The ReCareered blog post Is Your Job Search Stuck in the 90s? shook me up a bit. In it, author Phil Rosenberg bluntly tells readers to "lose the cover letter." Ouch! For a serious cover letter-writer like myself, "losing it" would be like ripping a band-aid off tender skin.

I have written many carefully crafted covers after the 90s ended. I tailored each one to the job I was seeking, searched for the perfect words to sell my skills, worried about the placement of every comma, semi-colon and dash.

I don't think Rosenberg would be impressed with my painstakingness in this area. He also wrote another ReCareered post called Is Your Cover Letter an Ineffective and Obsolete Tradition? In it he states: "It's a well published statistic that hiring managers spend an average 15 seconds spends making an interview/non interview decision. You can't read both a resumé and a cover letter in 15 seconds." The implication, of course, is that the cover letter simply does not get read.

Maybe that's true in large companies, but 15 seconds seems like a mighty short span of time to me. Certainly, the few times that I've been part of a hiring committee I've spent far more than 15 seconds per application. Any candidate who delivered a standout cover but a mediocre resumé would get a second look and, conversely, I'd weed out people who provided a shoddily written letter with lots of typos and grammar mistakes. Of course, the place I work for is pretty small and many of the positions we've posted have required serious writing ability -- we're not a typical employer, by any stretch.

Here is some more ammunition from the other side. According to The New York Times, A Cover Letter is Not Expendable. "[I]n a competitive market they can give you a serious edge if they are written and presented effectively." In addition, the respondents to this interesting LinkedIn forum on the relevance of cover letters were overwhelmingly pro-cover letter.

Maybe the practice of writing cover letters will eventually wither away, but for now I know where I stand -- I'm going to continue writing covers. I'll shorten them up a bit and I may take a few less pains with them, but I will still take pains.

kathyo

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Once I wrote a fantastic customized resumé and equally fabulous cover letter, not realizing until it was almost too late that they were due the next day. Sending my application by email was not an option. Not trusting the mail, I decided to drop my resumé and cover letter off in person.

When I got to the company, the place was locked down tighter than a drum, and I felt kind of creepy trying to open the doors. The end result was that I didn’t get the application in on time, and, of course, I didn’t get the job. Who knows? If I had paid attention to the details of the posting, I might have landed a new job.

It’s common for job postings to contain specific application instructions. Sometimes employers ask job seekers to fax their resumé, some ask them to mail it, and yet others want an email. Also look for details as to whether you should send the resumé in the body of the email or in an MS Word (or rich text) attachment. Often ads will stipulate: “No telephone calls, please.” Needless to say, making a phone call could ruin your chances.

As well, don’t forget to put the job call number or job title in the subject line of your email or cover letter if the posting asks for that. I have even heard of companies who ask job hunters to include the name of their favourite cartoon character in the subject line. You can bet that they don’t really care whether you prefer Bugs Bunny over Porky Pig. It’s just a way to weed out applicants who can’t follow instructions.

Finally, you can never be too careful about tiny details like the following:

• Having the correct email address (for email applications)
• Sending snail mail packages to the correct address
• Putting enough postage on the envelope

And, unlike me, make sure that you send your application before the closing date!

Susan Stone

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