Covering Letters...
Discussion
Ive just been asked to write a covering letter for a job.
Do people still do this??? Ive never been asked to write a covering letter before for any job, its never even been a consideration! I was actually a bit shocked.
So how widespread is this still? More to the point...what the hell is the point of them? Any half decent CV should be able to you whether a candidate is line with your job spec and worth an interview or not.
Yours, confused of confuseledshire
Do people still do this??? Ive never been asked to write a covering letter before for any job, its never even been a consideration! I was actually a bit shocked.
So how widespread is this still? More to the point...what the hell is the point of them? Any half decent CV should be able to you whether a candidate is line with your job spec and worth an interview or not.
Yours, confused of confuseledshire
I don't understand the "you've been asked". If you're cold applying for a job you see advertised on a company website, then a cover letter (well, email) is necessary (and it had better not look like "Hi my CV's attached. lol. Best, Hoofy". If you're being forwarded via a recruitment agency then that's a bit odd.
If someone applys for a job with my company and I receive just a cv and not even a basic covering letter - "I would like apply for...please find enclosed my cv...etc...etc,". It always feels a little half arsed or even I'll mannered, if you want work with me make a bit of an effort to show you care about wanting the job.
Many roles require a covering letter on top of any CV or online application form. There are a number of valid reasons for this, the most prominent one in my opinion is to sort the wheat from the chaff. By that I mean getting a prospective employee to write down why he wants the job and why he'll be good at it takes time and effort and tests their commitment; dropping a CV in takes no effort. I always ask for cover letters.
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
DJRC said:
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
TBH if it's a job you really want, I'd be spelling out everything clearly for them so they know which bits of experience are relevant to the job!Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
DJRC said:
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
FFS, What a fuss just for a toilet cleaner's job at Tescos, eh!Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
Piersman2 said:
DJRC said:
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
FFS, What a fuss just for a toilet cleaner's job at Tescos, eh!Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
Hoofy said:
DJRC said:
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
TBH if it's a job you really want, I'd be spelling out everything clearly for them so they know which bits of experience are relevant to the job!Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
Hoofy said:
If you're cold applying for a job you see advertised on a company website, then a cover letter (well, email) is necessary, and it had better not look like "Hi my CV's attached. lol. Best, Hoofy".
You write that in jest, but I had this email from someone a little while back:Hello
I have just completed my degree in Film Production Technology with Management and I was just wondering if you have any job vacancies at the moment.
Many Thanks
*Miss Applicant*
No CV attached. No further details.
Being somewhat bored that day, I followed it up, just to find out if it was a joke. Apparently the course she'd just completed didn't offer any careers advice whatsoever, which I find a little difficult to believe. She never did send a CV either, despite me asking.
I always attach a covering letter, just a brief summary of me and why i feel they should consider me. I have been told at interview that it has made the difference between me getting an interview and not, not because my CV is terrible (although it isn't the best in the world) but because it made me stand out amongst the applicants.
DJRC said:
Hoofy said:
DJRC said:
Blimey, well fair enough, I never knew so many of you did, but then I dont really do the traditional job application these days.
Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
TBH if it's a job you really want, I'd be spelling out everything clearly for them so they know which bits of experience are relevant to the job!Anyway agency has come back and said its more them really and try and make my CV stand out better. FFS. Agencies! If you cant read a CV and know someone nails your job spec within 5 secs then find someone who can and go work for Tesco!
Super Slo Mo said:
You write that in jest, but I had this email from someone a little while back:
Hello
I have just completed my degree in Film Production Technology with Management and I was just wondering if you have any job vacancies at the moment.
Many Thanks
*Miss Applicant*
No CV attached. No further details.
Being somewhat bored that day, I followed it up, just to find out if it was a joke. Apparently the course she'd just completed didn't offer any careers advice whatsoever, which I find a little difficult to believe. She never did send a CV either, despite me asking.
Jesus wept. Did she at least send you a photo of her in a bikini or a link to her FB page?Hello
I have just completed my degree in Film Production Technology with Management and I was just wondering if you have any job vacancies at the moment.
Many Thanks
*Miss Applicant*
No CV attached. No further details.
Being somewhat bored that day, I followed it up, just to find out if it was a joke. Apparently the course she'd just completed didn't offer any careers advice whatsoever, which I find a little difficult to believe. She never did send a CV either, despite me asking.
Hoofy said:
Jesus wept. Did she at least send you a photo of her in a bikini or a link to her FB page?
Sadly not. She seemed unable to cope with the complex task of attaching said CV to an email, and actually sending a hard copy in the post was beyond her understanding I think. I didn't have a vacancy, but offered to look through her CV and offer some job searching pointers (As I said above, I was bored, and having been through the whole job searching crap in my youth, am always happy to talk to people about their career aspirations).
Super Slo Mo said:
Sadly not.
She seemed unable to cope with the complex task of attaching said CV to an email, and actually sending a hard copy in the post was beyond her understanding I think. I didn't have a vacancy, but offered to look through her CV and offer some job searching pointers (As I said above, I was bored, and having been through the whole job searching crap in my youth, am always happy to talk to people about their career aspirations).
Wow, missed opp for her. You'd expect the CV to be in your hands before you could blink!She seemed unable to cope with the complex task of attaching said CV to an email, and actually sending a hard copy in the post was beyond her understanding I think. I didn't have a vacancy, but offered to look through her CV and offer some job searching pointers (As I said above, I was bored, and having been through the whole job searching crap in my youth, am always happy to talk to people about their career aspirations).
897sma said:
If someone applys for a job with my company and I receive just a cv and not even a basic covering letter - "I would like apply for...please find enclosed my cv...etc...etc,". It always feels a little half arsed or even I'll mannered, if you want work with me make a bit of an effort to show you care about wanting the job.
Similarly,if I take the trouble to apply for a job, it feels really half-arsed or even ill-mannered to not even receive an acknowledgement or "sorry, we won't progress your application".I attended an interview on 10 August 2011, at very short notice to suit the employer, and I'm still waiting to hear how I got on, despite being perfectly qualified for the role and with a proven record of success working in a similar role for a competitor.
Some will say I should have chased, but I realised at the interview that it wasn't the role for me - maybe they sensed that, but it would have been nice to hear ANYTHING from them! Instead, that is a company that I simply won't consider in future.
TotalControl said:
Thing is, a covering letter takes all of 5 minutes to complete.
If you copy and paste, yes. If you really want a job the first thing you'll do is sharpen your CV to make sure it highlights skills which will match with what the employer is looking for. Then a perfect covering letter tailored for the vacancy and employer explaining why you feel they should consider you for interview. If you can't be bothered then you don't want the job badly enough, and employers will see that when they review applications. I would look very dimly on an application which landed on my desk which had been poorly prepared, and next to a candidate of the same quality who had done the prep I know which one I'd bring in for a chat.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff