I left my ER job a few months ago to help sell the family business. Very stressful last few months and thought many times the deal would fall through, but we sold it to a PE firm a couple weeks ago. With that done, I’m now looking to go back to NYC and shift over to the buyside. I have a pretty decent network and have had some nibbles.
Anyway, I’m running back into my arch-enemy, the cover letter. In pratically every job I’ve ever interviewed for/gotten, I never wrote a cover letter. Even more, for anyone we interviewed in ER, I can only recall once where I read someone’s cover letter (it actually hur the guy b/c it was poorly written).
If executed well, the cover letter can’t hurt and does give you a chance to speak another side of yourself. Still, I often find them to be very time consuming and I really don’t see the point if it’s sent off to someone I don’t know nor have spoken with first to get more info on the job. So I keep wondering whether it’s really worth the effort.
I’ve never met anyone who cared about a cover letter. The best advice I’ve received is to do one, but keep it extremely straightforward… something such as “Please refer to my resume for details on my experience and skills. I would look forward to discussing this with you in further detail.”
Maybe something slightly more elegant, but it’s more of a “check the box” that you did it, and let your actual interview be your main impression.
I associate cover letters with jobs posted on the internet where the applications are screened first by a software, then by a HR person. The worst. If this is the case, just stuff the letter with words that the software will pickup. Analysis. Sector. Equity. Research. Modeling. Finance. Degree.
If it is emailing an application to a contact, even if they ask for a cover letter I agree with the above. Just write something brief and to the point in the body of the email.
“TL;DR: If you pass up this opportunity to interview and hire me, your boss is going to be very disappointed with you.”
I used to spend a lot of time working on cover letters. It’s true that they used to make a difference, but pretty much everyone I’ve encountered is too lazy to read them these days.
think they’re important for career switchers or new grads going through a formal recruiting process but probably less so if you have interview through your network. If it’s the latter and you have good experience I’d just keep it brief.
As someone who spends a lot of time interviewing job candidates for my firm, I can say with near certainty that a cover letter adds almost no value whatsoever. I will skim a cover letter, but only for mistakes or just general evidence of poor writing skills. So in effect there’s no upside to writing a letter, but lots of potential downside. The resume should encompass everything you want an interviewer to know about you.
I’ll always read a cover letter before interviewing an applicant. Oftentimes it will just be five minutes before the interview and I’ll use it to get topics to ask questions about.
It shouldn’t be that hard for you to write a letter:
Dear [],
I’m wriitng to apply for [] which I saw listed at [].
I have x years of experience working in equity research. The approach i take to performing anlaysis is []. The accomplishment I am most proud of is [x]
For the past few months I have been working full time with my family business in [industry]. Specifically, my family was ready to sell their business after [x years] and because of my skills in valuation, negotiation etc. they asked me to [xyz]. After x rounds of negotiations, we were able to strike a deal with a PE firm. Now that I accomplished this goal I am ready to resume my career path.
I am particularly excited about the possiblity of working at your company because [].
I look forward to discussing with you at your convenience.
Cover letter requirement on indeed.com jobs : copy paste generic / slightly tweak
Cover letter you send to main hiring manager or CEO or any major Exec for a job you really want ---- study the crap out of the requirements and write a letter revealing how much of an asset you will be to the team through proving that your prior experience directly correlates with the job requirements.
works 80% time every time
i interviewed for a CFO position a couple years back and wrote a 3 page cover letter to CEO for his startup company about not only how my experience directly correlated but how the trajectory of the company would only steadily increase with my hiring ---- he wrote back the next day and said he was very interested in next steps and got the interview the rolling week in silicon alley
Lots of job apps still require a cover letter, thus I always recommend doing one. I keep about three or four cover letters on hand. Each will be catered toward a type of secor/job/industry so I can easily copy and paste the company name and position and apply within a few minutes of seeing the job posting.