Are cover letters a meme? Why would people waste time reading

>>1442065
No? A lot of it depends on the type of job you want but cover letters are very valuable to you and give you a chance, beyond the things you've done in your resume, to stand out from the crowd. No, a cover letter is not your resume in paragraph format. It is to introduce your professional self and explain why and how you will be valuable to the company. That is the only purpose. Cover letters are for saying things like you're "goal-oriented", highly-motivated, people look up to you for leadership, etc.

Just go through the job listing, see what they are asking for, and show them you have what they want. If the job posting says they are looking for someone "outgoing", don't say that you are "very sociable", say "I am outgoing". Use the EXACT words from the job posting to show that you are EXACTLY what they want. It will also help get your resumes through the word-filters. And don't say how much you would love to have their benefits, focus on how YOU can bring value to THEM.

A cover letter should be more similar to the job posting than to your resume.

>>1442065
>it's just your resume in paragraph form
No
>Looking back I've never got a job from "tailoring" my application
I have

>>1442065
I'm a network engineer. I usually don't need a cover letter but I do if they ask. I probably should in the future. Shit actually matters if you don't work fast food. Write a single good resume and cv and then just move shit around so that it restates the application. You'll be the perfect applicant quite easily

>>1442065
The problem with cover letters, in my experience, is that they can only hurt you. I've known employers to only use cover letters to determine how well you can present yourself. Any accomplishments you make will come out during your interview.

>>1442065
I get sick of writing them too. From what I gather though, the main purpose of the cover letter is to illustrate how all your experiences link up and relate to the job. It's also important to show your motivation linking this to something topical you know about the company. Basically it gives the recruiter a better grasp or your personality, motivations and writing style (if they bother to read it that is). Also it shows you are willing to make an effort not just upload or send a cv.

>>1443437

This. Plus many employers what to know if you give a crap about their company or are just adding their HR email to the list of 200 other companies about to receive your resume/cover letter.

Consider insurance companies. If you mention what type of insurance they deal in and what their ratings are, you'll make the ladies in HR moist.

Cover letters make you seem desperate as hell. Only worthwhile for low tier jobs.

>>1442065
>Are cover letters a meme?
Absolutely NOT

It shows you aren't just blindly applying to them (although I have a template i like to use which i modifiy to every job). It makes the process more personal between you and the interviewer. Instead of being an application nnumber you are anon anonson who is good at X

>>1443482
I say no, if you got a connection on the inside then you don't need a cover letter. they are really only appropriate IMO when you are trying to get noticed among lots of apps

>>1443437
>From what I gather though, the main purpose of the cover letter is to illustrate how all your experiences link up and relate to the job.
No, it's to make you be more like a person.

Cover letters tell a prospective employer some direct and indirect info about you. Direct info are things like personality, an idea of how your experience and attributes makes you the ideal candidate for the job (this was mentioned in the posts above). Indirectly, a cover letter tells the employer if you can communicate your ideas effectively and coherently through your writing.