People barely skim actual resumes. No one really reads this rubbish. So why do recruiters want an extra piece of paper that will just take up space?
It’s like standing up at a football game. If everyone else does it, then you have to do it too. Whether it makes sense or not.
I don’t go to football games because they’re dumb too.
Thirsty Thursday at the local minor league baseball stadium, on the other hand…
1 Like
Agree with OP. Never once in my history of hiring people have I read through a cover letter. Even if the resume comes with one, I ignore the cover letter and go straight to the resume. I tell the recruiter to give me a zip file of the batch resumes and skim them for key items that I know I’m looking for. I don’t want to read more fluff; I don’t have the time. It’s not like I’m going to read a cover letter and say, gee, this guy’s resume sucks…but damn! What a great cover letter! A cover letter is like a tailored suit to disguise a poor physique. A great resume is like being ripped. It’s irrelevant what is worn.
Everything I need to know, at least initially, I can find in the resume.
I guess it depends on the company, the position and the recruiting manager. A few years back, I applied to a position and was accidentally CC’d in one of the emails between the hiring manager and the HR dude who did the first round of interviews. My cover letter was in the email’s attachment and it had several comments and questions that the hiring manager wanted the HR dude to ask more about.
no cap. my first cover letter said i was willing to work 100 hours.