort is sufficiently annoying to dissuade people that aren't serious to apply.
Personally, I buy this argument mainly when it's an employer's market. When it's an employee's market (as it has been the last couple years), you're probably missing out on good candidates who can't be assed to deal with a cover letter when they have their pick of the litter job-wise. >

We can start doing this when every employer starts giving cantidates a detailed response on why they're not the right fit for the job. Companies play the numbers game everytime they open a position. >

There's no benefit to the employer to do this. It would be time-consuming and counterproductive for a company to spend time telling every candidate deemed unsuitable the reason for why they were deemed unsuitable. 
HR and hiring managers are concerned with finding and winning the right person for the job, not with assuaging the feelings of the unsuccessful candidates. >

As a hiring manager, I don't give a crap about a good cover letter. I DO give a crap about a bad one, though... >

??
So you see it as only an opportunity for someone to make themselves look bad? There is no benefit from doing it well?
How do you feel about people who omit the cover letter? Do you still require it? >

What's wrong with finding exclusions? Thats like the first step and last step in the hiring process, exclude the worst ones and narrow it down. What do you expect? >

It’s always struck me as an archaic practice that no one ever thought to get rid of because “eh we’ve always had that” (which seems to be the ground into which people dig their heels: “iT’s AlWaYs BeEn ThIs WaY”).
Cover letters are bullshit and places that have you upload your resume only to have to manually input all the same goddamn information into the application can eat the biggest wiener. Just the biggest >

I switch jobs every 1-2 years but can't remember the last time I wrote a cover letter. Once I was 5 or so years into my career people stopped asking. >

Not unpopular. >

That's that I thought too, until I saw the Gen X and Boomer commenters defending the need for cover letters. >

They don't even read it.  It's just a hoop to make you jump through to get less applicants. >

My dad works in hiring and he said that Cover letters are rarely looked at, just used to weed out people to lazy to write one... >

Because copy/pasting one is sooooooooo not lazy >

Must be because they have a significantly reduced number of applicants on posting that do and don't require one >

If you think plagiarism is a benefit for an applicant I can't stop you. >

I don't work for them me and my dad just talk about it... >

Well, if your dad/his company think plagiarism is a benefit for an applicant I can't stop them. >

Ya...it's not hard to just have a template on your computer...that's what I do it's like a madlibs >

As someone who hires interns, I don't read a single one of them. They are just filled with useless crap. The university I work for requires people to submit it, so unfortunately I get them, and don't read them. And I don't feel bad about it. >

I hate sending a resume only to then fill out application. All the info is in my resume! I’m basically copy and pasting! Lol >

As someone who eventually reads them: you are doing it wrong then. I'm not interested in what you wrote in the CV, what I'm actually interested in is why you have this CV, why did you chose this path and not another. Why the field you are now in. What is it you enjoy most about it and what do you want to achieve. Is there a reason why you apply with this particular company? Is it about the company or because you just generally enjoy what you do or just to make some money or is it because you want to move to the city we happen to be located in? Why do you leave the old company? There is not really a right or wrong but I would like to learn the stuff about you which is not written in your CV. >

That’s what the interview is for. Applications don’t tend to ask any of those questions >

But I don't have the time to interview 60 people. This would literally fill weeks if you include time for preparing the interviews. >

As a hiring manager, you're exactly right. I just scan through the resume to tell if they're bullshitting or not. >

here's my resume, twice >

I love cover letters. On my resume you see I’m a hairdresser who’s worked at the same job for 6 years, in my cover letter you hear that I’m a student studying engineering and how I found myself on that path. Cover letters are the only reason I get an interview. >

Definitely you can port that to a CV. Try a functional CV if all fails. >

If they want a cover letter I don't apply. They're fucking dumb. It's basically "we see you're applying for a position with our company. You've sent us a resume with all of your qualifications but before we read that, we need you to write us a personal letter detailing WHY we should even look at your qualifications, and if you don't write it good enough we still won't look at them anyways" >

Along the lines of asking for expected salary range level stupid >

If it helps, I have a standard one where I just change out the position and company I apply for, saves me from having to write a new one for every single job I apply for.
Other than that, I completely agree, cover letters are outdated and employers should stop requiring them. >

Do you not have to include a paragraph on the company specifically? When advised on my cover letters they said the second paragraph should talk abt how great the company is and shit. 
I have no idea what to do when a company is really new either, like idk shit about it??? How am I supposed to talk about how great it is?? >

I don't write about the company, do get calls. First paragraph is the usual, applying for X thing.
The rest goes like, I do Z, fits your Y requirement. Change Z and Y rinse and repeat. If the things you're applying to are similar anyway, that format will fit anything with minor changes. >

Just stop writing them. I stopped a while ago.  Nobody reads them anyway. >

I have as well for the most part. If I come across a posting that clearly is worth it, usually meaning the recruiter has put in the extra effort and the pay is good, I’ll include one. And I agree with nobody reading them. I apply for jobs all the time just to see who gets back to me. 9 times out of 10 the person clearly has not read what I wrote. >

