Cover Letter? Who Needs Them?

I’m not going to bore you with a long drawn out post regarding whether you need a cover letter or not. The simple answer is that it depends.

It depends on what the application asks you for. If you are applying for a job and it requires a cover letter, not submitting one could make your application seem incomplete. You may not need to submit a cover letter for every application but you will need to submit one for those that specifically asks for one.

Many people will tell you that cover letters are a thing of the past. They may say that no one reads them, recruiters overlook them and you simply don’t need them all together. No matter what the scenario is, you want to make sure you are not caught off guard in the event that you do need one.

I want you to consider your cover letter as a “highlighter”. Recall when you are reading a book, or studying for something. You typically use a highlighter to bring attention to the items that you want to remember or that you want to jump off the page. Your cover letter should be a representation of exactly the same.

Don’t make the mistake of simply repeating the bullet points that will be documented on your resume. Use your cover letter as an opportunity to express your interest, to highlight your value and offer a call to action.