Searching for a new job is a time-consuming endeavor. By some estimates, the typical worker takes about six weeks to apply for, interview and finally land a new job offer. And across any industry and level of work, there’s one step to the process that’s bound to slow down even the most qualified and enthusiastic candidate: the cover letter.
But findings from one new report offer some motivation to draft a good elevator pitch, even in a time when cover letters are becoming increasingly optional.
According to a survey of 200 hiring managers from ResumeLab, a resume advice site, 83% of HR professionals agreed with the statement “a great cover letter can make me decide to interview a candidate, even if I don’t think their resume is good enough.”
That means, out of every 10 resumes where the applicant might not have the right work history, set of skills or management experience, eight job seekers are likely to advance, as long as they can make up for it in their cover letters.
A majority of hiring managers said cover letters were crucial to their hiring decisions, and 77% give preference to candidates who submit one, even if they’re deemed optional on the application form. A similar share always expect the document, even if they’re not required in order to apply.
Cover letters only matter if job seekers do this:
While cover letters can give candidates a leg up on the competition, they come with a major caveat.
Companies are increasingly relying on applicant tracking systems, often shortened to ATS, and artificial intelligence software to review resumes. These algorithms scan resumes for specific words and phrases around work history, responsibilities, skills and accomplishments to identify candidates who match well with the job description.
Ian Siegel, CEO of jobs marketplace ZipRecruiter, estimates more than 70% of resumes are now reviewed by robots before they reach a human reader.
That means resumes, and how they’re written, matter first and foremost.
To be sure, the ResumeLab survey was designed to measure the impact of a cover letter only after a resume passed an ATS scan and made it to a human reviewer, explains Maciej Duszynski, career expert and researcher behind the study.
Siegel offers three recommendations for a resume to make it past the bots:
“Use standard file types — no more trying to stand out by putting your resume into Photoshop,” he tells CNBC Make It. Instead, “Use Microsoft Word or Google Docs to give something the parser can parse.
“Check your grammar and spelling.” It seems obvious, yet a surprising number of job seekers don’t do it.
“Clearly list your skills and make it easy for the parser to understand your years of experience,” Siegel says.
If possible, Siegel says to demonstrate mastery of each skill by listing your years of experience learning or using each one in your work history.
