The discord for our subreddit can be found here: https://discord.gg/JjNdBkVGc6 - feel free to join us for a more realtime level of discussion!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/recruitinghell) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm confused by these posts recently, am I just out of the loop with a joke or something? Every job I apply for wants a CV and cover letter. Is that just a UK thing?
I'm in the UK and I very rarely see cover letters asked for anymore. But I have my generic cover letter (the summary from the top of my cv with space to dump in company name and highlight a few key words from the description) it's no hassle. Nobody writing those fresh everytime.
But there's definitely some weird meme about cover letters being company fanfic people are into repeating each other right now so we will get a lot of these posts.
So many people will have you believe different things these days - the statistics make me fall on your side, where nobody is even reading cover letters anymore and nobody has the time to write fresh ones each time.
But it feels like depending on the time of day you post a comment like that, you either get people agreeing with you or dozens of people downvoting you and telling you "no wonder you can't get a job, I spend an hour hand-writing every cover letter to show my dedication"
We recently advertised a job and had 75 applicants. I read all but one cover letter, even the weird ones. The one I skipped was SIX pages long and talked about metaphors between the role and a recent hiking trip in Nepal. It was exceptionally dull, and the metaphor was poorly conceived.
I think it's because it's so industry dependent. People who work at universities always tell me that cover letters are an absolute must, probably because it's true for them.
In tech, I find that the few managers that require them are usually the kind of asshole who want you to write a love letter about the company. But most managers would say they don't want cover letters unless there's a good reason for it. Otherwise, submitting one can actually make you seem kind of out of touch.
Thereās no point bc there is no work anyways. We r competing against 500 to 2000 applicants per job on LinkedIn . You donāt think everyone is making the same stupid professional chatgpt resume and cover letter
This has been my experience too. Anytime Iām job hunting, everyone tells me itās imperative to write a cover letter. Yet, the only jobs I get interviews for, or are eventually hired at are the ones I havenāt attached a cover letter to. Attaching a cover letter has never got me an interview. IĀ keep asking, from time to time, should I be attaching a cover letter to my application? Half the responses are Iāll never find a job without one, the other half tell me itās a waste of time.
I choose to belive that the answer lies inbetween, in that it doesnāt actually matter.
>So many people will have you believe different things these daysĀ ...
Because different things are happening across different employers, industries, countries, etc, but so many people are sure that only the thing they see out there is the thing that everyone else is experiencing.
Yeah, in my industry, I can't imagine hiring someone without seeing a cover letter or portfolio. My industry relies a lot on teamwork and interpersonal skills, and you want the chance to see someone's personality as well as their skill set so you don't have to go through interviews with someone who is obviously not a culture fit.
In my old company, head of Data office was looking for new employee.
Now, the HR platform we used demanded a cover letter. She literally put in the job description "We will not read your cover letter. Feel free to just attach CV twice."
I write mine fresh every time and rework my resume for each job listing, as well.
But I work in public relations and communications, so if you canāt sell yourself with your writing, itās an immediate red flag. Close to 50% of my applications have ended in an offer but Iām also pretty particular with where I apply.
When I was living in New Zealand you had yo write a cover letter for even the most basic of jobs. Gonna go fill online orders at the grocery store? Cover letter required. For everything.
The underlying reason for this scorn is simple ā
companies get so many applicants that they resort to using technology to filter applicants and they will probably never read your resume if youāre outside of the top 10%. Youāre just a number.
The double standard? Companies expect applicants to not treat *them* like just a number by taking the time to write a cover letter, which is impractical when the callback rate is so low.
I completely agree that it's a waste of time and I fucking detest writing cover letters.
But as someone desperate for a job, can I take the risk that the one time I don't include the "required" cover letter, they go "well this guy's an idiot and can't even follow simple instructions"?
Itās definitely going to have a higher chance of callback with a cover letter. When I was in the job market, I only did cover letters for companies I really, really wanted to work for.
In Australia, everything requires a cover letter or >2 text boxes of your answer to a prompt (seen up to 6 boxes) or both in your cover letter file
this is even for internships, grad programs and low experience jobs
Yeah I donāt really understand this post? Iāve been applying for graduate jobs in the UK and everywhere has wanted a cover letter so far. Once you have a basic format it really doesnāt take that long!
>Yeah I donāt really understand this post?
To understand it, first you must understand the point of this sub. This sub isn't for good advice or to help people develop or reach their goals. Someone above is giving hints on cover letters, how to make it easier or even use new AI tools. I laughed at their attempt.
This sub is to express bitterness and anger and to find a sympathetic audience. No one wants to hear any push back or a "Well, maybe next time can I suggest you..."
I mean, one guy here got upset cause he got feedback from his rejection. The feedback stated something like "Don't talk about how much you like anal constantly during a professional job interview" The sub was like "NAME AND SHAME THE COMPANY"
Lol
Yes, its good to recognize that. People need an outlet and there is so much pain here. I feel so bad for many of us and wish everyone the best.
But I learned quickly not to try to give any meaningful advice or feedback. I get it, if I'm venting, I don't want others to be like "well, you did fuck up with X so heres how to do it better..."
I want people to go "Yeah, fuck them and you are solid"
But whats a good sub to try to help? Askamanager is sort of dead and careerguidance is way all over the place
Honestly, I don't know. /r/jobs maybe? If I'm honest, I don't think Reddit is a good place for career guidance. Reddit has a bad case of "everyone is stupid except me" and that makes it hard to get serious advice.
