Cover Letter: why bother?

Saturday, April 24th, 2010 - Cover Letter, Job Application, Uncategorized

Cover Letter: why bother?

One of the many questions asked by job seekers, and answered by job and career experts – look, you can how popular a question is/see their answers on Amazon – is how should I write a Cover Letter?

However, you may well becoming to the conclusion in light of all the online job applications you are making, is that the answer today is: Cover Letter- why bother?

Cover Letter: job application

In a group on LinkedIn I am a member of, the group leader started a discussion on the back of a survey he had conducted over the past six months, which showed that at best, only 1 in 10 Cover Letters were actually read: at all. The problem the survey spotted was that as so many job applications these days were undertaken on line – via either Jobs Boards or the companies own online job application system – that there was firstly no need for a cover letter. Secondly, even if you did write a Cover Letter, the HR team never read it/striped it out before your application got to the Hiring Manager.

If you think about it, the conclusions of the survey are logical and hence explainable:

• Most job seekers spend 40%+ of their time on job boards, where only 12% of jobs are fulfilled
• If you apply via the job board, then you attach a CV and an eMail; if you apply on the companies own website, then you fill out a three page+ form and attach a CV
• The recruiter or HR team who review all of the applications will be swamped at present! Unless the online form says the job applicant has all the skills, then why bother reading the CV let alone the Cover Letter?
• Of those who do confirm that they have the skills, what is forwarded to the Hiring Manager?
• We know that if the whole job application was placed in front of the Hiring Manager, then before deciding if the candidate was suitable: 1/3 would read the first half page of the CV; one third would read the Cover Letter; and one third would read the whole job application

Hence, the reason the survey found that only 1 in 10 Cover Letters are read is that the majority are either

1. Sent in by candidates who don’t have the right skills (one third)
2. Stripped out by HR (one third)
3. Not read by the Hiring Manager (almost one third)

Cover Letter: purpose?

So my proposed conclusion: Cover Letters, why bother?

But, if you have been following the series of blog posts this week, then you will know that my purpose in this series is to enlighten those job seekers who choose to source jobs via jobs boards, by improving their chances of employment. Hence, if you followed the advice I gave earlier to use job boards to source opportunity and then follow up by social media, the question becomes: what do you do after you have made connection with the Hiring Manager? Right, you need to follow up (via eMail or in writing) with a copy of your CV, and a piece of correspondence to say:

• Why you are writing
• Fully confirm your capability to do the job
• Outline next steps/follow up

That to me sounds like a Cover Letter!

The Cover Letter dead? No, its just changed its timing in the job application process. In example, here is a typical job seeker question who has applied for a job in the “apply and follow-up” process:

Job Application: cover letter

Joshua, a qualified engineer and job seeker, asks: After sending out a CV what are some good ways to follow up?

In answer:
I think there’s a better question – particularly as you asked this on LinkedIn – which is what ways are there to connect to the hiring manager before you send in a CV?

The problem with the traditional “apply and follow-up” job application model is that you are but one of a number of applicants all doing the process thing, of making sure that either:

• The internet or the post is working
• Then assuming that the reader might not have understood something
• Hence your need to call

Why not, when you see an interesting job advert, make contact with the organisation before – ideally through making contact with an existing employee who is on LinkedIn – and then have an insiders view of the organisation/job, and gain an inside advocate for you getting that position?

If you choose the “apply and follow-up” process for jobs sourced on jobs boards, then statistics tells us that you chance of employment is around 12% at present at best. The Informational Interview technique still has an employment ratio of 1 in 3.

The choice is simple, and LinkedIn and its 65million population is your answer to get the job you want. Good Luck!

===================================================================

If you have any questions, please call us on 0844 884 2825

If you need an interview winning solution, sign-up for our Professional CV service

If you want to check the suitability of your existing CV, then get a FREE CV Review with our CV Help service

===================================================================

One Response to “Cover Letter: why bother?”

1. Dwain Suire Says:
   May 20th, 2010 at 10:50 pm

   I page looking over Google and just wanted to take some time to say thank you for the informational article you have shared.