Do you bother to submit a cover letter?

There is some debate among candidates and Human Resources professionals about the value of a cover letter. With the move to web-based electronic application systems, has the cover letter outlived its usefulness? Not in my humble opinion.

Do I read every candidate's cover letter? No. Do I read every cover letter of candidates who's resumes have piqued my interest? The answer is absolutely yes.

In other words, when a candidate  applies to Pinnacol for an opening the first thing I look at is the resume, not the cover letter, because I want to know what the candidate has done (or at least professes to have done!). If the resume doesn't look like a fit for the position I honestly don't spend the time reading the cover letter. On the other hand, if the resume makes the candidate appear to be a potentially good fit for our opening, then I read the cover letter. And I read it carefully.

I look to the cover letter for supplemental information. The resume tells me about accomplishments and work experience. The cover letter helps tell me about who this person is. The way the letter is written, the information it contains, whether there are any typos, who its addressed to (I actually receive all sorts of cover letters addressed to companies other than Pinnacol), all form a deeper impression than what I can gain by only reviewing the resume.

I look to the cover letter to confirm my initial positive impression of the candidate that was formed by their resume. Sometimes it does this, but if its poorly written it usually changes my mind to the point where I'll no longer consider the candidate.

Our system allows candidates to attach, or copy and paste, both a cover letter and a resume. Sometimes candidates don't submit any cover letter at all. There are occasions where I am uncertain about my interest in the candidate after reviewing their resume and a solid, well-written cover letter can convince me to further consider them. In these instances if there is no cover letter to supplement the resume, the odds are that the candidate, whom I had only mild interest in to begin with, is not going to proceed in the process.

So what does all this boil down to? Here are my thoughts...

• A well composed, well-written cover letter can get you over the hump when your resume alone fails to convince the person reviewing it
• No cover letter at all hurts your chances of getting into the "further consideration" pile
• A poorly composed, poorly written (typos! mis-addressed!) cover letter is worse than no cover letter at all

Ask 10 Human Resources people about this and you'll likely get 10 different opinions but if you want the odds to be in your favor, a well-written cover letter certainly helps.