Is the Cover Letter dead?
Now this is a topic and a half, but we’ll aim to address it in as few words as possible.
The answer in our opinion is; ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Let us explain…
As most recruiters will testify, we simply don’t have the time to read covering letters from every candidate who applies for every job. Even the ‘super candidate’ who ends up speaking with the recruiter for 1 hour, probably still won’t get his cover letter read.
So why not?
Well, in our humble opinion, a lot of cover letters, are not very well written, or they repeat what is essentially in the CV, and they are not promoted by the employer, the candidate or the recruiter. A bit of a vicious cycle.
The remedy in our opinion is to ‘tailor’ and ‘streamline’ the cover letter and turn it into an ‘addendum’ depending on the job you are going for, the specific skills required; maybe the culture of the prospective employer.
This is where the candidate needs to ‘work smarter’– get as much information about the prospective employer from the recruiter as possible, and then offer to put a brief paragraph or two together, for them to send in the body of the email, to the client, with the CV.
The recruiter should also be pro-active and suggest this to the candidate too.
Straight away, the prospective employer feels like the candidate (and recruiter) have done their homework, and because the cover letter is now in the form of a ‘bite sized chunk’ on email – it is 10x more likely to be read and will have much more of an impact.
If you are applying directly to an employer then, maybe, and depending on how niche your skills are – it could be worth putting a brief covering letter together, but the key is keep it concise and to the point.
Jonothan Bosworth Recruitment Specialists are currently recruiting for a number of vacancies. Please check some of our listed jobs here; https://vacancies.jonothanbosworth.co.uk/jobs/
If you are a client in search of a new recruitment partner, or a candidate looking for your next challenge, please contact us on; 0845 299 6369.