Monday, October 21 - "What Happened to Cover Letters?"

Good morning!

Just checking in you. How are you doing today?

Here’s what’s on the job description for today:

1. New roles from a logistics company dressed up as a food company.

2. Violet asks, “I almost never see any companies asking for cover letters. Is there any use to them?”

IN HIRING

Deliveroo

• One of the big winners after all the food delivery wars, Deliveroo continues to expand and hire among their global offices.

• Over 150 jobs are available in every department from Sales, Strategy, Operations, and much more.

• Here are a few of the most interesting roles available:

  • Business Operations and Strategy Manager - Click here for full details

  • Finance and Strategy Manager - Click here for full details

  • City Manager - Click here for full details

Click here for the company’s career page

TODAY’S QUESTION

Violet asks, “I almost never see any companies asking for cover letters. Is there any use to them?”

Recommendation: You’re right. I’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the number of applications that ask for them. Here’s how I’d think of them if I were in your shoes:

• First, from my experience working with candidates, I’ve noticed two important things related to cover letters:

  1. Industry matters a lot - if you’re applying to B-corps or cause-driven industries (charities for example), cover letters play a huge role in showing that you care a lot about their stakeholders and would be a good fit.

  2. They’re now a differentiator - since they’re rarely asked for, adding a cover letter can help set yourself apart from a sea of resumes.

• Second, if you are struggling to get as many interviews as you’d like, I recommend adding cover letters to your application strategy. It doesn’t need to be for all applications but for the roles you really want, use the fact that they’re rarely required as an opportunity to stand out.

• Finally, if you’re going to do them, there is a balance between time spent and potential outcome. You don’t want to spend so much time that you can’t send the volume of applications you want but you don’t want to spend so little time that they’re a waste all together. A bad cover letter is worse than no cover letter.

  • I recommend using some sort of AI for the first draft. Feel free to use Chat GPT to get something started. Add your resume details and the job description and ask it to write one for you.

  • After that, go through and re-write it a bit. The language they use can seem inauthentic and they will re-use certain words that make it obvious you didn’t write it yourself.

Conclusion:

Cover letters have gone from a pain for job seekers to an opportunity. Use this opportunity in a way that doesn’t take up all your time but adds value to your application.