Does The Cover (Letter) Really Matter?

The journey of a job seeker can be challenging and time consuming. No matter what job you apply for, there are two things you must show: a personal motivation and the right skills to do the job. For each job, a job seeker is expected to deliver one application form that contains a cover letter and an updated resume.

With those documents, you will be expected to answer a broad range of questions:

Do you have the right skills?
How high is your motivation level?
Are we compatible?
Could we spend 9 hours a day, 5 days a week together?

Don’t you think it would be easier for both parties to answer these questions behind a coffee and an assignment? When you buy bread do you ask the Master Baker to deliver an essay about his or her passion to bake bread? Hell no! You buy the damn bread, taste it and decide if you will buy it again.

Every time I applied for a job during my career, I always felt overwhelmed by all these rules surrounding the now famous cover letter. Can I be politically incorrect? What if they found out it took me less than 10 minutes to write it? Does it really make sense to spend 7 hours on a cover letter when they expect me to work proficiently?

Second point, let me tell you the ugly truth: as a copywriter, you have no ideas how many cover letters I wrote for friends and acquaintances. They were motivated people but not certainly the best writers when it comes to deliver a catchy, appealing and selling copy (because yes at the end you must sell yourself like a piece of cake).

Oh yes, how often did I write about my strong will to be an architect, a logistic manager, or even a dentist assistant.

However, have you ever seen this the reversal way? Accepting a job is also a huge responsibility. Aren’t you curious to know why they pick you and not somebody else? Maybe it is time to ask your brand new employer to inform you on their motivations to hire you.

If my friends could not write a proper cover letter, did it affect their skills to prove themselves as outstanding multitaskers once they head to the office? NO!

My point is that a cover letter will never be enough to prove skills, motivations and/or determination.

This is one of the reasons I am so proud to be part of Cocoon as it embraces the vision of recruitment I always had. Cocoon spreads the word on what the millennials’ recruitment is about. It is equal and fair. There is no need to cheat about your writing skills, what matters are your hands on capabilities. All you have to do is to prove in a friendly manner that you owns the perfect skills and personality to land the job.

The usage of cover letters actually is a old fashioned processes that was used back to in a time in which not everybody could create decent content. Cover letters are not transparent nor fair. They sound like a echo to flatter some egos. And I mean seriously in a time hierarchy tends to disappear, why should we care about flattering?

In our golden digital era do we really need cover letters when our track records are so easy to show?

Tired of struggling in front of a white page? Give a shot to an easier, more honest (and more fun) way to look for job. Check out Cocoon and apply to the coolest startup jobs in Amsterdam with a swipe! Still craving to show off your amazing skills? You can always send a gif or a cool article of yours to your next match!

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