Even then, the recruiters never read them. I tweak my resume for most positions though. 
I've done a little hiring, and a lot of resume prep as an employee of a gov' contractor. Getting a resume with experience and education clearly and concisely laid out was a rarity. I found it strange since education and experience are the two main selling points for a candidate. Everything else takes the back seat. 
We didn't even pass cover letters on. No point since the hiring manager wasn't going to read them. >

I am a hiring manager in a legal field. You can pry the cover letter out of my cold dead fingers.
Writing is pivotal to my field, and the cover letter might be the only thing that they submit me that they wrote fully themselves. More over, we can get a flood of applications for any opening, so if you make zero attempt to personalize your cover letter for this position that means that you were likely shotgunning stuff out and are more likely to leave in a year after I train you. Do you find it painful to write four new sentences on why this job is a good fit? Then how the hell do you think you'll succeed in this job, which is primarily writing day after day after day?
Of course, for different fields where there are less applicants or where writing is not a desired quality these considerations are reduced. >

I feel like the cover letter should be the thing and the resume is the dumb thing >

I get that you don't like writing them, but the purpose of a cover letter is to tell them something NOT on the resume. Usually, rather briefly, it is about why you applied to this position. I don't see the point of this in certain kinds of jobs (i.e. No reason to explain your application for burger king), but in professional jobs I think they are critical.
In academic jobs, our job postings have 100-200 applications (for tenure track professor positions), and the cover letter very quickly tells me something that none of the other documents required do -- Why are they interesting in -this- position. Is it because they were referred by a colleague? Is it because they can work really well with a specific resource unique to my university? Is it because they are hoping to live closer to family (which isn't something I can ask, but is something people can voluntarily say and personal reasons to apply nearly always works in their favor. Hiring people is expensive if they leave quickly, and I want to hire someone that actually wants to be here).  And if there isn't any compelling reason on the cover letter, I have 199 other applicants to consider, and I only will talk to 10 at most.
And in other areas, they make sense too. If I submit a book to a publisher, the cover letter tells them 'why' I think they should consider it. If I submit a fax (they still exist!) of my medical records to a new clinic, they can tell the receiver why I am sending them and who they should be going to.
Anyways, cover letters should be something you use to your advantage. I write over 20 a year for various reasons and none of them take more than 10 minutes to quickly draft up. Most often, I only need 4-5 sentences about why I am submitting something to someone. >

Interesting I just saw a post from a recruiter saying don’t do them unless they’re mandatory. 
I never do them they are always so cheesy sounding. Just worry about your resume >

For any entry level or retail/warehouse sort of job than yes, absolutely unnecessary. Especially if your main employee base is like, 16-18 year olds. 
If it’s for some fancy office job, tech, higher level or manager type position, it should still be a thing especially if it’s competitive. >

I'm a hiring manager.
I have zero desire to read cover letters. >

I go through applications all day. Most people don't use them. >

Agree. It only makes sense with jobs looking for a high level of experience, or c-level-type positions where they had diverse responsibilities throughout their career—an explanation leading up to why they're good for the role.
But if you're just an entry-level, same industry, or similar role, it's dumb. >

I do hiring for my company and if applicants send in cover letters their application gets added to the “maybe” pile (which really turns out to be the “no” pile). All I want to see if previous work history and I don’t have time to flip through cover letters conveying why someone is dreaming to work for our company (we all know they say it to every potential employer). >

I had no clue they still were. I have literally never used one. Usually it’s just labeled as optional. >

Recruiter here, I never read them. I go through hundreds of CV per day, I don't have time to read your cover letters. Just write me one nice paragraph about why you're applying for the position, and if your profile matches the job description, then tell me everything during our interview. >

I don't mind cover letters that much. Job openings without a salary range mentioned though.. >

I absolutely agree. Obviously if we apply, it's because we need the job. It's a waste of time and stupid to have to write a cover letter. It's 2023, can we please stop having to include cover letters? >

That’s very much going to depend on the sort of position/work. I’ve helped with selecting people for several PhD / post-doc positions at my lab, and for that the cover letter is at least as important as the resume. If it’s not there, or just an obvious copy-paste job, that’s just going to be an immediate ‘no’. >

True. I have the same feeling with same kind of background. The cover letter gives me much more information than just the CV. Besides, eventually people in those positions are expected to write well. It's a chance to show/see that. >

You may have a point, but the purpose of cover letters is to filter the ones you’re looking for, firstly. Secondly to provide a baseline for any future interviews.
Yes I have had people who exaggerated or plain lied in their cover letter, but it made my job easier: this guy lied about his CV, what else is he capable of lying of?
What did this person exaggerate about and would they be able to close the gap when needed? >