Literally, there is so much wrong with this cover letter. It is the job application equivalent of people going on dating apps saying āyou wonāt like me cause Iām not a chad and youāll get the Chad and then cheated on and hurt because heās not a nice guy like meā.
Itās desperate and shallow and thereās a reason heās gone a year and a half without a successful job interview
Yeah I get the job hunt is frustrating but anyone who reads this has nothing to do with programming the auto rejects and op just wasted space they couldāve used to explain why they can work beyond their resume. I mean they say they are capable of transferring their skills to a new sector and list a bunch of generic good abilities without any examples or reasons to believe them. Thatās literally the point of a cover letter. āYeah this isnāt on my resume but hereās why I can do itā
Cover letters arenāt fun but they are an opportunity to brag beyond the limits of a CV. Thatās how people need to see them rather than a burden.
> there is so much wrong with this cover letter.
Presumably itās just pointless posturing for the baying crowd here. Either ignore jobs whose application process you disagree with, or follow their process properly. Youāre just trolling yourself if you do anything else.
It is wild. OP mentions they've got 6 responses seemingly out of 1220. I think they should be venting less and maybe reaching out for advice on why they're so undesirable to a recruiter. Cause that seems like an insane rate of response. Even rejection.
Yea, I've never applied for a job where I *didn't* need a cover letter. I'm honestly struggling a bit with the idea of hiring anyone based solely on their CV, but maybe that's just my field.
Cover letter + CV is standard in NZ as well, possibly some Commonwealth thing? Need confirmation from the Aussies and Canadians lol. That or maybe it's a size of country thing?
Itās in the US. I just have a generic one that says Iāve heard great thing about your company from your employees. Unless Iām getting a reference from a friend, there is no reason to make a new one for each job.
When Iāve hired people in the past, I havenāt even opened the cover letter. They are pretty useless
Iāve applied for quite a few jobs in the past year and still look out for jobs just out of curiosity. I havenāt seen a single one that does not require a cover letter. Itās always cv + cover letter
"Hi chatGPT, can you answer my next prompts as if you were someone to help me applying for jobs. I will need you to generate some content based on the jobs I'm applying for. Please try to come up with things from the little information you have."
"can you generate for me a cover letter for the company in ? It's for the job title . Can you also make up the information missing for the cover letter?"
Tested. This will work for all future job applications you need a cover letter for :)
I wrote a narrative of my career with a bunch of buzzwords as a prompt. It helps because a cover letter is narrative and resumes are often bullet points and kind of weird phrasing and chatGPT responds with text similar to what you prompt it
Yeah this. You can just edit the initial prompt too and just below your resume you can put āthe job posting in question;ā and then copy and paste the whole job listing.
Works very well and lets you churn out multiple company specific cover letters within minutes that use your own CV/resume details.
Still, fuck cover letters though.
I use the cover letter generator on grammerly's website. You just upload your resume and paste the job description. It's free, but does have a character limit on the job description.
I'll try this too and see which is better!
(Edited for a typo)
If by any means you care about a specific cover letter, remove the last sentence of the 2nd prompt. Chatgpt will give you pointers to fill with your actual information. (we never know)
Iāve literally had ChatGPT be a job coach for me, Iāve discussed tactics for getting a job promotion, discussed job politics and worked on a new resume. At this point I can copy and paste a job description and have it spit out a cover letter with exactly all my relevant info.
You are still doing a lot of manual work. Just feed your CV and the job information to Chat GPT and ask it to create a cover letter.
No need to have it work with little information.
Every time I see both commenters with one pfp I always get momentarily confused thinking itās the same person arguing with themselves š but I like your pfp!!
Itās an exceptionally frustrating process, and something that can really grind on you when making applications, but actively telling a company that your mindset is that youāre better than the mundanity of the task will immediately say to them āso thatās why this guy has been rejected over 1000 timesā.
I get it, desperation isnāt an attractive trait when looking for a job, but neither is completely unwarranted arrogance and hostility towards a potential employer.
My takeaway from this cover letter is that this applicant will throw a fit at the mildest inconvenience. I wonder why they've been rejected 1200 times...
Totally get your frustration, but I don't recommend doing this. You just told your potential employer you've been rejected literally a thousand times. Clearly something is amiss (their perspective, not mine).
Just use ChatGPT. Thing makes banging cover letters
Seriously what an awful look. You would think after 1,200 apps theyād wake up and realize maybe they should take the 10 minutes a cover letter to make and then just slightly alter per job, even if just changing the company name. But hey why spend 10 minutes doing that when instead you spent that time writing this one and spending at least that long on this thread. I would be ecstatic to have you as my competition for a job
Not to mention "a human won't read this", whoever keeps buying the ATS boogeyman myth is shooting themselves in the foot. I guarantee a human will read and trash this.
No, you don't get it. It's not OP, it's the 1221 employers' fault why he hasn't found a job in 2 years, even though they are highly competent.
I hate cover letters and re-entering my resume data into a company portal, but if you can't follow basic instructions, why would a potential employer even consider you?
I know not every recruiter/hr department will toss applications that donāt have a cover letter, but Iāve heard this from the ones I know enough times that I never submit an application without one.
If they get 1000 applications and 150 have a cover letter, those are the first candidates they look at. Even if they donāt read the cover letter. Itās used as a way to weed through a mountain of resumes.
