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Getting Noticed
February 1, 2002
No one reads cover letters anymore.
You're lucky if you can get a Hiring Manager to glance at yours before they skim through your resume. This is a logical outcome of years of sappy cover letters that don't add any meaningful information to the resume. Of course you want to "pursue your lifelong dream at Toxic Chemical Inc," and working at their plant in Bhopal, India will give you "the perfect opportunity to pursue some unresolved spiritual issues".
Instead of offering up a cover letter that adds no real information and won't get read anyway, try something different. Think about what Employers or Recruiters are screening for when they skim your resume - they want to see, in a quick scan, whether your skills match the Job Posting. If you help them accomplish this task your resume will go into the "keeper file".
Clever Jobhunters are starting to morph their cover letter into a chart that shows how their skills match up with the Job requirements. The Job requires three years experience? They want someone with AutoCAD or Photoshop skills? Simply make a chart that lists all the Job req's on one side and how your skills line up with them. In effect you will be targeting your chart to the specific Job, lessening the chance that anyone who skims your cover letter and resume will miss the match.
This can be a distinct advantage when you are emailing this information. The chart will be the first thing an Employer sees when they look at the email. Often Hiring Managers won't read past the first screen, so an easy to understand chart that matches skills to Job tasks will be a real eye-opener. And when you're competing against a field of similarly qualified candidates, any edge you can create may make the difference between being at the Interview or watching it from a distance.
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