The Great Cover Letter Debate

As if writing a compelling, succinct resume wasn’t challenging enough searching for a job wouldn’t be complete without the joy of the cover letter.

In the past, long before the age of the internet, in a time of paper and ink, the days of parchment and Sanskrit, people in search of employment were tasked with looking through the paper, circling a job posting and then either calling a number for more information, going in person to the address listed or mailing a copy of their resume to the company in need.

Thank god for the mobile device dependent creatures that we are today those days are long gone, replaced forever with not only job postings online but applications, submissions, and a debate over whether or not a cover letter is useful and necessary.

For every employer I spoke to who insisted that a resume must be accompanied by a cover letter I met one who said it was a waste of time and that they never read them.

So let’s break down the pros and cons of the modern day cover letter.

Pro — Resumes are Robotic. Cover Letters CAN show your personality.

They can also show that you’re a self-involved psycho-path that will cover your desk in Pokemon plush dolls and insist on bringing your miniature schnauzer into work as often as possible but at best a cover letter can catch the eye of a recruiter or hiring manager who is no doubt bored to the teeth with one repetitive, ‘To Whom it May Concern…’ letter after another. Cover letters can be a tremendous opportunity land the gig provided they are unique, well-crafted and unfortunately, check the exact boxes the person reading the letter is looking for.

Con — It’s Repetitive.

Particularly anytime the job you’re applying for asks you to email your resume having an additional cover letter can feel redundant. Now you’re faced with the decision of, ‘How much do I write in the email?’ vs. ‘What do I write in the cover letter?’ and ‘How do I make both unique and different from the resume?!’ The solution that most hiring managers seem to agree on is keep the email brief AND include a cover letter OR have your email take the place of the cover letter and don’t attach an additional letter.

Pro — You can highlight aspects of your resume.

Depending on how you organize your experience a cover letter can be an excellent way to emphasis part of your work history. Maybe your last job was working the pixie dust spreader at the state fair but the job before that one you were managing a staff of 20 and handling expense reports for the local Bojangles. Whereas your resume might bury the Bojangles experience your cover letter can bring that special sauce to the forefront.

Con — They take time to write.

Short attention spans aren’t exclusive to people in search of work. The people doing the hiring suffer from the same sort of malaise. Which, if anything, should be taken in to account when deciding if a cover letter is even necessary. With fewer hiring managers and recruiters taking the time to read them and with you on your own clock in search of that next big opportunity, it may make sense to try and get as many resumes out there as possible and forego the cumbersome task of writing a new and unique cover letter for each and every company you pursue.

Pro- It’s the professional choice.

The classy, professional move is to write a letter. It shows you care. It shows you have ideas. It shows you can connect key aspects of your resume with key responsibilities listed in the job posting. It doesn’t take that long to write a skeleton cover letter that has basic details which can be altered slightly depending on the position and the job in question. A cover letter is a way to show confidence in yourself and what you’ve accomplished.

Con- It’s annoying.

No one will read it. You’re sitting at home, making no money, collecting unemployment, the landlord is knocking, your girlfriend has given up on you, you just turned 40, the dog has bailed figuring he could make a better go of things on his own and here you are sitting down to write a cover letter at FedEx Kinkos because your laptop is too saturated with-you know damn well with what-to even load a G-rated job board like Indeed or LinkedIn. But forget all that because you have the perfect anecdote to share with the hiring manger at Chipotle about why they should hire you to be the new, Head of Guac.

Now that we’ve gone over the pros and cons I imagine you’ve reached the end of this hoping for some final thought, to tie it all up, slap a bow on it, and help you with your decision and the truth of the matter is… I don’t have that. If I did I wouldn’t be sitting home on my couch watching everyone and their mother get a Netflix Standup special while I pretend to write sincere cover letters to employers about how badly I want the job of selling crap to kids.

What was the point of this column? Is anyone still reading?

All I can say is, good luck. I’d say when you’re in the mood to toss ’em a cover letter than do it. And when you’ve had enough and you just feel like going for quantity over quality then fire off a couple cover letter-free applications. At the end of the day the only way you’re getting a job is if you know someone so here’s hoping you didn’t burn all your bridges on the way up cause you’re gonna see them all on your way back down.