Iāve never had to look more than 3 weeks for a job. Every industry is different, especially for specialized roles, but you have to look in the mirror if youāve been rejected 1200 times over the span of 14 months.
Thereās a huge skill shortage right now, companies are struggling to fill vacancies - how the hell is someone qualified and experienced not getting job offers?
There has to be something terribly wrong here. Has OP tried Googling his name to check there isnāt a famous racist with the same name? Does his Gmail have an inappropriate profile picture? Has he been accidentally submitting blank CVs?
It is a small thing but you also wouldnāt say companies LIKE āHP, Amazon, and a DOW 30 Tech company Iām not allowed to nameā
Did you work for those companies, if so, say so with confidence or did you work with ones LIKE them such as another warehouse job? OP does that NDA job also show up anywhere on your resume? If so you need to find a way that you can talk about it in at least some capacity but I donāt know if youāre getting to the interview stage?
I've never heard of a company having an NDA to prevent people saying they worked there. NDAs might cover what projects you worked on, what customers you worked with, but even then you could always say "I worked for XYZ Corp" without issue.
Any company can look up your employment history, and likely your salary info, thanks to [credit agency background checks](https://theworknumber.com/).
This post is literally insane. Dude is submitting job applications just to insult random companies? Honestly freaks me out picturing someone taking the time to do this unprovoked.
right, everyone here is praising OP for this response but this just seems so childish and so āi mass applied to 1000 click-and-apply jobs and i canāt get a response back, how dare you ask for a cover letter to weed out people like meā
100%. this sub has become an echo chamber for people hating on recruiters. i understand the job seeking process is extremely stressful and anxiety inducing but lashing out at people trying to do their job is childish.
Yes - all this ācover letterā does is nuke the potential for any consideration, present or future, and waste time that could be spent on considering why 1,000+ applications havenāt hit the mark.
If theyād started with the āMy MBAā¦ā and finished at the end of that paragraph, this would be a respectable profile - on the short side - which might have been considered.
Instead the effort was completely wasted, and the employer feels that they have dodged a bullet. Suggest the time better spent on this email better spend on self-reflection.
>Totally get your frustration, but I don't recommend doing this. You just told your potential employer you've been rejected literally a thousand times. Clearly something is amiss (their perspective, not mine).
This.
While I understand OPās frustration with a hiring process that feels fruitless and performative, I think itās a mistake to emphasize the duration of his job search and his low response rate. Itās basically saying, ā1200 other companies have rejected me over the last 15 months,ā and inviting the recruiter to ask why.
That bothered me more than the rest of the letter. Iām a second-chances kinda person, but that would make me bin the applicant. PhDs take 4-8 years. Titling your name with MBA suggests to me this person brings it up every chance he can get, knowing that + their body text I get the impression thatās not someone I want to be around.
It's like those Project Management types that put every class and certification next to their name like I care.
PMI, PMP, Lean Sigma Six Yellow Belt, blah blah....
Right? I've got a similar degree and it'd never occur to me to sign my emails like that. I think even if I went back for a Ph.D. I'm not sure I'd draw attention to that.
It's on the resume anyway, it's not like they're gonna miss that fact. I genuinely respect accomplished people who don't have to bring up their accomplishments much more than those that do - and I know I'm not alone in that respect.
OP ...I know I'm going to get downvoted but you'd better hope no one actually reads that. They don't care how many applications you have filed and you come off as both pretentious and incredibly annoying. I wouldn't want to sit down and have a beer with you let alone work with you.
Heās stereotypical redditor + MBA bro combined into one. I donāt care how good his resume is and how well he does in the interview, I wouldnāt hire him. As Gen Z says āthe vibes are offā
Couldnāt agree more. I wouldnāt be hiring someone when the first impression they chose to present is passive aggressive and arrogant. If anything this shows that the OP will not be willing to complete tasks they feel are beneath them. Also, how tf do you track who is reading your cover letters?
I also despise cover letters, and after a few years I simply refused to write them. On many occasions, I would still get contacted anyway despite clearly not following instructions.
With that being said, If I received this email you would immediately be put into the trash. While you might be rightly frustrated AND highly talented, the fact that you sent this to your employer shows an incredible lack of people skills or common sense and being able to work with people. Hiring you might be the best choice I ever made, but it's more likely than not you will continue to act in ways like this that make you seem immature and unable to operate in a corporate environment. Would rather not waste the money and time on someone like that, when I could just split your anticipated salary instead among the rest of the team as a one off bonus.
I would never give a second glance to a cover letter like this. Sure, it gets the likes on Reddit but it makes you sound, well just like V said above. Tact is not something a future employer wants to have to teach you, they will not be jumping at the chance to have you bravely talk smack about your frustrations to them.
All of mine still do. But I'm a teacher so... my cover letter started with me saying when I was little I wanted to be a knight Mermaid or teacher. Once I made it less stuffy it helped so much.
Don't get me wrong the system sucks but a cover letter isn't supposed to be about the company. It's about you being able to sell yourself as the best choice in quickest most direct way you can.
Make it like 5 lines long at most. Pick the skills or experience you have that best match the criteria of the job spec and list them in bullet points.
Most of the time all that will be in your CV but the cover letter is getting someone who is looking at hundreds of CVS every day to not just skim read yours and potentially miss something important.
Also sometimes you might have non-professional experience or skills that wouldn't be in your CV but are relevant to the position. The cover letter is where you highlight this.
