6 ms·

Recruiter here, and this is exactly right. Three good sentences in a 'cover letter' and you won't even make me need to read the resume at all. You should be abl

by fecak 13y ago

Recruiter here, and this is exactly right. Three good sentences in a 'cover letter' and you won't even make me need to read the resume at all. You should be able to do it in under five minutes. I wrote an article a few weeks ago on the same topic which is relevant (http://lifehacker.com/tips-from-a-recruiter-dont-make-me-read-your-resume-1520083351 http://lifehacker.com/tips-from-a-recruiter-dont-make-me-rea...)

danielweber 13y ago
Why do some companies not accept cover letters at all (and you really only find this out after you have applied)?
- fecak 13y ago
  First, if you are exclusively (or primarily) applying through online applications I'd strong suggest you reconsider your search strategy. That strategy is not nearly as effective as getting in through a side door - the front door is crowded, and the bottleneck tends to get most candidates ignored. These online applications, with some exceptions, are usually the resumes that get only a few seconds to make an impact - you might lose your reader in the first few sentences (note: I haven't worked in big company recruiting from an internal role, but this is pretty widely acknowledged and studies have been released confirming how little time is given to a resume in these conditions). Why do some companies not accept cover letters? For one, nobody wants to read them. Keep in mind, nobody wants to read cover letters OR resumes. They want to have a conversation, and they want to be able to determine as quickly and accurately as possible whether or not that conversation is worth having. This can be quite prone to bias. Most cover letters simply reiterate what the resume says, but in a condensed format, along with some fluff about how hard they work and how strong their soft skills are. It's usually fairly pointless, and some companies ask for them as a bit of a test of your interest. Companies that don't ask for them likely don't feel they are useful, and would rather have their recruiters looking at resumes (and hopefully actually having conversations) than reading traditional formatted letters.
  - ballard 13y ago
    Investor interest and hiring manager interest has this in common: inbound to the candidate is far better than shaking bushes. Even YC alum mentioned how outbound is basically desperate and futile. Not that it can't be done, it's that the probability is much lower.
ballard 13y ago
Cover letter is the TL;DR as how the resume applies to the req with 2-3 top selling points. The resume is like a marketing specifications sheet to sell a phone chat. Etc.

by fecak 13y ago

danielweber 13y ago

Why do some companies not accept cover letters at all (and you really only find this out after you have applied)?

fecak 13y ago
First, if you are exclusively (or primarily) applying through online applications I'd strong suggest you reconsider your search strategy. That strategy is not nearly as effective as getting in through a side door - the front door is crowded, and the bottleneck tends to get most candidates ignored. These online applications, with some exceptions, are usually the resumes that get only a few seconds to make an impact - you might lose your reader in the first few sentences (note: I haven't worked in big company recruiting from an internal role, but this is pretty widely acknowledged and studies have been released confirming how little time is given to a resume in these conditions). Why do some companies not accept cover letters? For one, nobody wants to read them. Keep in mind, nobody wants to read cover letters OR resumes. They want to have a conversation, and they want to be able to determine as quickly and accurately as possible whether or not that conversation is worth having. This can be quite prone to bias. Most cover letters simply reiterate what the resume says, but in a condensed format, along with some fluff about how hard they work and how strong their soft skills are. It's usually fairly pointless, and some companies ask for them as a bit of a test of your interest. Companies that don't ask for them likely don't feel they are useful, and would rather have their recruiters looking at resumes (and hopefully actually having conversations) than reading traditional formatted letters.
- ballard 13y ago
  Investor interest and hiring manager interest has this in common: inbound to the candidate is far better than shaking bushes. Even YC alum mentioned how outbound is basically desperate and futile. Not that it can't be done, it's that the probability is much lower.

ballard 13y ago

Cover letter is the TL;DR as how the resume applies to the req with 2-3 top selling points. The resume is like a marketing specifications sheet to sell a phone chat. Etc.