This is a question I see a lot on Reddit. The TLDR of it is this: if you're starting off your career, making a change in careers (say from accounting to data science), or have a gap in employment - yes, a cover letter helps a lot. But, I've gone ahead and researched studies on just this question to see what data actually says.
When you are applying for a new job, you might be wondering if a cover letter even matters. Surely, if a single job posting can generate 50+ applicants, a recruiter is not going to read 50+ cover letters… right?
You see, cover letters will have different levels of efficacy depending on:
- Industry you’re in
- Cover letter requirements (or lack thereof) for a job posting
- Amount of applications submitted
- File formatting and parsing that occurs with cover letters in Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
- The demographics of a recruiter/hiring manager
- The personality or mood of a recruiter/hiring manager
- The quality of writing in a cover letter
- And so on…
Because of so many variables, I wanted to synthesize research and present different findings on this topic rather than just relying on my own experience on the matter.
What does the research tell us?
While the point of this post is likely to make the point that cover letters do matter, I actually wanted to point out one study I did find that suggest that cover letters aren’t as important as some may find. In a 2015 study, the Addison Group, a provider of staffing services, conducted a study that found only 18% of hiring managers found a cover letter or “thank you” note to be important. This was conducted 6 years ago, and as we’ll see below, hiring perceptions can change pretty drastically over time.
ResumeGo also conducted a similar study, except they spoke to 236 hiring professionals and also surveyed over 7,000 job listings. In this study, ResumeGo found that applications with tailored cover letters yielded over 50% more interviews. That’s a bit of an alarming number when you think about. I also want to emphasize an important word in that statistic: “tailored.” If your cover letter is generic, it’s going to be received with a “meh” under a recruiter’s breath. If you can create a tailored cover letter though, that’s where the magic is and the 50% interview yield rate shows up. ResumeGo also found that:
- 87% of recruiters and hiring managers read cover letters (a much higher number than I anticipated)
- 65% found cover letters to be influential in the hiring process
- 81% valued cover letters that are tailored specifically to the job listed
- 53% higher callback rate when an application has a tailored cover letter vs. an application without any cover letter attached
Another recent study from Ladders which focuses on tech companies also sheds light into some interesting data on cover letters:
- 48% of “tech giant” companies asked for cover letters
- 65% of start-up tech companies asked for cover letters, a discrepancy likely explained by a start-up being able to be more judicious about the materials they can review
- Formatting restrictions of a cover letter also varied between the size of a tech company. For example, “tech giants” are more likely to enforce file type restrictions where as smaller companies have a more leniency in the type of files they accept as well as accepting plain-written text entries.
But is this a thing of the past? What about after 2020 where the pandemic had various impacts in how companies source talent?
Jobvite’s extensive HR studies in 2020 have unearthed some interesting findings. For example, according to their 2020 study, Jobvite found that recruiters have changed their perception of cover letters in the last handful of years. Specifically, “27% of surveyed recruiters prioritize cover letters in screening decisions, up from only 8% in 2017.” I bolded the word prioritize. You might at first think that 27% is low, but they aren’t asking if cover letters are important in their decision, they’re asking if they prioritize a cover letter in their decision making process. Moreover, after the 2020 we all went through, it sounds like HR practices are slowly shifting more towards qualitative evidence for candidates. A shift from 8% to 27% is fairly stunning and lends credence to a perceptual change in hiring practices as it relates to the importance of a cover letter.
Lastly, in another recent study performed by ResumeLab, they found that 83% of recruiters surveyed still deem the Cover Letter as important to differentiate you from other candidates, even in a post-pandemic 2021. Those 83% of recruiters voted in favor of arguing that a well written cover letter could get you an interview even if your resume is lacking in one way or another. This study also found that 74% of hiring managers prefer to receive applications with attached resumes. This means that even after landing an initial interview (likely an HR phone screen), an actual hiring manager would still prefer a cover letter over not having one. Furthermore, 72% of recruiters are expecting a cover letter anyway, even if it’s not required. This last part is important. This goes back to the idea that many candidates see that a cover letter is not required, so they choose not to submit one. When you’re up against potentially a hundred candidates, taking that extra step for a cover letter is important.
According to ResumeLab’s research, “cover letters are important and useful for the following purposes:
- Explaining the motivation to join the company (63% of respondents)
- Describing career objectives (50% of respondents)
- Explaining the reasons for changing careers (50% of respondents)
- Explaining employment gaps (49% of respondents)
- Highlighting professional achievements (47% of respondents)”
As you can see, cover letters are going to be crucial in proactively answering questions which a resume or generic job application will never be able to answer. When a recruiter looks at your file and has questions, having a cover letter which would address some potential questions ahead of time will go a long way in them choosing to follow up with you with an interview. Should you not provide those answers via a cover letter, it’s infinitely easier for a recruiter to move on to the next applicant rather than for them to find a way to have their concerns assuaged.
I wanted to provide all of this to the community, hoping you find it useful. Yeah yeah, we all hate cover letters, myself included, but it can be worth it in situations.
p.s. I've removed all links from the actual studies since some of those organizations offer recruiting services and I don't want this post flagged as self promotion and to receive a ban. If you want links to the research, feel free to message me.
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