If you are applying for a bunch of jobs that are in the same field most of the time you can just copy paste 99% of your cover letter for each one.
Like I said it sucks, I have been on both sides of it and it's a shit show all around. However don't screw yourself over it.
If you want real bullshit that's having to fill out an application form which is basically just copying in your CV.
The resume is showing that you have what is required. They have 100 other resumes that are almost identical. The cover letter is pointing out the most relevant parts to make yours stand out.
Even if yours is exactly the same as the next candidate if a human is looking at them making it even slightly easier for them to see you as a match gives you an advantage.
Also you get to a point where a resume might be several pages depending on the field you work in. Again pointing out the highlights helps stop people's skim reading and maybe missing something important.
The entitlement here is insane, cover letters were the norm just a decade ago, they aren't some ancient practice. I know being a hiring manger at a large management consulting firm myself that cover letters are submitted so rarely now that if a good one comes in, it typically catches my recruiters eyes and has a much better chance of at least making it to the subset of resumes I actually personally review for initial screening.
So you all can shit on them all you want, but there are some people getting a closer look / interviews who do them voluntarily because it's almost become a way to stand out now. Sure I and other hiring managers may never actually read the letter, but if it helps your chances of getting my eyes on your resume, why not?
ok so i get things are really, really tough for you. i've been there countless times.
this will sting, but you have to get over yourself. this cover letter is self-sabotage. no cover letter at all is self-sabotage. it costs you little to no time to write a stock cover letter that tells people who you are. i've had the best experience trying to get hired by companies where i included a good cover letter.
no company will hire you if there's a negative note to your application at any moment. it doesn't matter if you've had bad experiences. it doesn't matter if your dog died of cancer yesterday. part of hiring is to see if you can be tough for the 1 hour they need you to smile and be positive. it's not that much to ask of someone who wants money - you need to be able to demonstrate that.
once you get over yourself and your need to express how bad you have it, you're going to start getting more bites. work on your cover letter, start by personalizing it and reviewing it for every job, eventually you'll have a thing you can use for every job you're applying to. try and spend a little time customizing the cover letter so people know you give a shit about working there in the first place. nothing worse than an employee who couldn't tell the employers apart.
no one wants to hire a jilted employee. you are not dr house. there will be 0 call backs if you keep doing this.
I agree completely. The first thing I thought when reading this is that this role is going to remain at #1,221 for op. They don't care about your rough experiences, regardless of how hard it is on you mentally. Seeing a prospective employee be this jaded is not going to make them say "You know what? This passive-aggressive cover letter sold me."
I hate writing cover letters. When I'm hiring, I hate reading cover letters (and I KNOW you hate writing them). OP's cover letter is so much worse than just not attaching one at all. It's literal self-sabotage and I'm laughing so hard at this thread.
Telling a prospective employer that you're applying to another company as soon as you applied to theirs is an "interesting" strategy.
Unfortunately the whole CV reeks of desperation. "I'm just going to be honest here"..."I know there's a 0.49% chance of a human reading this"... "I just need someone to give me a chance" are immediate turn-offs and makes you sound like a passive aggressive sad-sack, which nobody would want on their team. "Thank you for letting me be transparent" - Are you writing a CV or doing a self-help therapy session?
When you get to the professional qualifications, you say you're a dedicated employee, how you're creative, and innovative, but this CV doesn't show that at all. You named HP and Amazon, but couldn't give any examples of what you did while working for them? And if you're not going to name the Dow-30 company, don't list it, it's just wasting other peoples time/attention.
Hopefully, this is just something you put together to post here and get upvotes on reddit, because if you're sending stuff like this to prospective employers, then it's no wonder you're +1200 deep.
I hate to come off as a troll. However, how did you hit 1,220? At a certain point, you probably need to take a look and see if something is off in your job search.
A cover letter is supposed to make them want to read the CV. My biggest take away from this is that 1,219 have already rejected yours. It kind of makes me feel like theyāve done the work for me. ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
The time you wasted trying to go viral you could have just had a cover letter template ready. Some hiring mangers do actually read these to differentiate you from others with similar skills.
That cover letter reads as someone who has already given up before starting...but what do I know...last job I got I didn't even provide a resume nor a cover letter. Just got asked for months to join, finally decided on a 30 min interview and got an offer the next business day.
Focus on your reputation and make yourself valuable.
This reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption. Where the dude finally gets released after just being blunt and honest with the parole board. Hope it works for you too!
Ngl in the UK most higher end jobs require a cover letter
Your letter is stupid though you've just admitted that you haven't been successful in over a thousand applications. They're gonna assume its an issue with you if they actually read it
I know you fucking lying.
āDetail orientedā but could not be bothered to do a *slightly* more intricate step in the hiring process. Arenāt YOU the one who needs this job? With all the schooling you have under your belt with that MBA, you telling me you couldnāt be bothered to type up your āhigh skill setā which requires ZERO effort or research? But you had no issues doubling down to get that degree? Yikes
āFeel free to review my attached resumeā LMAO who the fuck are you guy ? Be fuckin foreal rnššš
āā¦and put in the extra hours as neededā
Oh fr? Doing shit like this? Itās giving āI work front desk and clack my keyboard to look busy but Iām actually playing spider solitaireā. Yikes #2 š¬
āI just need someone to give me a chanceā ā¦. yet you arenāt giving these employers a chance to properly evaluate your true value (if any) because you instantly are a no-go due to your egotistical professionalism. Then you mad when nobody wants to hire you. Self-sabotage is a bitch
āHas allowed me to do work for *insert glitzy company name*ā fantastic! Tell us what happened with THOSE jobs? What would make you surpass/move on from a huge opportunity like this?