You must admit that it's disheartening though, knowing that the hiring process is so automated nowadays with many places screening candidates that simply used enough of the right buzzwords, it's difficult to be convinced that anyone even reads cover letters anymore. 
When you're sending out dozens of applications a day, having to edit your cover letter again and again to fit the right things each business seems to be looking for becomes tedious. Especially so if you're just reiterating the same information in your resume as well as manually entering in online forms. I can understand viewing cover letters as a tool see which applicants are dedicated enough to the position to include one, but it seems to come off as another unnecessary hurdle. >

I concur. Never looked at it this way.
Mind you, I’ve not been an employee for ~20 until oct when I transitioned to employee in the same company. >

I hate the reference check too. I get the idea of it, But chances are your current employer don't even know that you're planning on quitting or worse you're in a bad terms with them. Why would I want you to call them and ask about me? >

Most big companies will only verify your employment dates to anyone inquiring, and that's it.  If you work for a mom n pop place, they may talk trash on you, but any normal HR will only verify employment. >

Hold up. Are you supposed to put contact for the HR and not your bosses? My last company's HR was shit that couldn't keep privacy for shit, so not like it mattered. >

The company HR number is the preferred contact, not like you want them having your old bosses cell number or anything.  Although a boss talking shit on you is very unprofessional on their part and technically slander >

Agreed, especially when they're all pdf anyway.  If you can't take the time to read my resume, I don't want to work for you. >

I feel like realistically, cover letters should be requested if you make the first couple of rounds of cuts with applications. 
The company I work for had to hire for one position a few years ago and we tend to pay well and keep people around for decades. In the first few days, there were thousands of applications and I was trying to sort through them all. I eventually had a list of 25 top ones I sent to my bosses, of those 25 it could have made sense to have a cover letter. The cover letters from the other 2000 were never even looked at. >

It’s like that thing you write for college where you write out your trauma so the school can decide if your traumatized enough to slip you a scholarship >

I agree eith you, but I have to downvote you, because I don't think this is unpopular. Cover lettera have been obsolete for about 20 years. >

They'll be redundant soon enough, you can just copy and paste a job description into an AI now and they will write the letter for you. >

Cover letters are about contextualising your CV for the job you're applying for e.g. "My four years pushing bath salts on the dark web puts me in a unique position to be an effective  Goop salesperson."
If the only reasons you want/would be good for a job are clear on your CV, then either your CV is shit or you probably aren't that we'll suited for the role - maybe even both.
(This obviously doesn't apply to every job in the world). >

If you were a recruiter, you probably want a cover letter to spoon feed you the info you want before even getting to the interview.
I did proofreading as a side job in uni a while back, going through piles and piles of the same thing is hard. >

Most of the jobs placements are based on your reference anyways. >

I can understand wanting a cover letter for a new hire you know nothing about. I may not agree with its need, but I at least understand why they want it. I just put in for a promotion on my small team where I really am only competing against one other person. I’ve worked here for years now and have been in the limelight and under scrutiny for a while. They know exactly who I am and what I’m capable of doing. Those fuckers still made me write a cover letter when a simple resume would have been fine. Bastards. >

Upvoted since most jobs I've gotten were from my cover letter alone, the resume has been largely ignored with employers not knowing any of my other skills, which has helped in work performance as I do tasks they didn't realize I am qualified for.
Also note I have about an 80% success rate with applications to job offers, a well written cover letter always gets my foot in the door. >

Just get chat GPT to write one for you. Copy and paste the job description and prompt with ‘make this into a cover letter for a job.’ It is unique and specific for the job you are going for. >

Cover letters serve the function to weed out the about 50% who are to lazy to even have a proper cover letter. As someone who took part in the interview process: you can get some basic information about the applicant and if you fail even that step there is nothing in the interview that could convince us otherwise. 
For example someone applying for an apprenticeship - in a job that can deal with 3 different variations of that apprenticeship. our was for a sysadmin. He talked about how much he loves coding and data analysis and how much he loathed the sysadmin part. 
You do not wanna waste time with that applicant if you only have enough time to interview about ~20 outta 50 to 60 applicants. >

What fields do you people work in? I have never written one in my 20 year career. >

I have literally read thousands of applications for jobs at the companies I've worked for over the last 30 years.  I have NEVER once read a cover letter. >

It's not an unpopular opinion. People hate making cover letters
I'm in the more unpopular opinion that I find it gives me an edge since I'm able to start of my lies straight away before they even meet me. I'm already phrasing it as my being highly interested in a specific news item I read about the industry, recent news about their company, or crafting some bullshit about their 7 pillars of work ethic or somesuch bs they post to their website.
When I job hunt, I literally look for weaknesses in the hiring processes, and find their weaknesses are most often that they drink the corporate kool-aid and love the smell of their own farts. 
It doesn't get me in the door, but when I do get in the door they've been lied to thoroughly about who I am. HR loves to push me forward through the process even though the bullshit is thick and obvious. I don't actually know why it works since I'm no psychologist >

