Posted by
Michael G Smith on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:40:42 PM
Shocking as it may seem, employers rarely read cover letters. Yet many job seekers believe that elaborating on their experience and
skills in a cover letter enhances their chances of getting an
interview.
Hiring managers have limited time and nearly
unlimited resumes to screen. The most efficient way to screen resumes
is, well, to screen the resume and not bother with the cover letter. A
quick review of a resume is all that’s required to place it in one of
three categories:
not qualified (the vast majority of all resumes);
possibly qualified; and,
almost certainly qualified.
In most cases, the number of
almost certainly qualified candidates
must be reduced, so the employer will take a more detailed look at each
of those resumes and possibly read the cover letter. If the letter is
long-winded, contains stupid comments ("out-of-the-box thinker"; "I'm a
people person"), contains some otherwise benign detail that is viewed
negatively, or any one of a thousand other problems that the job seeker
may not anticipate, the resume will move out of the "interview" pile
and into the "not now, maybe later" pile.
Since one cannot know with certainty how the person reading the
cover letter will react to any particular bit of information, packing a
lot into the cover letter can backfire.
It is best to let your resume
carry the full load of securing an interview and avoid the risk that
your cover letter will undo what your resume may have already
accomplished. The ideal letter may simply say, "Please consider me for
the position you recently advertised".
Nevertheless, if you feel obliged to write a cover letter, do not use a "boilerplate" letter that is not specifically
tailored to the job for which you are applying. Nothing is more
frustrating than reading a page-long cover letter in an effort to learn
about the candidate's interest in a position, only to find vague
generalities with no tie-in to the position being filled.
To sum up, I prefer candidates who respect my time by keeping the
cover letter mercifully short. If the candidate has something important to say, the resume--where it will be seen--is the correct place to say it, and not just in the cover letter. The letter may exceed a paragraph if the candidate is providing answers to the following questions: How does the candidate's work experience satisfy
the specific requirements stated in the job posting?
Why is the
candidate interested in this job?
Michael G Smith