Cover letters are a controversial but common part of job applications. Photo courtesy of University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability from Ann Arbor, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg#){kind=link}
Cover letters are a useful tool for employers, but they have limits.
–
By Ben Rosen
TAMPA, Fla. — Cover letters are a controversial topic in the current job market. A cover letter gives job applicants a way to express themselves beyond what is in their résumés. However, there is only so much a potential employer can learn about an applicant in a cover letter. References can provide more information about a candidate than a cover letter.
Plenty of cover letter templates exist for job applicants to use. It is also possible to make minor adjustments to a template and tailor it for each specific job. However, this seems like a procedural exercise because the letter only matters if it gets read. If the cover letter never gets read by the hiring team, then the exercise is meaningless for both candidate and employer.
The best way for potential employers to learn about candidates is to interview them. An in-person interview between a job candidate and a potential employer allows for specific observations to be made that cannot be seen in a cover letter. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. A cover letter is merely words on paper.
How a person conducts themselves in the room and their appearance, can sway a potential employer one way or another. Someone could write an excellent cover letter and have a solid resumé but fail the most important part of the process. This is also where being able to talk to references can be useful to detect potential red flags.
When possible, companies should try to interview as many candidates as possible for an open position. Talent advisory company LHH recommends that employers interview at least three candidates for each open role. Employers need a way to filter candidates for a job where there is a large number of applicants, but a cover letter is not the way to go.
There are time and resource limitations to this, though. In the modern world, with technology everywhere, virtual interviews are now commonplace. In many cases, there are too many candidates to give each one a more detailed look. The level of the job also matters because of the hiring standards and qualifications.
AI is another reason why companies should move away from cover letters. There is going to be a loss of original writing and thought with the direction AI is going. AI-generated cover letters, and any AI-generated writing for that matter, are bland.
The more people who use AI, the more similar all of the cover letters will sound. That helps no one.
With the rise of AI and an increase in accessible technology, there is an argument to be made that a cover letter is outdated. Submitting an online portfolio along with references is probably a better method than sending in a cover letter that largely regurgitates information on a résumé.
The easiest way to go about this is for employers to make cover letters optional in job applications. This is a reasonable middle-ground solution that allows employers to still evaluate them without putting further burdens on the applicant. If a company makes a cover letter mandatory, they absolutely should be reading every single one of them.