career coach, accountant resume

Cover Letter Help: Top 4 Reasons Why Sending One Is A Bad Idea

by Jonathan on 7:56 pm

Should I send a Cover Letter?

I get this question asked a lot from readers of the blog that are seeking help with their cover letter. So, I thought I would give you my perspective.

It depends.

I am sure that was really helpful, right? If you can allow me to be perfectly honest, I never read a cover letter. Now before you rip up your cover letter, hear me out. My opinion is from a Recruiter’s perspective. In the age of the internet, if I have two attachments and one is a cover letter and one is a resume, the resume gets opened every time. Time is precious for me, so all I care about is what I see on the resume.

If you will allow me the chance to rant for a few moments, here are my top 4 reasons why sending a cover letter is a bad idea.

1. If your cover letter addresses the wrong person or company – you would be shocked at the number of times I get a cover letter (when I actually do look at it or if it is pasted in the body of the email) and my name is misspelled or worse it is addressed to the wrong company. I have even seen in several instances where they forgot to change the information from the last time they sent out the cover letter.

2. If your cover letter contains too much information – having too much information is a bad idea. I get cover letters with no paragraph breaks or they go on and on about needless information. Realty check: That is what your resume is for. The cover letter is supposed to be a very targeted piece of information for a specific position, which brings me to my next point.

3. If your cover letter is too generic – Do not send a generic cover letter. Always, always, always tailor it to the specific position and please do more editing then just the name, company, and date. Hiring managers see cover letters all day long and they want to see something that some thought to it.

4. If your cover letter has no call to action – If all you do is regurgitate information from your resume, it will look like a rehashed version of your resume. You must list why this position is important to you and why you have an interest in the company.

Now, I know what your thinking: "why put all the effort into the cover letter if no one reads it anyway?"

Well, here is the bottom line. For those who do not read a cover letter, it doesn’t bother them that one is attached with a resume. For those who actually do read a cover letter, it WILL bother them that one is not attached.

I will admit that some hiring authorities will actually go look at the cover letter AFTER they have read through the resume. Some even use the cover letter as a way to judge a candidate’s written communication skills.

There you have it!

Article By

Jonathan is an Executive Recruiter/Career Coach that has successfully placed hundreds of Accounting & Finance Professionals. If you are currently struggling in your career, he is available on a limited basis for personal 1-on-1 career coaching and for resume makeovers.

  • Gina

    You make some good and very true points but I’ve dealt with those anal recruiters that feel if asked for one and it is not included, you’ve blatantly not followed directions or considered not to be thorough.

  • admin

    Hi Gina! Thanks for the comment. Just to be clear…I think you should send a cover letter. It is better to send one and it not be read, then not send one and be disqualified. In 90% of the cases, Recruiters are not reading them and when they present you all they care about is the resume. In my 7+ years of professional recruiting on Accounting & Finance positions I have yet to have a client request to see a cover letter of a candidate I am representing. They want the resume and they want me to talk them through the resume. Hope that helps!

  • Belle Daily

    I’ve asked a lot of Recruiters who work directly for companies whether they read cover letters or not. About half say they do and half don’t. A significant percentage of HR professionals in this market won’t respond back to a resume without a carefully written targeted cover letter though. Good article and good points!

  • Rick

    The four numbered points you make are very valid and I wholeheartedly agree with them.

    Regarding your perspective as a recruiter, the cover letter is not necessary because the recruiter’s pitch and “resume walk-through” act as a cover letter for the employer. For job seekers who don’t go through recruiters, the cover letter is – in most cases – a necessary “sales tool” that supplements the resume and helps the job seeker make his own pitch for the job.

  • admin

    That is a great way to put it Rick. Very well said! I agree with you. Thanks for contributing.

  • Mike D

    Having worked in a high volume Staffing /Recruiting environment w/ a Fortune 100 Financial Services co I have to agree, the cover letter is not as an important tool as it once was. In terms of pure volumes myself and other Recruiters were aceessing resumes and moving on from there.

  • admin

    wholeheartedly agree, Mike. I too process through many resumes in a day’s time.

  • lcoff2008

    I agree that those reasons for not sending a cover letter are accurate. Recruiters never ask for one, other job listings do. If no company name is given, you really do not have a contact name and recruiters are reluctant to give up too much information so that you can contact the employer on your own and cut them out of a fee.

