Ask HN: Do you still provide cover letters? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you still provide cover letters?

2 pointsjc_8115 comments

I’m currently in a job search phase, and have heard differing opinions from my peers about still using cover letters when applying to roles. I can understand using them in the beginning of your career since it can help differentiate you and bolster an empty resume. However, for reference I’m in my “mid” career with roughly 9 professional years under my belt.

Curious to hear if you’ve stopped using cover letters passed a certain point, or continue to use a tailored one for each role applying to.

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I seldom provide a cover “letter”. If I’m emailing somebody I’d include one or two paragraphs about what I find interesting about their company/product/etc… or if applying via a career page I’d put that on the cover letter field.

But IMHO more than cover letters or anything else, talking with somebody above a recruiter is one of the best things that you can do! If you can send a message via LinkedIn or have a connection to somebody that works there, use that! If it’s posted on HN who’s hiring and the hiring manager posts his email, use that instead of applying through a career page. No matter how good your cover letter, a referral is always better!

In my company referrals are pretty much guaranteed at the very least a calls, so I’d suggest looking more into how you could get in touch with somebody at the company vs investing tons of energy in crafting the perfect cover letter.

For reference, I’m in a similar position in my career as you, about 10y of experience.

Good luck!

Cover letters are still the brown M&M test [0] in some fields. It's a sign you read the application guidelines which specify details, usually including a cover letter. No cover, it gets tossed in favor of people who follow instructions.

[0] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brown-out/

I have about 20 years of experience and I consider my initial email to be the "cover letter".

What if you were applying via the careers page, and there was an optional upload field for a cover letter?

When you have 20 years of experience, you probably don't blindly submit resumes for listings anymore unless you have zero connections at the company you're applying to.

And connections can really just be "anyone who can get you an e-mail address of a hiring manager"

Personally my approach is to treat the cover letter upload like an introduction email and not bother with all of the traditional cover letter stuff. Keep it simple like

"Hi, hope you're doing good, I'm this person with X years of experience, I like what you do and I want to be a part of it."

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