I don’t apply for jobs if they ask for cover letter or I just send my resume. >

What i did was send in a document titled (job). Cover, and it was blank. If they actually try to read it, they'll ask about it. Say, oh, it must have gotten corrupted in the email. I'll send you another right over. Then, actually type one up. Don't waste your time for shit they will almost never read. >

Literally never sent out a cover letter a day in my life for a job that I've had and I still get hired and paid well. 
I've never seen a cover letter be mandatory/required/or even expected >

Hiring manager here in HR. I am 1000000% in agreement.  They’re full of fluff and BS and the first thing I do is set it aside and look at the resume itself.  I just don’t understand why people in my field keep pushing damn cover letters. I don’t give a shit why you’re looking for a job or why you think you’re a good fit for this role. I am the one who makes that call, not you. And for the record - I’m not a “young” person either, so there are people established in their careers and in Human Resources who pay no attention to them.  So for those of you in Hr that think this is a GenZ mindset you’re wrong AF. 
I know there are “experts” out there who disagree but perhaps you should listen to actual hiring managers before telling people who are looking for jobs to waste their time on targeted cover letters for each job they’re applying for. >

I didn't even write one, mainly because I forgot how to. Just handed in a single piece of paper, spoke a bit about my experience, and got hired. Maybe it also depends on the manager? Like some might want super overly detailed specifics about you, others might just want "hey, here's a paper with 4 sections on me, here's what I can do, call me back some time soon" >

I just applied for a job yesterday that told me to write a "thoughtful email" about how I embody their company slogan, then said "cover letters are for the birds".... BITCH WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS THOUGHTFUL EMAIL IS??? >

I am almost 50 years old and I have written maybe a couple cover letters in my life, but generally I assume that the email I write that I attached my résumé to is my cover letter, because that’s where I tell them what I’m looking for, my availability if applicable, stuff like that.
Otherwise I don’t do it, and I’ve never had anybody be upset about it. >

I haven’t used a cover letter since high school.
I don’t plan on ever writing one in the future. I don’t care about any job enough until there is a scheduled 2nd interview. >

I can’t even remember the last time I saw a cover letter and have never asked for one and I hire for six-figure jobs regularly. >

Reference letters are stupid and should stop being expected. >

They work for me. As someone who has been on both sides of the interview table it's basically them giving me the quick and dirty details of their experience and how it applies to the job I'm hiring for. If you're writing generic cover letters saying you're a hard worker and you're never late, you're doing it wrong. Resumes are typically just a good summary of your experience but don't expand on how their experience fits my job. >

If you’re cold applying to somewhere, I’d say a cover letter is somewhat warranted. It basically is a narrative of a resume and your “introduction” to them. 
If you have been in contact with recruiters or talked with them before in any capacity for more than a “Hello, I’m so and so”, it’s a complete waste of time. >

I think they are ridiculous and have already stopped doing them.
Some employers have told me they prefer not to have them.
Some (One older person, so far) have told me they prefer to have them.
When you're doing dozens of applications it's a pain in the ass. 
I also see it as kind of a red flag, to be honest... >

They don't actually care about the cover letter. It's to weed out the lazy. They simply trash resumes that come across without cover letters and only look at resumes that include cover letters. >

Not unpopular at all >

Not only do you send in your resume but you also fill out the exact same info in an application online and then some places will require you to also fill out a paper application once you get to the interview. >

Yes! I’m not going to write fanfiction about myself just to hand it over to someone who’s going to underpay me >

True AF >

I'd recommend them if you're under qualified for the role. If your resume is light on the experience I'm seeking, but you write a solid cover, I'll consider you. Otherwise, you're wasting time even applying. >

Have you ever been on a hiring committee? Cover letters are the only way you can actually get the voice of the applicant. Resumes do not speak for themselves. >

Yeah, used to skip every job that required a cover letter.. Not that I couldn't write it, but I didn't want to. >

a cover letter is basically just a resume with less dot points and more faff text. its stupid  for sure >

As an hr person, if I see a cover letter they’re guaranteed an interview because they’re likely a serious applicant >

I remember a comment that said something like "I'm not writing fanfic about your company for free," and I live by that. >

As an employer, I put a brief look at the resume, and focus more on the cover letter. 
We write documents and expect people to be able to write competently, build an argument (why they are right for the job), and tailor their message to the job/company. 
So yeah, they are important. 
Those standardised forms are a load of crap though. >

This entire thread is fucking delusional, and pinpoints the weakness in current narratives v real world business.
By just sending in your experience you are asking the reader to do the research and thinking about how you will fit into the org. I simply don’t have the time to do this shit for you.
Do you actually want this job? Can you make us money? Have you thought about how it will fit into your career progression? Can you see yourself in this company in 10 years time having learnt and progressed? If you have great, write it down, that’s a cover letter. 
Fuck me, you’re not in school anymore and I’m not paid to be your teacher. >

