2006-12-22 02:56:29 · 7 answers · asked by Sweet Belly 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
A friend of mine works in HR and she says the cover letter is incredibly important. In fact, she won't look at a resume without it.
Tip: it's really important to be specific in your cover letter about the job for which you are applying. Also, try to use key words from the job posting and incorporate it into your letter and resume. Especially do this if you are submitting through an online form - HR people prioritize resumes and cover letters through these key words they enter into the system and it helps them to narrow down the interviews. Always always always cater a resume cover letter to the job for which you are applying.
Hope that helps!
2006-12-22 03:03:10 · answer #1 · answered by elle1223 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you might expect- it depends!
I think smaller employers or employers with staff specifically for hiring are much more likely to look at a cover letter.
In my current job, the last time we hired, about 5 of us received a stack of materials from the 70 or so applicants. All photocopied of course so all that impressive resume paper was never seen. Each applicant's resume was stapled on top of whatever else (including a cover lettter) was sent in.
The first pass was just to sort them into A's, B's, and C's. On the first pass no, we didn't bother with cover letters. Later after we had tossed the mutually agreed upon B's and C's and were discussing who we liked among what everyone agreed were the A's, yes then the cover letter would sometimes come into the process and get talked about. It certainly gets read for the 2 or 3 candidates you end up interviewing.
Bottom line is I do think a cover letter is important.
2006-12-22 03:22:48 · answer #2 · answered by Big Red 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not always.
but it's on top so it has a better chance than your resume.
thinking they will skip the cover letter and go straight to the resume is not a good assumtion either.
i'm guessing you have a "glance" systsem.
glance at the cover letter. if it looks good, glance at the resume.
then it goes on a "keep" or "trash" stack.
if it's on the keep stack, both the letter & the resume will get a closer look on the next round.
based on my experience reveiwing applications.
2006-12-22 03:06:17 · answer #3 · answered by Sufi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. This is your initial chance to grab their attention, so a good cover letter is very important.
2006-12-22 03:00:07 · answer #4 · answered by Beau R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes they do. It's your first image to set you appart from the rest of the applicants!
2006-12-22 03:00:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course they do!
2006-12-22 02:59:00 · answer #6 · answered by sweetme 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
about 76% of the time... yes.
Slainte,
-D
2006-12-22 02:59:46 · answer #7 · answered by chicagodan1974 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