Comments on: To Cover Letter or Not Cover Letter, That Is The Question || Are Cover Letters Still Relevant? http://inthemarginalia.com/blog/2018/03/cover-letter-not-cover-letter-question-cover-letters-still-relevant/ A Career Woman's Pursuit of Success, Style & Happiness Wed, 14 Mar 2018 23:23:38 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 By: Sergio Sanchez http://inthemarginalia.com/blog/2018/03/cover-letter-not-cover-letter-question-cover-letters-still-relevant/#comment-620 Wed, 14 Mar 2018 21:22:00 +0000 http://mycubiclechic.com/?p=2911#comment-620 In reply to Jessica K.

Not at all, please do. This was a very relevant piece to me. I’m sure many others would agree with the ideas you out forward. Thanks for sharing!

]]> By: Jessica K http://inthemarginalia.com/blog/2018/03/cover-letter-not-cover-letter-question-cover-letters-still-relevant/#comment-619 Wed, 14 Mar 2018 17:55:00 +0000 http://mycubiclechic.com/?p=2911#comment-619 In reply to Sergio Sanchez.

Hi Sergio!! I LOVE your feedback. I’m going to include it in the blog post above… I hope you don’t mind!!

]]> By: Sergio Sanchez http://inthemarginalia.com/blog/2018/03/cover-letter-not-cover-letter-question-cover-letters-still-relevant/#comment-618 Sat, 10 Mar 2018 01:20:00 +0000 http://mycubiclechic.com/?p=2911#comment-618 I think under certain circumstances a cover letter could still be mighty helpful. This is why I say so:
You are spot on regarding the ease of one-click applications and the burden of work being shifted to the recruitment team, making cover letters cumbersome and superfluous. No one will really read them.
The challenge with this simplified application approach is that it also dilutes the attention you get because lots more applicants (qualified and unqualified) will be applying … because it is so easy! You will get drowned in the noise! All you are effectively doing is playing a game against a resume scanning algorithm. Bummer.

Networking is the way to differentiate yourself and get ahead of the bot because the hiring manager knows s/he wants you before they even post the job. A cover letter (or a modified, less formal version of one) is a helpful way to introduce yourself to individuals that don’t yet know you but you want to network with. Whether it is a cold contact or a introduction through a mutual acquaintance, folks at the receiving end of networking requests want to know a little bit about you before they decide to share 20-30 mins of their busy time with you. They are going to have to stop doing something to talk to you! So that brings us back to the original question … Are cover letter still required? For the one-click applications … definitely not. For networking and introducing yourself … I think the answer is yes.
Funny thing is … this is exactly why cover letters were first created … to introduce yourself to a PERSON and create demand for you as a candidate. It all comes back to the beginning doesn’t it! : )

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