Audiences
By Ralph Haas
In this age of proliferating applicant tracking systems, automated job posting systems, and company career pages, the cover letter seems to be going out of style somehow. And yet, while it is often true that computers (and some recruiters) don’t read cover letters these days, it is also true that sometimes living, breathing humans—and even a few hiring managers—still do. So if you keep writing them, and one of them gets read (thereby having a positive impact on your candidacy for the job), then the extra effort was more than justified.
A few thoughts:
While it is certainly true that the odds of your cover letter being read are decreasing with the introduction of newer technologies, the ultimate mathematical equation of job search still trumps all others: It only takes one. If that one cover letter gets you in the door, what do you care what the odds were?