I had an email from a candidate recently, asking if, in this time of 200 applicants for every open position, is a detailed cover letter appropriate? Might it be considered disrespectful of the hiring manager’s time?

It’s a good question. Most resumes appear in inboxes in electronic form, and having the hiring manager scroll through details of a cover letter might seem cumbersome. But from a practical level, the cover letter allows the hiring manager to save time. The more she knows about you, the more accurate her decision will be in determining if she should bring you in for a meeting. The 3 minutes it takes to read a cover letter can save her 45 minutes of drumming her fingers through a wasted interview.

 

I think we should take a page from two of my candidates, both kids just graduating from college, where the detail and eloquence of their cover letters got them jobs at a time when entry level positions couldn’t possibly have been harder to come by. Both of them wrote letters which were a full page, detailing their internships, courses of study, personal reasons for entering their particular industries and what specifically about the field particularly interested them. Both identified personal philosophies about work and both expressed gratitude, in advance, for the reader’s time. The obvious care and crafting of these letters demonstrated their work ethic. And in both cases, the phone started ringing as soon as they were received. (One got a phone call from the head of the company, saying while he had no job available, he needed to comment on the quality of her letter). Both got jobs within the month. Because they were entering the job market with virtually no experience and at a time when junior positions were horribly absent, these two knew they had to throw everything into those letters. And they did.

 

When was the last time you took the care to craft something like this? Once we get a bit of experience behind us, we tend to relax and let the resume talk for us. But I think a thoughtful, well-crafted letter is hard to ignore. When I get one, I know that someone is serious about their work. And, even more important, they show they’re not jaded; they still love what they do. Their excitement rubs off on the reader. Who wouldn’t want to work with someone like that?

When Was The Last Time You Wrote A KillerCover Letter?

In an earlier post (Now What?) I talked about how critical it was to take some time after a lay-off and wait until you could talk about your situation without anger or bitterness.  Once you get through that though, wouldn't it be great to flip a switch, line up some interviews and go get another job?  If only.  The economy is still awful and even though you're ready, the jobs just might not be there.

If your field is still laying off, and prospects are grim, you might want to bow out for awhile. Take a trip, take a class, volunteer, work retail in a store you love. Nothing is worse than applying for jobs where there just aren’t any. When the market shifts and people are hiring again, you’ll be old news – you’ll be that candidate who never got picked up. Let people close to you know your situation and get advice about timing from others friends in the field or former co-workers who have gone on to other jobs. And then … stop. Think about the market. Is anyone at all hiring? Figure out if it’s time for you to jump in and start a job-hunt. The smartest thing you might do is pull out for a time and let the flurry of over-anxious candidates subside.

But … if you decide to opt out of the job-hunt frenzy, make that time valuable. Stay home and raise your kids. Take care of your ailing parents. Go to school and learn something that’ll move you forward in your career (or your life). One candidate I know who was laid off from a high-powered executive job took his wife and went sailing for a year – can you imagine the ice-breaking stories he could tell when he started interviewing again? At the risk of sounding like a bad motivational poster, turn lemons into lemonade and use this time productively. 

Don't worry.  The market will improve, the jobs will return, and this will end up being a blip in your otherwise terrific career path.

I promise.