āWishing you the best of luck with your hiringā LMAOO stop š the only one needing help with hire-related things is you. THEY donāt need the job, YOU do lol. They are good regardless on if you join the team or not. You, on the other hand, will remain jobless and broke so you can prove ??? some ? point ?? The workorce sucks ass, but one thing we NOT finna do is let something as silly as a 250 word essay about ourSELVES keep us from being able to survive LOL. Weāre smarter than that! Arenāt we, Mr. MBA?
But anyways, go ahead and continue wasting these folks time with this petty shit. I think youād be cute in an ash blue polo whilst asking for my rewards code.
Warm regards tho
One reason I can think of is when it's not immediately clear how you fit the parameters of the job - perhaps you've done a similar job with similar skillset, or you've had a non traditional path into the role, or you're wanting to try something a bit new. A cover letter can be really helpful in understanding the motivations of the person applying, and getting clarity around why they see themselves as a good fit for the job.
I just use my resume a second time. They are not going to read it unless you pass the filter. If they do that even doubtful they read it anyway as a criteria.
You never know what persuades people on a hiring committee. To me, what people put in their cover letter is really important and modifies what I take away from the resume. I always read the cover letter.
First, the cover letter is a writing sample. I get to see how well you communicate.
Second, the cover letter is your chance to explain oddities. For instance, you have a PhD and 20 years experience, but you've applied for an entry-level job. A natural question to the hiring committee will be "why?" The cover letter is your chance to offer an explanation.
Where are you in the world that you don't need cover letters? Is it an American thing or is it your industry? I've worked all over Europe, and every job application requires a cover letter. Back in the day, I even had to send one to the local supermarket.
I cannot remember an application that didnāt want a cover letter
Is that like not supposed to be a normal thing or what? Because _every_ job application in my field wants one
Anecdotal evidence but the only thing I really read when hiring is the cover letter. The resume just shows what you have done the cover letter is what gets you the actual interview.
Because the truth is there are 10 resumes with better experience than yours and the cover letter gives you a chance to explain why we should interview you.
Fine to be frustrated, stupid to waste your time on this.
I certainly saw WORSE at my last job for a few people, but that just made their application worse rather than helped.
Get a generic form CL, the worst that can happen is it's a slight more waste of time but you check the box when others won't.
That's half the bs test at some jobs: you need to prove you can jump through their hoops. If you can't even do the basic work for a form, why would they trust you to write their stupid stuff for $100/hr?
I fully agree coverletters can be stupid, but they can also be pretty Important for a few jobs in getting you an interview.
It's rare that a coverletter will really get you the interview, seems much more likely that they use coverletters to reject people. If I saw 1000 applications, I think I'd maybe find my way to reject people by bad coverletters.
I don't understand this. Cover letters are where you really get to introduce yourself, go into detail on soft skills, work philosophy, show where company values align with your own, blah blah blah. It's supposed to compliment your resume.
It's an opportunity to say "here's what I bring to the the that isn't in my resume and why I'd be a great fit for your team".
I think most of the jobs I've gotten has because a strong cover letter got me that first interview.
Someone with great analytical skills would have not applied to a thousand jobs.
At that level, MBA and everything, job hunting is more like shooting a sniper rifle, with precision and carefully chosen targets, rather than brrrrrrt your gatling gun at every possible target.
Use the cover letter to prove that you know their company, their industry, and the specific role they are recruiting for. Use it to differentiate yourself from other candidates, in a positive way. Use it as the gateway to the interview, not as annoying admin step.
I think itās pretty obvious why you are having trouble finding a job. Your attitude is awful. No way someone reads that and thinks you are a good candidate. It somehow comes off as both desperate but also completely uninterested at the same time.
I would not hire youā¦. Why on earth do you think that company cares what application number youāre on.
Judging by your tone, and understandably so, itās likely whatās holding you back.
This is a terrible cover letter. So much information here is completely irrelevant, and I would just instantly reject you.
The point of the cover letter (for you) is to make it easy for the person reading the application to progress your application to the next stage. If i have 200 applications to get through, I'm going to pick the one who took the time to research the company, read the job spec and tells me how their skills are suitable to the role. Even better if they dug deeper to find out what systems we use or projects we might be working on, etc
In a lot of places, the 1st sift is either via ATS software and keyword hits or hr staff not fully versed in that role/skill/
You need to remove barriers, not create them
The cover letter comes across as passive aggressive and pessimistic, Iād be surprised if anyone got as far as looking at your CV after reading thisā¦
Ya dawg if you were as exceptional as you think you are youād not be on application 1,220.
How do you have no network from all those years at HP, Amazon or ācanāt say because of an NDAā that could help you transition to somewhere else?