I can see where a cover letter is redundant in some positions, but I think they are very helpful if you are trying to get into a field that you don’t have direct experience in, but are trying to twist your previous experience to be relevant. I’ve interviewed for a position where the lady flat out told me she wouldn’t have met with me based on my resume, but the cover letter had her intrigued. When done properly, a cover letter gives you the opportunity to explain yourself a bit extra. It allowed me to explain how the coursework in exercise science, health coaching and motivational interviewing, social work degree, and personal training cert would qualify me to be a chiropractic tech, even without chiropractic experience or tech cert. I also was able to talk about my own health struggles and interest in chiropractic in the cover letter, and how my empathy would again make me a good fit for the role. Even though these things were listed on resume (aside from personal testimony), the interviewer did not see them as relevant until the cover letter. Yes, all of these things are typically discussed in an interview, but the interviewer will often pass up people with great resumes just because they don’t understand- they don’t even give them the chance to interview and explain themselves, so it’s nice to be able to do that prior if necessary. >

Downvoted because nobody likes cover letters >

I never read cover letters when I hired. Waste of a page. All of them were boiler-plate. >

Any time I get a boiler plate cover letter it goes in the bin, right along with their CV >

Literally judging a book by its cover. Pathetic. >

Agree. The cover letter just rehashes some of what's in the resume and the employment sought. It's obvious you're sending it with an application and your resume. Obviously you're looking for a job and the position you want and other info is on the application.
Cover letters are stupid unless the position sought involves writing, in which case the letter can give the employer some insight as to how proficient you are. It takes like 100x longer to properly do your resume compared to a basic cover letter, anyway. The attitude of requiring cover letters for everything strikes me like one of those retired military dudes who get pissed when you put your hands into your pocket. Like, dude, these people are in civilian society, not military. Here, they're looking for a job, they're not trying to pleasure you. This person probably sent out like 20 applications, it's a stupid waste of time to write 20 cover letters.
Most cover letters are just copy/pasted with some small tweaks, anyway. Employers who are so holier-than-thou and demanding, and disrespectful of your time, before you even begin are probably not people you want to work for. Things sort themselves out. They're not superior to you, they're looking for help. You're looking for someone to help and expect to be treated fairly and compensated fairly.
Even if a cover letter shows the utmost attention and going above and beyond, which I don't think they do, what ultimately matters is your credentials, experience, and how you actually work when it counts. A cover letter is like cheap talk and a 25 cent bow on a pricey gift compared to those. >

A good cover letter contains a lot of information that shouldn't be on a CV, it can't be copied between applications, and it lets me know whether I should waste my time interviewing you in the first place. >

Like what information? >

The point of the cover letter is to communicate what work you want to do, the content of the project you want to pursue. None of that should be on your CV. It should also include why you are interested in working there specifically, that isn't copiable information. >

This isn't unpopular. Companies don't even read cover letters. >

I mean there are some dissenting comments here and in my life for sure. There seems to be this perception that an applicant is lazy because they won’t take extra time to write a letter that is, to your point, never read. >

I work high-tech companies. Have been hiring at startups and big name companies. Having reviewed hundreds or thousands of candidates.  Every single company has had HR remove all cover letters before sending the resume to us.  Never once had one forwarded to me with the resume. 
On the same note, I never include one. Never had a problem landing a job either.  My wife is a CFO for companies and has never included a cover letter.  But also uses professional recruiters to get in the door. >

I've been a hiring manager for 20 years, and I've never once read a cover letter.  Never even seen one.  If they were submitted, they never got to my level for consideration, and even if it did I wouldn't read it because I typically have dozens if not hundreds of resumes to review for every job listing.
Just as an aside point, this is why your resume FORMAT is as important as the content.  it doesn't matter what great skills you have, if your resume looks like crap or difficult to read, it goes in the bin. >

It is partly a filter to check who takes the time to write one as a proxy for if they care about the position enough to do so. 
I would filter out people who won't take the time to write a high-quality cover letter than is relevant to the position. It is a useful indicator of your work ethic for some jobs. >

This doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. Who is showing greater hustle: the one writing a cover letter, or the one applying to 20 positions? The latter doesn't have time to write cover letters. >

I don't think the employer cares what other jobs the person is applying to. >

The claim being made is that the person isn't writing a cover letter due to a lack of work ethic. I rebutted that claim. I frankly don't care how myopic their perspective is. They are wrong either way. >

It's not the hustle they are after, it's the extent to which they will be able to exploit the person. >

Cover letters are a boomer thing I've never had one required for a job application just resume >

I hate cover letters too, but sadly it’s used to see who is worth interviewing. I think weeding out applicants like that is sure fire way to lose out on hiring workers who have great potential. >

Great potential for what? A cover letter is an absolute bare-minimum writing exercise. If you can't accomplish a simple task like that, what can you accomplish? >

That's idiot logic.
You can ask applicants to stick a finger in their ass, it's bare minimum physical exercise. If you can't accomplish that simple task what can you accomplish ? >

