I've always been against cover letters in applying for much of the reasons you mentioned. However, I was recently in a conversation with several people in hiring manager positions who insisted a cover letter was necessary for them to consider someone's application. A cover letter, to them, showed the applicant cared enough about the position to read about the company and reference something specific in the cover letter, and also that they were capable of communicating clearly.
Unfortunately, as with most things, whether or not to write a cover letter depends on your audience. Based on some of the comments here, I'd advise people to write a concise, genuine cover letter. Genuine so it doesn't make them sound fake (as has been mentioned), and concise because it might not be read. It sounds like a not-bad cover letter won't hurt you, but not having a cover letter at all could.
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I've always been against cover letters in applying for much of the reasons you mentioned. However, I was recently in a conversation with several people in hiring manager positions who insisted a cover letter was necessary for them to consider someone's application. A cover letter, to them, showed the applicant cared enough about the position to read about the company and reference something specific in the cover letter, and also that they were capable of communicating clearly.
Unfortunately, as with most things, whether or not to write a cover letter depends on your audience. Based on some of the comments here, I'd advise people to write a concise, genuine cover letter. Genuine so it doesn't make them sound fake (as has been mentioned), and concise because it might not be read. It sounds like a not-bad cover letter won't hurt you, but not having a cover letter at all could.