  • Graham

    The reason why potential employees like me use cover letters is to weed out companies with gatekeepers who can’t spell “accessing” properly, and who have no grammar skills (using “myself” instead of “I’.) Such companies should of course be avoided at all costs. Pearls before swine.

  • Tony

    As a job candidate, it doesn’t sound like good advice to tell others not to include a cover letter with their resumes.

    If I’m sending a letter directly to a company, I’m going to paste my cover letter inside the body of the email with my resume following. I’ll attach the two documents to the email just in case the recipient wants to save a copy on file.

    In the occasion I’m sending to a recuiter, I don’t send a cover letter attachment but I still write a personalized email with my resume pasted below and a resume attachment.

    I like where you’re coming from because a very generic and boring cover letter doesn’t help you screen during the early phase of filling an order. You need to know quickly what levels of leadership and quality experience they’ve received.

    I’d be interested to know what are the first things you look for when you receive a new resume and how do you filter through the hundreds of candidates when a new position opens up?

  • admin

    Hi Tony,

    It is not a bad practice to paste your cover letter into the body of an email so that it will be read. However, I would do significant changes and make sure that it is not too long. On my side of the fence, I see way to many emails where candidates are just pasting a long, boring cover letter into the email. They lose me from the beginning. To be honest, the first thing I look for in a resume is a good presentation and nice layout. It has to be “easy on the eyes” and needs to have something grab my attention at the beginning of the resume.

  • Rody

    I also agree with the reasons for not sending a cover letter. The careers section on our company’s website requires applicants to upload both a cover letter and a resume. I seldom review cover letters anymore but when I do I find that some candidates will upload their resume in both fields. Instead of receiving a cover letter and a resume I get two resumes. Others will not tailor the cover letter and will mention the name of a job board we don’t use where they claim to have seen our job posting.

  • admin

    Rody, you bring up a great point. One of the things that bothers me the most is when a candidate mentions in an email that he saw my posting on a job board in which I do not use. It doesn’t make you feel all that special when candidates make errors either by mentioning the wrong position, job board or company name.

  • http://volt.com Adriana Estrada

    Great article and I couldn’t have worded it better myself! A good rule of thumb as a candidate is to represent yourself the best way possible. If you don’t feel confident writing a cover letter, don’t do it. When you are pursuing a position, make sure that whatever you send to the prospective hiring manager, recruiter, or company representative that it’s the BEST representation of yourself. Make sure to get another pair of eyes on your resume to confirm it has no errors. Have a friend help you with the cover letter if it’s a must in order to be considered. DO NOT allow yourself to be unfairly judged because writing is not your best skill…not all accountants have good writing skills and that’s ok!

  • admin

    Very well said, Adiana. I could not agree more. You are right not all Accountants are great writers. Those that are successful in the Corporate arena know where their strengths are and they maximize them.

  • Deborah W.

    Enjoyed your article. Using email for cover letters and resumes is new to me since I was at the same company for 20 years. I’ve emailed many resumes and have included my cover letter as my first page with my resume following. Do you think that has happered my chances of having my resume read?

  • admin

    Hi Deborah, you bring up a great point. From my perspective, I would separate the two. I do not like opening what I think is a resume and then seeing a cover letter. it can be confusing. My first thought is always “Where is the resume?” and some people may not scroll down to find it. You have 7 seconds to convince someone to read further and not delete. If you look in the archives I did an audio podcast about the “7 second resume” and I talk about the importance of being “Above the Fold.” It is an old newspaper term but very useful in the internet age. Above the fold refers to what your resume looks like “before” you scroll down. This is an important part of your resume.

  • Elaine Sutherland

    I always send the cover letter & resume as attachments to the e-mail and probably always put the cover letter first. ie 2 separate word documents.
    What is the best way to send job applications via e-mail as I’m not sure if i’m doing it right?

  • David Segal

    Once Again, John blazes into un-chartered areas, with this lively topic. I personally find Cover letters to me useful only to state Salary requirements and prefer to keep very brief.
    I have my “objective ” on my resume matching the jobs I apply so it is redundant most times to send a cover letter.

    I’ll have to remember that “above the fold” next time I stuff envelopes with eye catching invoices I need to have paid.

    Thanks again

  • http://professionalcoverletter.net resume cover letter

    First off, thank you very much for these excellent guidelines you have written about resume cover letters. Everyone could surely enhance their cover letter as it would be a great shame to miss an opportunity for not having done so!