I love cover letters for this reason. It’s easy to tell who is shotgunning and who is thoughtfully applying. I might be lucky in the sense that I still get the latter.
Apologies. You deserve a thoughtful answer but I’ve had a day. Maybe others can add in, but the most common one for me is when they bind their qualifications to the role by way of one or two (very) short anecdotes or personal experiences. It also gives me something to ask about that you’re likely comfortable elaborating on. A great ice breaker.
Slightly more seriously, if AI makes cutting through the noise of resumes submitted from unknowns even more difficult, maybe people default more and more to hiring people they know--which they already do to a non-trivial degree.
What's there for you to be baffled about?
What I don't get is what benefit does a company get by people pretending that they are applying for anything other than the (total) salary?
Many years ago I worked as a hiring manager for a PR firm in India, the cover letter is a very good way to sift out the dedicated candidates from the unfocused.
It also provides us with a unique insight into their psyche, using a combination of NLP and targeted interview questions regarding topics mentioned in the cover letter, we were able to discern potential points of leverage when it comes to salary negotiation. For example, an ideologically driven unior associate will accept a lower yearly salary as long as he's personal ego requirements are fulfilled, thus minimising operational expenditure for the business.