I didn't ask for more information. What you decide to tell me in your cover letter is way more interesting than your exhaustive list of every piece of software

I didn't ask for more information. What you decide to tell me in your cover letter is way more interesting than your exhaustive list of every piece of software you've ever used. I'm not a recruiter who throws resumes at a text processor and sends through useless people to the employer because of some random keyword. I'm the employer who's looking for quality people who are interesting. In judging that, your resume is fairly useless compared to a cover letter. I've applied for about two dozen jobs in my life. I have about a 33% success rate getting an interview and have got the job at every interview but one. Having now been a hiring manager for the past five years, I believe that's down to the fact that I don't just pump out bland useless resumes to people. (And I avoid recruiters!) TL;DR; Here's my advice: If you're applying to a large corporation or via a recruiter, the cover letter is probably useless. But if you're applying directly (or to a HN post!) then spend a few minutes explaining yourself.