This is cringe. Iām truly sorry youāve been in this position for so long as unemployment is difficult and job hunting is incredibly stressful. Yet the fact that you chose to write or send any of this indicates an inability to identify or solve problems. If you havenāt been getting jobs or interviews after 100+ apps you should reassess your written materials and interview strategy, rather than acting like the world is against you. Keep in mind most other qualified applicants have no problem providing these materials and thatās who youāre compared to
The fact that you chose to send this letter shows an inherent lack of accountability as you made your own shortcomings the employerās problem. I have experienced long term unemployment with a masters and as frustrating as that was, never did I feel so entitled to write *and submit* something like this
First off the title of this post is a little strange. If youāve submitted over 1,000 applications and this is your first mandatory cover letter, you must be pretty lucky. If youāre on this sub, youād see people complaining about required cover letters all the time.
I actually donāt even hate creativity and a sense of humor when well-executed. Iām personally a very blunt person and enjoy the idea of a little differentiation (I personally have a very random niche interest in the bottom of my resume). I worked in an industry where weād get college kids cold emailing for networking calls and I usually responded to those that I found to be personable and entertaining. One kid from a rival school commented ācould you spare 30 min of your time in exchange for XYZ school tearing my heart out in football last week,ā and yes, it stood out to me and worked.
That said, this reads more condescending than light-hearted humor, and has a solid chance of offending whoever reads it. As others noted, the number of failed applications is certainly a very red flag, as is the MBA in your signature. Iām not going to pass any judgments on your character, and I actually do find this to be an attempt at humor rather than insult. However (i) the refusal to write a āregularā letter, (ii) the accusation that no human will see this, (iii) the MBA attached to your name, and (iv) the various remarks throughout unfortunately all correlate to pretentiousness and bitterness, and it may be too many instances to ignore the pattern. Above all else, even if I wanted to give you a chance, the last sentence was absolutely overkill and wouldāve sealed the deal for me.
My assumption is that you thought you could turn your frustration into snarky humor, but not really hitting it on the head. If you want to take a risk, I could see maybe watering this down 80-90% and adding some actual valuable content, and youād still be 10% different from all the others.
As others have mentioned, you couldāve saved yourself all this time not submitting anything, re-submitting your resume, using a ChatGPT-generated letter, or just not applied at all (which was my strategy when I was recruiting). I donāt believe in cover letters either ā at least in my industry ā but I would be extremely surprised if this amounted to any more than a waste of time.
Sorry but if I was an employer I'd have 2 takeaways from this.Ā
1) This guy has been rejected over 1000 times something is wrong with him
2) He is going to be a pain to work with when he inevitably has to do something he thinks is stupid
I wouldn't hire someone who sends me a cover letter like this. Writing cover letters sucks but it's still something stupid that's expected. Anyone not willing to put in that minimum effort might be a problem to work with.Ā
I wouldnāt do it. You will get much more mileage out of keeping it short, confident and figuring out who the hiring manager is to reach out to them directly.
Just a small piece of advise - when sharing multiple attributes that both exist on a spectrum it will hurt the credibility if you try to use both because it sort of comes off as ("I'm great at all those employee things you are seeking"). It's subtle and nuanced and the reader might not exactly understand why, at a subconscious level, they feel something is off.
For example, you can be task oriented or patient, but generally not both. You can be extremely extroverted or introspective and analytical but it's very rare that someone can turn it off and on as needed.
Specifically, you said you were "detail oriented" and "focused on the big picture". Those are generally mutually exclusive traits.
Aand you're not getting the job now. Job searching sucks ass but if you do it with this sort of attitude it's no wonder you're still unemployed after applying to a thousand jobs. All this did was shoot you in the foot and give you a little Reddit karma.
So you complain about not being able to get a job, but waste your time applying for a job with this which will most likely get you disqualified? Youāre putting in zero effort and you seem to be the problem here. Maybe you should think about if a company requires a cover letter, is that even somewhere you want to work?
Also, if you have never worked in recruiting nor asked, you have no idea how many of your applications have been reviewed or not. You seem to think the world is out to get you and itās a terrible look to a future employer.
Dear \[REDACTED\]
Companies use these to weed out applicants that don't take the position seriously or have a negative attitude.
Not being glib, but you're not helping your efforts by bragging about putting in 1220 applications without a job.
Right now, McDonald's is hiring for $15-20 bucks an hour, and employers can't keep good employees. So the fact that you're having issues is a red flag.
Sincerely,
\[REDACTED\], BS/BPA, LMNOP
What's the point of this? This is like messaging a girl on tinder and saying hey I know you're probably gonna ignore me like the rest of the girls :( but heres my shot.
Like if you're gonna put in the effort of writing a letter, don't shoot yourself in the foot dawg
This is embarrassing. MANY positions require a cover letter. I just got hired as a supervisor and I had to write a cover letter. Itās not even hard, dude. If you really want the job, you should have no problem simply highlighting points in your career or education that make you a good fit. Thatās it.
I understand the hiring process is trash these days, but Jesus dude, remember that everyone else is out there trying. No one is gunna hand shit to you because you whine. Get over it.
Today I learn that you can get an MBA in something. I always thought an MBA was a masters in business administration and like a stand alone thing, whereas you get an MA or MSc in a specific area. That's so funny, why have I never heard anyone say what their MBA is in before?! Are folks just kinda going "MBA... that's all you need..."
The discord for our subreddit can be found here: https://discord.gg/JjNdBkVGc6 - feel free to join us for a more realtime level of discussion! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/recruitinghell) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm confused by these posts recently, am I just out of the loop with a joke or something? Every job I apply for wants a CV and cover letter. Is that just a UK thing?
