The cover letter is dead, long live the cover letter!
I cannot say enough how much I wish cover letters would die in atrocious suffering. I hate them. If I could pull together all the cover letters I received in my career, I would create the world’s most powerful book to instantly fall asleep 🙄.
I can only remember a few times when a cover letter made me want to call a candidate. For the other hundreds of thousands of them, they were clearly copy-pasted from a boring template, not personalized at all and too often had typos, grammar errors or were addressed to the wrong company…
So why are people still sending them? Should we simply ditch the cover letter?
Maybe not. Let’s take 5 minutes to study why they were initially introduced and reflect on how they could still benefit job seekers.
The short history of the cover letter
The cover letter started to rise in the 1950s with the growth of the services industry. At the time, a lot of people were transitioning from farming and manufacturing jobs to white-collar jobs. Cover letters started to be seen as a way to qualify the person behind the CV and it became mainstream for employers to ask for one — as this advertisement from 1965 in the Boston Globe attests (reference here):
The consequence for job seekers was straightforward: they had to adapt to this new requirement, learn how to write one, sell themselves and most importantly they had to deploy more efforts when applying for jobs.
Should the cover letter die?
We now live in a world of social media, sophisticated hiring software and 1-minute-to-fill application forms. It’s less and less painful to apply for a job and therefore, Recruiters have to deal with hundreds of applications per role. Besides, when we don’t receive tons of application, we spend hours hunting for the right candidates.
Understand this: no matter if the job you’re applying for is on shortage or not, we just don’t have the time to read your cover letters. Most studies show that we spend on average 6 seconds on a resume. So how much time do you think we would allocate to your long and boring cover letter?
The cover letter should definitely die if you ask me, at least in its old shape. Its purpose deserves to be spared though, and I would advocate for its resurrection… in a different format. Think about it. Is explaining your fit for a role and a company important? Well yes! Does it have to be long and boring? Hell no!
While the cover letter your parents told you to write is a useless effort, I’d be the first one to admit the necessity of standing out when applying for jobs. You need to get noticed and separate yourself from the herd.
The cover letter 2.0 could take the shape of a note attached to your CV, a short email, a personalized LinkedIn connection request, a video, a tweet… you have many options!
Option 1: Write something short and catchy
If you decide to go with a written format, write something short, catchy, authentic and pleasant to read:
- Don’t repeat what’s already in your CV;
- Adopt a conversational tone of voice;
- Use short sentence with action-packed verbs;
- Play with the “P.S.” — it will help people remember you.
Let me give it a try. I was introduced to my current employer (Vend) through a recruitment agency, so I didn’t get the chance to send an application myself. But here’s what I could have written back in December 2019:
“Dear Shirvani,
We haven’t met yet but when we do, you will either love me or hate me.
You might love me because I come from a similar context to Vend. I know what it takes to scale a business and go through an intense phase of recruitment. Moreso I love being a Recruiter. It defines me as a person and I’m good at it. Hopefully, you will see through my CV what I could bring to this role!
I recently moved from Paris to Auckland, and while I’m excited for my second summer of the year to start… all I want for Christmas is this job. I’ve read great things about Vend, as a product and as a company. Your values resonate with me, and I genuinely believe we could make the impossible happen together.
P.S: Sorry if you’re stuck with Mariah Carey for the rest of your day. I said you might also hate me so… 🤷♀️”
Context: “make the impossible happen” is one of Vend’s value (yeah… we’re kinda committed to making our mark on the world.)
I also shared some examples of great and modern cover letters I received in this article.
Option 2: Take advantage of social media power
Before sending your application, take a few minutes to go through your connections and check if someone from your network can introduce you to the Recruiter or Hiring Manager. If you have the Hiring Manager’s name, why don’t you connect with them on LinkedIn and send them a short note?
You can be even more creative and send a motivation tweet to the company. Or record a video. I’m sure some people have already used TikTok for that purpose, which can be a great idea!
Try to get a glimpse of the company’s culture and check their social media before anything. It will help you prevent any misstep and adopt the right ton of voice. Also, always follow the company’s requirement: if they ask for a written cover letter, send one 😉.
Option 3: Build a CV that rocks!
If you have a strong CV — that matches well with the role, you’re drastically increasing your chances to get a call from the Recruiter. On the phone, you will be asked questions like “Why are you looking at leaving your position? What are you looking for in your next job? What motivated you to apply for this role?”…
By being clear about your motivation and how your experience relates to the position, Recruiters will have every reason to present your profile to the Hiring Manager. They will most likely send your CV with a short summary of your conversation. This is your best cover letter.
