People don't do cover letters anymore??

I think they either don't know that they should write a cover letter, or couldn't be bothered.

I use the presence or absence of a covering letter as one of the first discriminators when reviewing resumes. If they don't have a covering letter I'm not at all convinced that they are interested in the position or even know what position they are applying for.

Is it possible they were input in a different format, such as directly into a website? Or that they're coming from a source where the cover letter isn't available?

Brian

When I receive electronic replies to job postings I consider the fact that the company system does not do a good job of allowing for cover letters. Some company websites actually allow people to upload a cover letter separately so I assume that some people may not see them as necessary.

I agree with others though. When you have an achievement-based resume (like what MT recommends) the cover letter is crucial in bridging the job to what you can do. It is a dying art though, as more often than not I see resumes that do not have cover letters.

My situation is similar to CalKen's: Our outsourced application process makes it difficult, though not impossible, to get a cover letter attached. There is space on the web form to make the link between the resume and the job, so an alert applicant would write what amounts to a cover letter in that space.

I'ts possible I'm unusual, because I read every resume I get, looking for specific things. I rule out a lot of people based on phone interviews, but I'm willing to make a 15-20 minute phone call based on a resume that's close to what I need.

tc>

I'm with Tom - a short phone call even if the resume is imperfect has helped me find good people who don't know how to sell themselves (common amongst techies).

And I'm not averse to making it a five minute call if it's clear that there is no fit.

John

Even when there is no system-based restriction on attaching covering letters I find that quite a large percentage of applications do not include any sort of covering letter.

It seems a shame that people are using online systems that prevent or discourage covering letters. If it is dictated by corporate policy then it is a dumb policy. Hiring is one of the most important functions and anything you can do to make it more effective is going to make your team more effective in the long run.

I agree that a good resume is still worth a call but, given limited time resources, if the choice is between two average resumes and one has a well written covering letter whereas the other one doesn't the covering letter is probably going to be the deciding factor. The covering letter is just one discriminator amongst many.

tomas, I agree, it's disappointing.

Even when I do make the phone call, I'm still evaluating everything I see from a candidate. A poorly written cover letter (or a resume with spelng errurs) means we spend more time talking about communications skills, and we maybe never get to the detailed Java-vs-C++ questions. A well written cover letter and a well-organized resume saves me some time, and I like that.

Of course, that's true for everything. When I do call, an nice, crisp "John Jones" is a much better greeting than "Uh, hello?" A nice suit at a minimum means I don't think much about how you're dressed. If your shirt isn't ironed, I wonder whether you pay enough attention to detail to be trusted with my gold-plated mirrors. :)

So the cover letter is becoming a differentiator.

Not bad - and well worth the effort it takes to write 3 (and only 3) paragraphs... :lol:

-Hugh

Two years ago I had a senior level recruiter tell me cover letters are no longer needed. I thought of this as bad advise.

Now I am coaching a senior managers trying to get interviews, and I am teaching them this skill. What happens is the recruiter forwards the resume to the client, the client has lots of questions, and emails are flying back and forth between the candidate, recruiter and hiring company. The interview has begun and nobody even knows it. They think they are just sending emails, and the nobody is making progress. Geez

JHB "00"