I run a very small organisation. Whenever we are advertising opportunities- whether short or long-term employment - I read the cover letter first. 
If someone has taken the time and initiative to write to me personally, and to match the tone of the open call and say something relevant in their letter, this really helps. 
I’m looking for someone who I can collaborate with on a daily basis. It’s much easier to get a sense of personality from reading a cover letter than it is from reading a CV. I want to find someone special, and it’s difficult to make a cv special, even if your experience and qualifications are extensive >

I absolutely hate cover letters. Everything on it is in my resume or we can talk about in the first interview. Plus you’re probably barely going to read it anyway even if I spent hours on it. I’m currently job hunting & if it requires a cover letter I just don’t bother (I’m employed, just looking for a better job). I’m also going through recruiters so that helped me get some interviews & bypass cover letters too. They’re just unnecessary & fake imo. What’s also annoying is some places I’ve heard ask for them just to see if you’ll do it & those are the only candidates they look through, I could be wrong, but that’s awful if true. >

I am an internal recruiter - I NEVER read cover letters. >

I’ve interviewed probably around 100 candidates (various roles at a tech company) over the past 9 years and I have never once read a cover letter. The resume, including if the information on the resume is presented coherently, is enough to tell me whether or not an initial phone interview is worth my time. The cover letter is just like reading a shitty, one sided interview so what the hell is the point? >

I'd love to see cover letters die and also the whole 3 references thing. I'm not gonna do a cover letter and the references are all my friends, not like I'm gonna use a shitty manager or something >

I 100% agree. It's basically a resume in essay/paragraph form. >

Only if you do a really bad job. That's not what should be in a cover letter... >

To paraphrase a tweet I once saw: “I would rather eat a whole bus tire than write a cover letter for a job application.” >

I have skipped the cover later for my last 3 positions despite having an option to upload one. Mind you these are high 100ks jobs and no one asked for one or even mentioned them. A lady in HR once told me that they don’t even read them. >

I agree so hard. This is such a dumb kiss ass thing we should leave behind as people who expect it leave the workforce. Everyone expects you to rewrite your resume into their online system anyway so they can chop it up into keywords. There's no reason anymore to have a brief abstract of your experience and reason for applying. >

Cover letters make sense to me. If there's 100 applications coming in, you can automatically look at the ones with cover letter first. If you find one that really sticks out, like one that shows that the person really wants to work there and not just copy/paste their cover letter, then that person gets looked at more highly. There are definitely times where my cover letters got me a job that I really wanted because I was able to explain my passion for that kind of work without just showing my credentials. >

Yeah I just…if I have to kiss that much ass to get in the door, I likely wouldn’t be happy working for that kind of company. I’m not trying to tear you down, I’m happy you got your opportunities. But it seems like a game that I have no interest in playing. Conversely, I’ve also gotten jobs with no cover letters because my resume is solid, I reach out/follow up, and interview well. >

That's the thing, some people don't have super solid resumes but would do better at the job than those who do have degrees and whatnot. That's where cover letters come in. It's not about kissing the company's ass, it's about saying "this job seems cool and I think I'd do really well here." If your resume is strong enough to stand on its own, great. If not, then a really great cover letter will get you considered. >

Then they should be the exception not the rule >

No one is stopping you from putting a blank document as a cover letter, or doing a generalized copy/paste. You're appealing to the hiring manager, it's up to them on how seriously they want to take the cover letter or lack thereof >

The cover letter tells the reviewer whether your resume is worth spending the time to read or not.
If you dont want to make the effort, fine. There are 100 others in the pile who did. I'll be back to you if all 100 aren't good candidates.
Your odds just went way down. Is that what you want? >

Stop pretending you actually read the cover letters. >

They really don't. I sent the wrong cover letter to a big law firm and didn't even notice until they handed me a printed copy during my interview. I got the job lol. >

A-FUCKING-MEN
Edit: wait, that doesn’t look right. 
But I agree with you. >

I’ve had a few jobs that included hiring staff. Unless I needed a specific qualification/level of proficiency from the person being hired, I go off of the cover letter.
Anybody can list grades and previous jobs on a piece of paper, not everyone can write a good cover letter (trust me I’ve seen some truly awful ones). >

How is that unpopular? That’s logical. >

Lmao lots of logical things are unpopular. It’s why our world is so fucked up. >

You are right. Sadly >

I want to know if the person I’m considering for a job can write a letter. Part of a job is communication and putting on a smile even if you’re in a bad mood. If you don’t include a cover letter your application goes in the trash and you won’t even make it to the interview. Sorry. >

As a hiring manager who has hired dozens of people over the years, from entry-level to sr. management, I have never once read a cover letter. >


there’s literally no reason to make me write a cover letter explaining the same stuff I’ll say in the interview. Especially because everyone just copies and pastes the same stuff for every job they apply for.

