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"Do I really need a cover letter for every application?"
The short answer? Yes.
A resume without a cover letter sends a message. It says: “I didn’t care enough about this job to bother.”
I’m willing to bet that’s not the message you want to send.
What’s more, in today’s hot job market it’s extra hard to stand out from hundreds of other job candidates. You need every edge you can get. A cover letter gives you an edge. It gives recruiters and hiring managers one more reason to look at you. Adding a cover letter shows that you cared enough to give them five minutes of your time.
(And yes, you can write a cover letter in five minutes! See below to get a template that makes them a snap!)
Your cover letter is a tremendous opportunity to show how you are perfect for the job. That’s too good an opportunity to pass up.
Why? What does a cover letter do for my job search?
A good cover letter gives recruiters and hiring managers several reasons to say “yes” before they even look at your resume.
A good cover letter highlights skills and experience that may not be obvious from your resume. And it lets you talk about soft skills that might not even appear on your resume.
If you’re making a big career pivot, your cover letter is an unparalleled opportunity to help recruiters and hiring managers see how your past experience is relevant. Don’t make them guess. Don’t leave it to them to figure out. Use your cover letter to show them!
That's a good cover letter. But a great cover? A great cover letter speaks to specific problems or challenges that each company needs help with, and shows how you are the perfect person to help them solve that challenge.
And on top of all this, your cover letter gives a sense of who you are as a person. It makes you memorable. Put yourself in the shoes of your average recruiter. They have to sort through hundreds of applications. This is a problem because after looking at 25 or 30, those resumes start to blend together. So your cover letter adds a personal touch that helps you stand out and be memorable. That's an extra edge, and every edge counts.
Who needs a cover letter?
I'm hoping that at this point you're thinking, "I definitely need a cover letter." But in case you're not quite there yet, let's see if you fall into one of the groups of people who absolutely must include cover letters.
If you are making a big career change, you need a cover letter. This is your chance to show how your past career experience is relevant to your new career.
If you are trying to up-level in your current job search, you need a cover letter. For example, if you have been an individual contributor and now you're looking for your first lead role, or if you're trying to move from lead to manager, or manager to director. Your cover letter gives you a chance to position you for the next level by highlighting leadership skills that may not be obvious from your past roles
On this note, you also need a cover letter if your last job title doesn't match the one you're applying to, for all the same reasons.
If you are new in your career and you don't have a lot of paid job experience to show on your resume, your cover letter offers an opportunity to talk about relevant unpaid experience. For example, if you've just completed a bootcamp or if you have a lot of relevant volunteer experience, your cover letter is your chance to talk about that.
And then there's one group for whom cover letters are extra important. If you are a content producer of any sort, you need a cover letter. If you are a technical writer, content developer, instructional designer, social media marketer, or have any other job that involves content production, then your cover letter is your first writing sample. Give your cover letter all the same love and attention you'd give to anything in your portfolio.
But, but, but… (objections)
I coach and mentor a lot of people through their job searches, so I’ve heard all the objections to cover letters. They basically boil down to:
It takes too much time.
I don’t know what to include.
Nobody reads them anyway.
Creating a cover letter for every job is definitely work. But it doesn’t have to be a lot of work. I set my clients up with a solid, tried and true structure that they can tailor to each job in just minutes. And I feel so strongly that cover letters are good practice that I’m sharing this cover letter template with you, along with a line-by-line guide that shows you how to use it. Use it once and BOOM, you’ll be able to crank out great cover letters for every job you apply to, without spending hours on each one. If this would help, drop your email below!
And then there’s that last objection — “nobody reads them anyway.” There might be some small truth in that. A busy recruiter or manager might not have time to read every cover letter. But the mere existence of a cover letter still sends a signal. It says, “I care about this job.” That’s a message worth sending. And if they do read your cover letter, you get an instant leg up over the hundred candidates who didn’t bother writing one.
In today’s hot job market you need every edge. Your cover letter gives you one. So please write one for every job. And if you want a proven format and examples of what to include, leave your email below (⇩) and I'll send my free cover letter template and guide. Write better cover letters in half the time!
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