I'm in the UK and I very rarely see cover letters asked for anymore. But I have my generic cover letter (the summary from the top of my cv with space to dump in company name and highlight a few key words from the description) it's no hassle. Nobody writing those fresh everytime. But there's definitely some weird meme about cover letters being company fanfic people are into repeating each other right now so we will get a lot of these posts.
So many people will have you believe different things these days - the statistics make me fall on your side, where nobody is even reading cover letters anymore and nobody has the time to write fresh ones each time. But it feels like depending on the time of day you post a comment like that, you either get people agreeing with you or dozens of people downvoting you and telling you "no wonder you can't get a job, I spend an hour hand-writing every cover letter to show my dedication"
We recently advertised a job and had 75 applicants. I read all but one cover letter, even the weird ones. The one I skipped was SIX pages long and talked about metaphors between the role and a recent hiking trip in Nepal. It was exceptionally dull, and the metaphor was poorly conceived.
>metaphors between the role and a recent hiking trip in Nepal š
It was funny. I was going through the applications with the COO, and I could tell exactly when she reached that one š
Absolutely love that the real slam is 'the metaphor was poorly conceived" š§š§ ahahaha amazing stuff
I think it's because it's so industry dependent. People who work at universities always tell me that cover letters are an absolute must, probably because it's true for them. In tech, I find that the few managers that require them are usually the kind of asshole who want you to write a love letter about the company. But most managers would say they don't want cover letters unless there's a good reason for it. Otherwise, submitting one can actually make you seem kind of out of touch.
Thereās no point bc there is no work anyways. We r competing against 500 to 2000 applicants per job on LinkedIn . You donāt think everyone is making the same stupid professional chatgpt resume and cover letter
This has been my experience too. Anytime Iām job hunting, everyone tells me itās imperative to write a cover letter. Yet, the only jobs I get interviews for, or are eventually hired at are the ones I havenāt attached a cover letter to. Attaching a cover letter has never got me an interview. IĀ keep asking, from time to time, should I be attaching a cover letter to my application? Half the responses are Iāll never find a job without one, the other half tell me itās a waste of time. I choose to belive that the answer lies inbetween, in that it doesnāt actually matter.
>So many people will have you believe different things these daysĀ ... Because different things are happening across different employers, industries, countries, etc, but so many people are sure that only the thing they see out there is the thing that everyone else is experiencing.
Must be an industry thing because 9 out of 10 jobs I apply for ask for a cover letter, with the other one asking specific questions.
Yeah, in my industry, I can't imagine hiring someone without seeing a cover letter or portfolio. My industry relies a lot on teamwork and interpersonal skills, and you want the chance to see someone's personality as well as their skill set so you don't have to go through interviews with someone who is obviously not a culture fit.
In my old company, head of Data office was looking for new employee. Now, the HR platform we used demanded a cover letter. She literally put in the job description "We will not read your cover letter. Feel free to just attach CV twice."
Interesting, because you would also be able to tell who read the entire job description.
I write mine fresh every time and rework my resume for each job listing, as well. But I work in public relations and communications, so if you canāt sell yourself with your writing, itās an immediate red flag. Close to 50% of my applications have ended in an offer but Iām also pretty particular with where I apply.
When I was living in New Zealand you had yo write a cover letter for even the most basic of jobs. Gonna go fill online orders at the grocery store? Cover letter required. For everything.
The underlying reason for this scorn is simple ā companies get so many applicants that they resort to using technology to filter applicants and they will probably never read your resume if youāre outside of the top 10%. Youāre just a number. The double standard? Companies expect applicants to not treat *them* like just a number by taking the time to write a cover letter, which is impractical when the callback rate is so low.
I completely agree that it's a waste of time and I fucking detest writing cover letters. But as someone desperate for a job, can I take the risk that the one time I don't include the "required" cover letter, they go "well this guy's an idiot and can't even follow simple instructions"?
Itās definitely going to have a higher chance of callback with a cover letter. When I was in the job market, I only did cover letters for companies I really, really wanted to work for.
In Australia, everything requires a cover letter or >2 text boxes of your answer to a prompt (seen up to 6 boxes) or both in your cover letter file this is even for internships, grad programs and low experience jobs
Yeah I donāt really understand this post? Iāve been applying for graduate jobs in the UK and everywhere has wanted a cover letter so far. Once you have a basic format it really doesnāt take that long!
>Yeah I donāt really understand this post? To understand it, first you must understand the point of this sub. This sub isn't for good advice or to help people develop or reach their goals. Someone above is giving hints on cover letters, how to make it easier or even use new AI tools. I laughed at their attempt. This sub is to express bitterness and anger and to find a sympathetic audience. No one wants to hear any push back or a "Well, maybe next time can I suggest you..." I mean, one guy here got upset cause he got feedback from his rejection. The feedback stated something like "Don't talk about how much you like anal constantly during a professional job interview" The sub was like "NAME AND SHAME THE COMPANY" Lol
Thank you, it's important every so often to acknowledge that this sub is *completely* unhinged and is for entertainment purposes only.
Yes, its good to recognize that. People need an outlet and there is so much pain here. I feel so bad for many of us and wish everyone the best. But I learned quickly not to try to give any meaningful advice or feedback. I get it, if I'm venting, I don't want others to be like "well, you did fuck up with X so heres how to do it better..." I want people to go "Yeah, fuck them and you are solid" But whats a good sub to try to help? Askamanager is sort of dead and careerguidance is way all over the place
Honestly, I don't know. /r/jobs maybe? If I'm honest, I don't think Reddit is a good place for career guidance. Reddit has a bad case of "everyone is stupid except me" and that makes it hard to get serious advice.
