Why I threw away your resume (from the crankiest recruiter)
bloomberry.com
bloomberry.com
Here's what I used to do. CVs went through initial triage and were (quickly) sorted into three piles:
1. People I want to interview.
2. Backup pile: I don't want to meet these people, but if there is no one left in (1), we take this pile and work with it.
3. Rejected.
That triage was quick. If you have several hundred CVs, you will judge them quickly. That's not just because you can't spend too much time on each, but also because you can actually afford false negatives: even if you reject some good candidates, chances are you'll still end up with a good hire. So things that people would consider superficial become factors. Badly formatted CV: rejected, it's likely the candidate doesn't care or isn't organized. Typo spotted: rejected, same reasons. Missing information (like dates): rejected. You get the picture.
But the tone in the guy’s post is all wrong. That “I can tell you want this job” bullshit. Like, my friend, I just want A Job. Yours isn’t special, they’re all shit we can acknowledge that.
That’s where my mind goes, anyway. Framing this instead the way you do (and the author seemed to try to but couldn’t help putting in a little “tough love” garbage) makes it much more sympathetic and understandable. I’ve read so many of these screeds over the years and the ones that I don’t nope out of immediately don’t come with the sense you’re being talked down to.
Worst case, from the employer's side, is they might have to pay the successful candidate *gasp* a few tens of thousands more per year (out of a budget, in a huge percentage of cases, in the two-to-three-digit millions or higher).
Worst case, from the employee's side, is that they might not get any job. For months. During which they still have to pay for food, rent/mortgage, clothing, utilities, etc, possibly for several people.
And these days, the median rejection letter is none. Most employers just ghost prospective employees who didn't make the cut.
That's still not symmetrical in the common case. It's incredibly unlikely that such a thing would lead to a business going under, while it's all too likely for a job-seeker to have to spend months looking for a job, with no income, very little savings (because a huge percentage of Americans simply don't make enough money to save any even if they have jobs), and a horribly dysfunctional social safety net.
So a company expects me to stay loyal to them through the worst of times and not jump ship to better opportunities, but when money is tight for them or the founder just wants a new yacht, they'll gladly downsize/sell/merge and lay off hundreds in a heartbeat.
1. Do not read 550 CVs yourself. Everyone parses these automatically.
2. The perfect candidate is the one I cannot tolerate going to my competition. If they know my systems or my competitions systems, the recruiter’s job depends on negotiating for them rather than reading cover letters fireside. The challenge for recruiters is that the perfect candidate hasn’t applied.
On the other hand, a lot of prospective employees are just trying to exist. And some people don't "dream" of work. Others dreams are just plain unrealistic.
And some don't have things that make them unique. Frankly with 8 billion of us, people come a dime a dozen. Not every candidate can be Einstein. And fair if you reject them when looking for an Einstein.
But where do the non-einsteins go then? How can they keep their existence?
What are the societal effects when we handwave this group away and prefer not to think about it? In what ways will it come back to bite us?
The entire system is broken. The reason we tolerate capitalism is that it fosters competition and innovation, which produces material plenty.
But then it takes most of the benefits for itself, destroys the environment, and divides society into owners and wage-slaves.
Capitalism is not that far from, and in a sense a continuation of, feudalism. Many dynasties from feudal times are still wealthy today, now owning companies instead of just lands.
The question should be, with 8 billion of us, how should we live, together? What system do we need to maximize humanity, not just 'profit'?
I feel someone who doesn't make the effort to write a cover letter is more likely to waste our time — cancelling an interview, or not accepting an offer. It's also the applicant's chance to explain why they are a good candidate for this job, and if there's anything odd on their CV.
The CV shows you can do something, the cover letter shows you want to.
I would not bother with cover letters, take-home tests (unless fairly far into the process), or any other asymetric work - ie work that's free for recruiters to ask for but takes time deliver.
If they are willing to write in detail about how the company would be a perfect fit for you, then it's fair to write a tailored letter about how you'd would be perfect for them.
Cool, even douchebaggery in blog post form is 100% manufactured. Good to see in this new age of AI we still push the old classics of SEO clickbait.
I've never needed a cover letter in my whole life.