A Crash Course in Cover Letters

Today, job seekers need to build active, networking-based methods into their job searches. They have to have a game plan-and it's got to be crafty, bold and strategic. Hiding behind a computer and machine-gunning resumes into blind mailboxes over and over again is the recipe for a super long, frustrating job search.

Cover letters, we hear, are redundant, a waste of time for the applicant and the hiring manager, no longer useful in the age of online applications; and no one knows how to write them, anyway. This is just plain wrong.

Done right, cover letters provide an additional means by which you make your case for hiring to the employer. Far from being job search relics, they continue to provide value-both to you and to the hiring manager-in the application process. And, yes, they are still considered essential documents by a majority of employers. As reported by the Washington Post, 53% of employers surveyed give the edge to applicants who include cover letters over those who do not, and 91% claim that a well-written cover letter improved the odds of a less qualified candidate reaching the interview stage. A cover letter can truly make or break your application.