Of course you hate it. You've failed to understand the point of the task. >

I use them to sort out people who use proper grammar from those who have a poor grasp of the language. You could literally right anything in there, I’m just going to copy and paste into grammerly to look for errors. >

Right? >

No cover letter tells me the candidate isn’t actually interested in the job and that they- 1) have poor social skills and/or 2) are arrogant and/or 3) don’t care about working with us and/or 4) are entitled and/or 5) are completely disorganized and/or 6) can’t follow basic instructions 
None of these scream ‘qualified candidate’ >

Many of those apply to the employers too. 90% will never respond at all to your application at all, cover letter or no. Probably 50% of my phone interviews they are late. 80% of my in person interviews are late. In the past month I've had 3 people email me "We'd love to setup an interview, when are you available", I respond within an hour, and I have yet to hear back from them. Why should I invest so much into applying to a single position with a custom cover letter when that is the probable result? >

I can understand your feelings; I’ve never left a candidate in that position because it’s unconscionable. But I do expect the same kinds of curtesy from them. >

I hate them too. A lot. However, I have gotten a few jobs strictly because of a cover letter. This is because I applied to jobs I wasn't qualified for but I was able to convince the hiring manager that I have potential through it >

My favorite part of applying for a job is writing a cover letter >

Who says they are expected? I've done a fair amount of hiring over the years  and I see very few cover letters. >

I hated writing cover letters, clearly I want the gd job that I’m applying for why are you making me beg >

I’m just gonna say this as someone that’s hired a large number of folks. The only reason I ask for a cover letter is because it’s the standard for my department. The only thing I look at your cover letter for is to see that you got the job right. ( you’d be surprised how often people don’t…) Everything I want to know about you is in your resume, so that’s where I spend 95% of my time evaluating a candidate. >

Writing answers to a couple good questions would be way more useful than churning out repetitive cover letters. >

Yes this. I understand applications that ask specific questions because it shows a genuine need/interest in hiring a qualified person who will likely be valued in the company. I still find cover letters largely pointless, but I do think if a company requires one, they should provide some real questions that they want answered. Less of a crap shoot then for all involved. >

Never heard of it, just send my resume and i might or might not get an interview >

Some people legitimately do not know how to write words >

Fairly sure cover letters are already mostly obsolete? Maybe depending on industry but in general. >

As someone who runs a small business and hires on a semi regular basis, I love cover letters. Resumes are generic. A cover letter gives you an idea of who the person is and whether or not they would be a good fit.  Skills can be trained, I am more interested in having a good team of people.  But I work in an industry where this is possible. >

I never include a cover letter but I have so much experience in my job I truly feel seeing my job experience talks for itself. if it doesn’t , you’re tiring and I don’t wanna work for you >

I've never submitted a cover letter for any job I've ever had >

Depends on the field I guess. I haven't needed a cover letter since I started my career, even then they almost certainly skipped over it. >

Cover letters are tedious. However, if one thinks about it: countless applicants will be vying for the job. It helps to stand out by using all the weapons at your disposal. That might mean a cover letter to attract an employers attention.    
I absolutely agree with the OP, btw. >

If you email your application to a company then the written text in the email is the 'cover letter'. If the application asks you to submit a 'cover letter' just write what you would have written in an email there. 
A cover letter is intended to explain to a company what this document is for as in the old days one would just mail one's resume to the company. If you didn't have a cover letter the company might be confused if you are looking for a job or looking to provide services or something else. This is fairly obsolete now as the application is tied to the job application. 
If the position is for a management or above (ability to hire/fire and set pay rates) then a cover letter might need to explain one's plan for the position. >

I dunno, i find the cover letter as important if not more important. I want to see that you can form a cohesive thought on paper. Understand basic structure. >

I use any mention of cover letters by a potential employer as a timesaving prescreening method. 
I've noticed amicable mentions are about half or less, while passive aggressive to berating are above half of the job posts that mention a cover letter.
I exit the screen the moment I read anything negative in the job posts that
they relate to cover letters. That's their degree they would blame me for a mistake or just really anything.
Nope. >

As far as I know, people have stopped sending cover letters twenty years ago.   Can't even remember the last one I saw. >

As a person that just got done working on a cover letter for a job position, I completely agree with this. Updating my resume was pain free, but the cover letter took me days to work on and I still didn’t feel like it was a good way to represent myself. I much prefer being in person or just communicating with the interviewer. That is my strong suit. With this cover letter, it has me worried that I won’t even be considered for an interview… >

The cover letter is the email to which my .PDF resume is attached >

Once you get old enough, you realize the cover letter is as much a pain in the ass as you allow it to be.
“Hello.
My name is such and such. Ive worked in the whatever industry for 15 years and was responsible for the engineering efforts pertaining to widget x. I’ve also worked on many similar projects including widget y and z. I know the widget business, the engineering required to launch successful products and the support infrastructure necessary to make clients happy.
Please take a look at my attached resume, or fuck off, either will do.
Best regards,
Asshat >

Definitely. The cover letter is a dinosaur. A short, finely-written email with your resume attached should be sufficient. If an employer has questions, they can just email the applicant and see how they respond to gauge their suitability. >

