Having been an entrepreneur for a good part of my adult life, I have seldom had the need for a cover letter, however, lately I have dipped my toe in the possibility waters when it comes to getting a “real” job. Needless to say, nothing has adequately floated my boat to this point… but I will say one thing.

How on earth has the cover letter NOT changed in over a decade?

I get that you want to be polite, and that you favour convention over innovation or dare I say even common sense, yet I still can not fathom a reasonable explanation as to why people are persisting to use the standard, as taught in 1985, cover letter format ?

You are emailing your application right? And I highly doubt that you are waiting eagerly on your grassy verge for the postie to swing by on her bike to deliver your fate ? The anticipation of opening that pearly white envelope to see whether you have been accepted for an interview to be the CEO of the next biggest thing must be killing you!

In fact I would hazard a guess that many innovative and forward thinking companies, who in fact do their own hiring, are now looking upon the standard format as possible archaic, or even a sign that the applicant has very little vision. Perhaps, even that the applicant, dare i say it, is too old!

Technology has moved on. The return address on a cover letter was there for a purpose. That purpose is no longer relevant.