Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book,
Top Notch
Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume is not accompanied by a cover letter or cover letter is not targeted to the open position.
Not all employers read cover letters (about two-thirds do), but to some of the decision-makers who do read them,
cover letters are very important. Your resume should always be accompanied by a cover letter. And given that
one of the main functions of a cover letter is to describe how your qualifications match a specific job vacancy,
it is pointless to send a boilerplate cover letter that is not tailored to the targeted position. Benjamin Smith,
corporate recruiter at HR services-provider Mercer, especially eschews “cover letters that are clearly form-written
and the job title is inserted into the first line.”
See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves
1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and
executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.
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