I've only been asked to fill 1 out in my entire career (15 years, worked for 6 compies, and applied to many many more). >

Any cover letter more than three sentences never get read. >

I do interviewing for my dev group and have never read a cover letter. >

Easy, I just stop applying when I see that bullshit. I'm not even working here yet and I'm tired of your bullshit >

I’m quite sure practically every job I have ever gotten has been on the merit of my CV. I’m also quite sure practically every interview I have ever gotten has been on the quality and content of my cover letter. 
That said, I always similarly disliked writing them. It wasn’t until I had been on the receiving end of hundreds of CVs later on in my career that I realised you do need methods and litmus tests to sift through them all reasonably quickly and efficiently. This includes discarding CVs with visible spelling/grammar mistakes, CVs that are far too long, standard boiler plate CVs where you can tell the individual did not take time or effort to format it in an interesting, creative, and/or intuitive way and, yes, discarding those individuals who do not bother to write a brief introductory letter about themselves and why they are interested in this job in particular/why they would be a good hire.
The skill set outlined in your CV demonstrates experience and ability but it doesn’t do such a good job of demonstrating other qualities that employers look for in candidates. The interview demonstrates those qualities but you can’t interview every applicant, and once you have interviewed enough time wasting duds with otherwise promising CVs you’ll understand the real point of the cover letter. The cover letter is a 30 second elevator pitch that lets busy people in hiring positions know you are worth their time - because you took the time to prove that the job is worth yours.
As a piece of advice: everyone can tell if you are just copy pasting out cover letters for 15 different positions. I would encourage you to have a standard introductory letter about yourself and your skill set but to add something specific about the role you are applying for that demonstrates you’ve looked into the business a little bit and why you think it would be a good partnership. >

I never do cover letters. As a hiring manager myself I never read them either. Waste of time and a load of copy paste nonsense. >

I just send the same cover letter with every application. I just change the job description. >

Never had to use one >

I also hate this. I spent an hour yesterday writing out a really good cover letter, only for it to be way over the character limit and unusable. 
What's the point? I bet no one reads them either way, but it's noted if you don't have one. >

Why not make this post your cover letter? >

Also, most decent jobs look at your LinkedIn for more depth, and see your engagement. Cover letters are silly creative writing. >

Just stop providing them >

Wow really unpopular, I forgot how much of the population really loves writing cover letters /s >

I agree. A c9ver letter provides no additional details that can't be found in the resume, wastes extra apparently and ink if you print it out, and is going to be ignored most of the time anyway, I have only done a cover letter once and that's because I was applying for a job I was not qualified for >

THANK YOU YES!!!!! I get so mad when they say it’s required seems very old fashion to me >

I'm not sure anybody even reads the damn thing. They just expect you to upload one nowadays. My cover letter to every single company has been a literal cut and paste and stayed roughly the same for the past 5 years. >

I feel that there are so many people with educations and decent grades and so little work in fields related to liberal arts majors they there really isn’t any way to truly differentiate one applicant from the next without one. Then again they could just interview people >

People still make cover letters? >

If someone is just copy pasting the same thing, they're not doing them properly. 
A cover letter is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the company, tell them a little about yourself and your past work with more detail than a resume gives. 
It's also a good tool to make employers more interested in you by slipping a joke or two in, and give them a bit more of an idea of who you are as a person, not just what work you've done. 
Most employers throw away applications without them for a reason. >

Depends for what position, for example if you are applying for something like wearhouse job, then yes  , completely useless. But for example for jobs that are very competitive, you can quite easily mention for example your networking connection in said company. >

r/ChangeMyView >

I didn't know anyone still wrote these. >

A cover letter is how you connect the dots between your skill set/experience, and the job you're going for.  It's the narrative.
Put it this way: your resume is the "data", but you need to convert that data into "information". >

I started to enjoy the cover letters, actually. It gives me an opportunity to talk about aspects of my skills that aren't easy to write on a resume, and to header each section with a specific line from the job requirements themselves. 
So, if they say "must be proficient in X", I say "I am very good at X due to evidence A, B, and C." 
Also a good place to add in some extra things about me that don't go on a resume. 
The whole job application process just sucks, though. You lie about yourself, they lie about the job, and in the end you come together on a mutually disappointing agreement. >

My job had me write a cover letter.. after I had already had the job for over a year? and I didn't have to submit one when I initially applied or interviewed. I hated every second of it. >

Recruited staff. For me, a cover letter is the synopsis of the cv. Give me 2 paragraphs that tell me why you are fit for the job: 
Say I need a main toilet plumber. Cover letter will read
“I graduated from Plumbing University. I worked as a plumber for 8 years, the last 3 at company X as assistant toilet plumber. I am familiar with standing, hanging and Japanese toilets”
Boom, that’s all I need. Then you have my interest to look through 3 pages of details of your cv. 
Your cv is the complete menu, the cover letter is “this week’s specials”.