To my horror, I have heard senior HR managers at major corporations and recruiters tell me they do not
even read cover letters!
The hiring manager usually only
reads a cover letter if the resume contains the minimum qualifications for the job.
A good recruiter will still
read your cover letter before giving you a call but most of the time it is your resume, not your cover letter, that gets you the interview.
And hiring managers are likely to
read cover letters of the top candidates that have been referred to them.
The reality is that potential employers usually
read your cover letter first to determine whether or not they should spend their time in reading your resume.
Because you can't argue with the stats — recruiters
still read cover letters and won't be bothered to open your resume if you don't attach one.
For instance, if you're looking for a job as a writer, editor or publisher, your employer will probably
read the cover letter as a sample of your writing style.
Just about every client I work with lately brings up the rumor they've heard that no
one reads cover letters anymore.
You can explain your status in a cover letter, but recruiters don't
always read cover letters and human resource departments don't always pass along cover letters to hiring managers.
That is why so many potential employers may skip
reading the cover letter unless they asked you to list specific information in it such as salary history or availability for work.
Conversely, HR professionals from smaller organizations (42 percent) are slightly more likely than those from larger employers (34 percent) to spend between 31 and 60
seconds reading cover letters.
You need to build a rapport with the employer who
reads the cover letter with the aid of your language and writing style of the cover letter.
Besides, the main reason why HR managers
love reading cover letters is that they can spot something they haven't seen in a resume.
Be sure to
read our cover letter format guide which takes you to the next step of the cover letter writing process - formatting and editing.