Has the recruiting process become too drawn out? (employment, owner, work)

[MarysPoppins]

Cover letters are important.

Resumes are terse and really not a great indication of grammatical skills.

But in a cover letter you can see if a candidate understands how to use the English language in a less 'strict' form.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by STT Resident

I believe you are grossly overstating fact when you say "most" feel so. Since you've never been an employer you can't speak for them and I can tell you from much experience in the field that cover letters are, and for all the reasons already stated in this thread, very important. I hope your job search is going well and that you will start to take the generally good advice offered on this forum.

I;m going to say this only once. Don't no respond to any posts of mine on any board on this site or I will report you for harrassment. I'm not comfortable with the stalking thing and choose not to communicate with you. Any further comment to anything I post and you will be reported.

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

Most people feel that covers letters are not read at all which is why they don't submit them.

I always submit a cover letter...and it is always custom created for each position/company.

I get a 50% call back rate when I submit my resume for a position. I think the cover letter helps.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

I always submit a cover letter...and it is always custom created for each position/company.

I get a 50% call back rate when I submit my resume for a position. I think the cover letter helps.

I guess it's debatable because I could never see someone reading tons of cover letters. With the resume you can easily do a quick scan and don't have to really read it.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

I;m going to say this only once. Don't no respond to any posts of mine on any board on this site or I will report you for harrassment. I'm not comfortable with the stalking thing and choose not to communicate with you. Any further comment to anything I post and you will be reported.

I was responding to a comment you made on this thread and fail to understand why this in any way could be cause for your feeling harassed.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by MarysPoppins

Cover letters are important.

Resumes are terse and really not a great indication of grammatical skills.

But in a cover letter you can see if a candidate understands how to use the English language in a less 'strict' form.

Originally Posted by sware2cod

I always submit a cover letter...and it is always custom created for each position/company.

I get a 50% call back rate when I submit my resume for a position. I think the cover letter helps.

Absolutely. I can't understand why anyone would even question its importance, particularly when resumé writing these days has become such a business with "professional resumé writers" charging to turn even the worst layman's efforts into something which can make a janitorial assistant come off on paper as a candidate for a CEO position. Just kidding (I think!) But they're a dime a dozen and a well thought out and written cover letter which addresses the particular company and the candidate's knowledge of it definitely is eye-catching. Not to say that it's any guarantee but it's a plus.

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

I guess it's debatable because I could never see someone reading tons of cover letters. With the resume you can easily do a quick scan and don't have to really read it.

My whole point. You've never been an employer so you simply can't speak for what employers look for and what catches their eye. A point is only truly debatable if all parties have knowledge to contribute to it. Arguing is something completely different but even arguing about something about which one has no knowledge is rather an exercise in futility.

[sware2cod]

Recruiters send cover letters when they submit technical resumes to companies. Since recruiters are in the business, I assume they have good reason to send the cover letters. BTW, when I was reviewing resumes for new hires - I always read the cover letters.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

Recruiters send cover letters when they submit technical resumes to companies. Since recruiters are in the business, I assume they have good reason to send the cover letters. BTW, when I was reviewing resumes for new hires - I always read the cover letters.

The first paragraph or the entire letter?

[annerk]

Originally Posted by ker38

if you were my employee, i'd fire you. as the boss i would want the best employee. discarding 200 resumes for something as meaningless as not including a cover letter would not fly with me. the predictable silly leap of logic of "well, if they didn't include a cover letter then they can't follow directions" would make me question your intelligence even further and solidify the faith i had in my decision to terminate.

I REQUIRE a cover letter becuase most of the positions I hire for REQUIRE contact with our customers and I want to see if someone has the ability to effectively communicate via e-mail, which is VERY important for the job. Anybody can get a resume put together by a service and attach it to an e-mail, but not anybody is capable of writing a cover letter that will want me to read more than the first sentence.

Those that are capable of doing so are the ones I want to consider hiring. Those who don't bother to spend five minutes writing a cover letter are just wasting my time.

Effective written communication is crucial to our companies success, and I want to immediately weed out the applicants who can't construct a compelling written communication.

By the way, my strategy seems to be working, I've grown this company by 500% in the three years I've been here, to the point that I was made a partner last year. So what were you saying?