COVER LETTERS
Why you shouldn’t include a cover letter when applying for roles.
Firstly, you should never write or send a cover letter to a recruiter. As someone who receives over 100 CV’s on a quiet day I can tell you that we just don’t have time to read them. I would also never include one to a client – UNLESS they specifically ask for one.
And here is why:
When submitting your CV and cover letter to a recruiter or larger firm (Bank/Asset manager) who use a portal system or CRM in some cases only one attachment will be uploaded which means that your cover letter, or other supporting documents may be uploaded in lieu of a CV and your CV won’t be seen.
You may be making your cover letter extremely targeted which could work against you if the parameters of the role change or there are other open roles in the team or firm.
There is a danger of giving too much away in a cover letter which leads to a potential hiring manager forming conclusions without you having the opportunity to ‘sell yourself’ in person vs on paper.
Cover letters can often be littered with formatting and grammatical errors which are easier to filter out of a CV.
What can you do instead of a cover letter?
In the body of your email/message you should include why you are applying and why you think you have the skills that are suitable. This is much easier to read/digest, less likely to get lost and wont rule you out of other potential opportunities in the firm.
