Does anyone still Expect Ccover Letters for Resumes (Hint -

Does anyone still Expect Ccover Letters for Resumes (Hint - They Do)

It's the "tradition"; a job resume is supposed to go out with a cover letter. Without it, a resume just seems so abrupt, so bare, so barren. But in a world where resumes go out through e-mail, where everyone is in a perpetual hurry, does any hiring manager even care that people sit down and write cover letters for resumes anymore? Actually, since you ask, they do. To most of those in power who sit across on the other side of the desk, a cover letter is still the most important way by which to gauge the kind of person you are. You aren't quite in the door yet just because your e-mail resides in the employer's inbox. You still need to promote yourself as someone who deserves to even have his rsum read. And four out of five hiring managers claim that they don't even look at a rsum that comes unannounced by a cover letter. All anyone needs to do is to write a snappy couple of paragraphs in the body of the jobseeking e-mail, and let the resume tag along as an attachment.

What hiring managers never understand is how a job seeker can ever dream of letting go of an opportunity like this at impressing him. Lots of companies on their Careers pages actually list a cover letter among the things they expect with an application. If you comply and write a cover letter, you get to show the hirer how you actually read instructions that are given to you (it's a pet peeve people have that there are some who just refuse to ). Cover letters for resumes are supposed to be custom written for the job. They are supposed to name the hiring manager, the specific job you're interested in, and the specific skills you have that will address the needs of that job. Cover letters for resumes are not one-size-fits-all propositions. And whatever they are, they do allow the hiring manager to judge how well you can put thoughts to paper, in competent language.

But as with other things, the cover letter rule is not a completely hard and fast one. There are still some kinds of jobs where a cover letter seems out of place. Part-time jobs, for instance, are not supposed to be so demanding that they would need to look at your character through the lens of the cover letter. A relentlessly result-oriented trade like sales is better served by more action-oriented applications than by cover letters. An application in the form of a Power Point presentation with an action plan for generating better sales might look better. Most job advertisements will put out some kind of instruction on what the policy is on a cover letter. However even if cover letters for rsums don't seem to be required at a job, the very least you need to do is introduce your resume with a couple of lines in the body of the e-mail.