Do you still need a cover letter?

Ask ten people whether cover letters still matter and you will get ten confident answers. Some recruiters never read them. Others will not consider an application without one. Both are telling the truth about their own desk. The useful question is not whether cover letters matter in general, but whether this one, for this job, is worth an hour of your time.

What the evidence says

The best test we know of comes from ResumeGo, a company that sells CV writing services, so read it with that in mind. Between July 2019 and January 2020 it sent 7,287 fictitious applications to real job openings and compared three groups: no cover letter, a well written generic letter, and a letter tailored to the job.

According to the published results, applications with a tailored letter had a 53 percent higher callback rate than applications with no letter. In the company's survey of 236 recruiters and hiring managers, 81 percent said they valued a tailored letter significantly more than a generic one.

Two things follow. A letter can help, and most of the benefit comes from the letter being about this job. A generic letter is a weak substitute.

When you should write one

The posting asks for it. This is not optional. Leaving it out tells the employer you did not read the instructions.

You have something the CV cannot say. A change of career, a gap, a move to another city or country, or a reason you want this company in particular. A CV lists facts. A letter explains them.

The job is one you really want. If you would be disappointed not to get an interview, an hour on a specific letter is a small price.

The role involves writing or dealing with clients. The letter is a sample of your work.

The employer is small. In a small company the person reading applications is often the person you would work for, and they are more likely to read everything you send.

When you can skip it

The application form has no place for one. Do not force it into another field.

The posting says not to send one. Believe them.

You would only send a generic letter. If you have no time to make it specific, your time is better spent tailoring the CV. A letter that could go to any company adds very little.

High volume applications through a quick apply button. Where an employer is collecting hundreds of CVs through a one click form, letters are rarely read.

"Optional" usually means "recommended"

When a form says the cover letter is optional, the employer is telling you it will not be held against you if you skip it. It does not mean nobody will read it. If the job matters to you, treat optional as a chance to be one of the few applicants who explain why they fit.

What makes a letter worth reading

If you are going to write one, make it count:

• Name the role and give your main reason in the first two sentences
• Pick two or three facts from your experience that match the most important requirements
• Include one thing that could only be about this company
• Keep it under 400 words
• Say only what you could defend in an interview

A letter like that takes research more than writing skill. Twenty minutes reading about the company gives you the one specific sentence that most letters lack.

A fair summary

A cover letter is not required for every application, and a weak one helps nobody. A specific letter, for a job that asks for one or a job you really want, is still one of the few ways to stand out before the interview.

Sources

• ResumeGo, Cover Letters: Just How Important Are They?, a field experiment with 7,287 applications and a survey of 236 hiring professionals

Where JobUncover fits

On the Research and Full prep levels, JobUncover researches the company from public sources and drafts a cover letter from that research, checked against your real profile. The specific part is done for you, and you review, edit and send the letter yourself.