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I've just re-entered the job market after about 3 years at one company. Just wondering if putting all my energy into writing different cover letters for each job is actually worth it. Thanks.
Latest comments (22)
Yes, it is. Your future or job depends on it. But I agree that it takes a lot of time and it is very difficult to write such works on your own. I once ordered a letter and lor residency since I thought that this should be approached responsibly and involve the help of professionals.
Nope, never written one, never will. Pointless. Connections are better.
Instead of a cover letter, I have a statement at the top of my resume. I change that for the role to make it super clear for the Hiring Manager why I'm a good fit. Shorter than a cover letter, but better than no cover letter.
Here's an example I'd use for an engineering manager role with a focus on open source: Iβm a people and engineering leader who likes building developer platforms. Iβm a Node.js core collaborator and an elected member of the Node.js Technical Steering Committee.
Hope this is helpful!
In some cases, a cover letter might be required. The system we use flags applications that are missing a cover letter (or any other document we specify as required in the job advertisement) as incomplete. The candidate can see that their application is marked incomplete and why so they know they need to submit one. And we're not allowed to review incomplete applications.
Even if not required, a cover letter gives you the opportunity to explain why you want that specific job at that specific organization. A well-written, targeted cover letter can help your application stand out over another with a generic cover letter, all else being equal.
I have a simple rule for cover letters:
I was taught to write a concise and targeted cover letter at school but i've been in this industry 14 years now and never actually written a single cover letter.
My experience has been that the recruiter (internal or agent) will copy and paste your experience and details into the potential employers preferred format anyway and then pad it out a bit more after their initial phone call with you.
I've recently been helping with a recruitment and have been surprised just how much a good cover letter makes a big difference when viewing an application.
I'd agree with the people that say it doesn't need to be long and that a general cover letter is often no better than no cover letter at all. What it can do is give context - why is it this job you are interested in, in what ways do you feel you would fit and to draw the recruiter's attention to things that might not be obvious from your CV - any gaps, if you've had a very different role in the past how you can see those skills being useful or this job being a step in a direction you are wanting to go.
From the other side I've found in the past that putting together even a couple of paragraphs helps me think - do I want this job? What would I have to learn? How good a match is it really? and to delve into the description and the advert to decide does this actually sound like a place I would be happy working.
I would only say it is worth it for companies you are really interested in working at. That could be a differentiator, but for large companies I don't think it would make too much of a difference. For smaller companies, perhaps startups, they may pay closer attention to these things.
They dont need to be 5 pages long.
I think it depends on in which country and at what company you are applying for a job.
I do not see any sense in a cover letter and was way to lazy to write a single one when I was looking for a job a year ago as a frontend developer. I applied only with my CV for jobs found with Linkedin "Easy Apply", OR I still applied even if the company was asking for a cover letter in the job description.
Either way almost every application led to an interview, therefore I think cover letter is not worth it and the CV is where you should focus.
I wrote an article back than on how to create a strong CV (for juniors with no work experience), but maybe it can still help you as well.
How to write a promising CV
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