Do you need a cover letter?

Some modern experts say no. Here’s why I think cover letters are essential to the job hunt.

Ahhh, cover letters. The job hunting tool everybody loves to hate. They’re clunky, they take up precious time, and we fear that no one reads them anyway. We’re solidly into the 2020s, so do you need a cover letter? Or are cover letters outdated?

Well, for starters, it’s true. Cover letters add to the time commitment for each application, and usually when one crosses my desk, it needs serious help. That’s partly because of common misunderstandings over how to write a cover letter. Cover letters aren’t meant to repeat your resume. They’re supposed to connect the dots. The point of the cover letter is to explain why you applied for the job in the first place.

Nowhere is this more noticeable, however, than in reviewing job application workflows that don’t make space for cover letters. Case in point: Workday. The application site not only completely butchered my resume during the import process this morning but also failed to make space for cover letter submission. Now, here’s the thing: Over here in the applicant chair, I do need a cover letter. This may or may not be a problem to the employer, but it is definitely a problem for me.

See, most millennials and up-and-coming workers have grown up in a job market where sticking with the same employer for decades is virtually unheard of. We have weird, highly varied experiences as workers. Remote stints, odd gigs, multiple moves, gaps, it’s all normal. Taken in aggregate, we might, in fact, be incredible candidates for an open position. There isn’t room on a resume, however, to assemble all those puzzle pieces in a way that is going to make sense to a faceless hiring manager whom you’ve never met (and that’s assuming you’re lucky enough to get past any automatic screenings blocking your application for having, or not having, the wrong keywords). So, while you might not think you need a cover letter, and the folks on the other end might prefer not to bother, odds are good that you do.

What makes a good cover letter?
An effective cover letter should take the disparate information within your work history and create a “big picture” effect for the prospective employer. You need a cover letter to bring in all of the colorful details that are not on your base resume but will explain why you should be considered seriously for the job.

Most of the time when we talk about cover letters, we break out the templates and drone on about structure and formatting. A functioning cover letter isn’t just a series of formalities and addresses, though. Here’s what recruiters are reading cover letters for. Leave out any one of these elements, and I’ll agree that cover letters are pointless:

• Who you are
• Who you’re talking to
• What you’re talking about
• Why you reached out
• Why they should care
• How they can reach you if they want more information

Not every job calls for a cover letter. Entry-level roles don’t make sense for this. Neither do jobs where the applicant has clearly had to stay within one industry for their entire adult working life, maintain union membership, or hold key licenses or certifications in order to qualify. For job listings that call for creative, strategic thinkers, however, providing the option to submit a cover letter has the potential to improve your applicant pool and reduce frustration on both sides.

This benefit is all but lost, though, when cover letters are drafted by AI. Since the entire point of your cover letter is to market yourself as a well-rounded person, AI tools deployed in this context will be working against you. It’s vital to make sure that your personal voice, your big-picture thinking, and your diverse, human skills are all coming across.

Do you think cover letters are outdated relics? Or are you the sort of person who really does need a cover letter to tie your application story together?