| Unless you are being recruited by a family member, | | | | soccer uniform and cleats and another one wearing |
| friend, or close acquaintance, every single hiring | | | | jeans, a t-shirt, and sandals, one of them definitely |
| manager will want to look at your resume before | | | | appears to be more interested in joining your team |
| they call you in for an interview. | | | | than the other. Building on that, and only considering |
| I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a | | | | first impressions, one looks a lot more capable than |
| cover letter accompany your resume EVERY SINGLE | | | | the other. While there may be a hundred explanations |
| TIME you send it in and to make sure that it's | | | | for this difference, it really doesn't matter when you |
| tailored specifically to the job you're applying for. | | | | have a limited amount of time - the ones who don't |
| Think about it from a hiring manager's point of view. | | | | look interested are not going to make the first cut. |
| They can receive hundreds of applications for a single | | | | Consider the above situation and think about it from |
| job position that they need to fill in just a short | | | | a hiring manager's point of view. You have 50 |
| amount of time. On top of their regular job duties, | | | | applications before you and you need to call 5 people |
| they need to sift through all of the applications and | | | | in for an interview. You have a limited amount of |
| find the top 5% to call in for an interview. It's just | | | | time to decide, so you need to eliminate some |
| not possible for them to look at every single person's | | | | applications quickly. What can we see without even |
| application. So what do they do? They narrow down | | | | reading the details of each application? Some have |
| the field by using the easiest and fastest tools they | | | | cover letters along with the resume and some do |
| have - first impressions. | | | | not. The applications without cover letters are a little |
| Let's relate this to a different topic - sports. You're a | | | | bit like the people showing up to soccer tryouts with |
| coach and need to "recruit" the best players possible | | | | jeans and no equipment. They make a terrible first |
| for your team... | | | | impression - they don't appear as interested as the |
| You're coaching a soccer team and need to pick 15 | | | | other ones, so why should anyone bother with |
| members for your squad out of a potential 100 and | | | | them? |
| you only have 2 hours to do so. It's impossible to | | | | Applications without cover letters are always the first |
| take a good look at every single player's skills in only | | | | ones discarded. The presence of a cover letter |
| 2 hours, so you need to quickly narrow your search | | | | shows a genuine interest in a job position because |
| before you can study the players further. In order to | | | | you actually took the time to write it. The current |
| do so, and without knowing anything about the | | | | economic climate is not exactly one that is |
| players, you're going to rely on your first impressions | | | | overflowing with jobs; it's not like companies are |
| to make the first cut. | | | | hiring for the sake of it. Make sure you show a hiring |
| Take a look at the players standing before you - are | | | | manager that you have taken the time to merely |
| they all wearing proper soccer attire and equipment? | | | | write a letter to show your interest in their job |
| Do they look excited and enthusiastic about being | | | | position. If you don't bother showing an interest in |
| here? Think about it - if there's someone dressed in a | | | | them, the hiring manager will have no interest in you. |