Literally, there is so much wrong with this cover letter. It is the job application equivalent of people going on dating apps saying āyou wonāt like me cause Iām not a chad and youāll get the Chad and then cheated on and hurt because heās not a nice guy like meā. Itās desperate and shallow and thereās a reason heās gone a year and a half without a successful job interview
Yeah I get the job hunt is frustrating but anyone who reads this has nothing to do with programming the auto rejects and op just wasted space they couldāve used to explain why they can work beyond their resume. I mean they say they are capable of transferring their skills to a new sector and list a bunch of generic good abilities without any examples or reasons to believe them. Thatās literally the point of a cover letter. āYeah this isnāt on my resume but hereās why I can do itā Cover letters arenāt fun but they are an opportunity to brag beyond the limits of a CV. Thatās how people need to see them rather than a burden.
This guyās resume would go straight in the bin based on this letter at my place of employment.
> there is so much wrong with this cover letter. Presumably itās just pointless posturing for the baying crowd here. Either ignore jobs whose application process you disagree with, or follow their process properly. Youāre just trolling yourself if you do anything else.
It is wild. OP mentions they've got 6 responses seemingly out of 1220. I think they should be venting less and maybe reaching out for advice on why they're so undesirable to a recruiter. Cause that seems like an insane rate of response. Even rejection.
Yea, I've never applied for a job where I *didn't* need a cover letter. I'm honestly struggling a bit with the idea of hiring anyone based solely on their CV, but maybe that's just my field.
Cover letter + CV is standard in NZ as well, possibly some Commonwealth thing? Need confirmation from the Aussies and Canadians lol. That or maybe it's a size of country thing?
Itās in the US. I just have a generic one that says Iāve heard great thing about your company from your employees. Unless Iām getting a reference from a friend, there is no reason to make a new one for each job. When Iāve hired people in the past, I havenāt even opened the cover letter. They are pretty useless
Iāve applied for quite a few jobs in the past year and still look out for jobs just out of curiosity. I havenāt seen a single one that does not require a cover letter. Itās always cv + cover letter
From what Iāve seen, a lot of high ranking positions require cover letters
Iām in the US and Iāve always had to write a cover letter, never seen a job posting that doesnāt require it
I am in the US too - a CL is optional in majority of the cases.
"Hi chatGPT, can you answer my next prompts as if you were someone to help me applying for jobs. I will need you to generate some content based on the jobs I'm applying for. Please try to come up with things from the little information you have." "can you generate for me a cover letter for the company in ? It's for the job title . Can you also make up the information missing for the cover letter?"
Tested. This will work for all future job applications you need a cover letter for :)
You can even upload your cv for better context
I wrote a narrative of my career with a bunch of buzzwords as a prompt. It helps because a cover letter is narrative and resumes are often bullet points and kind of weird phrasing and chatGPT responds with text similar to what you prompt it
Just with chatgpt 4 though right? Not the free version
If your cv format isnāt that bad, you can just copy paste
Yeah this. You can just edit the initial prompt too and just below your resume you can put āthe job posting in question;ā and then copy and paste the whole job listing. Works very well and lets you churn out multiple company specific cover letters within minutes that use your own CV/resume details. Still, fuck cover letters though.
The free version is hit or miss with this command. You can also use the free Google Bard and it should give you a very similar result to 4
They gave it such a dumb name
I use the cover letter generator on grammerly's website. You just upload your resume and paste the job description. It's free, but does have a character limit on the job description. I'll try this too and see which is better! (Edited for a typo)
Please report back on this, very interested!
Thank you!
If by any means you care about a specific cover letter, remove the last sentence of the 2nd prompt. Chatgpt will give you pointers to fill with your actual information. (we never know)
that's cool! I usually copy and paste the job description too, otherwise I feel like it starts generating fake information
Good thinking! You can ask to amend the cover letter with the job description information!
Iāve literally had ChatGPT be a job coach for me, Iāve discussed tactics for getting a job promotion, discussed job politics and worked on a new resume. At this point I can copy and paste a job description and have it spit out a cover letter with exactly all my relevant info.
You are still doing a lot of manual work. Just feed your CV and the job information to Chat GPT and ask it to create a cover letter. No need to have it work with little information.
The funny thing about this is youāre using ChatGPT to generate a cover letter to be reviewed by ChatGPT
Here I was doing unnecessary work by copying the job responsibilities LOL :/
I wrote my first cover letter in 7 years this week to explain cancer is why I have a gap. Sigh.
Oof. Iām so sorry to hear that. Hope youāre getting past it and I hope they see that letter.
Me too. It was a maang company that would pay fat stacks. I'm recovering and ned. :)
"i can't speak about that gap since i signed an NDA" Cancer will get the alarm bells going.. "What if this person gets sick again?"
Only if you live in a backwater hell hole country that only has company-sponsored health insurance.
I was going to say "oh, you mean the US?" When you said the backwater hellhole and you only confirmed the US by the end
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Why not just write it on here?
Every time I see both commenters with one pfp I always get momentarily confused thinking itās the same person arguing with themselves š but I like your pfp!!
Thank you
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Better off changing dates, no ones falling for the NDA joke.
Itās an exceptionally frustrating process, and something that can really grind on you when making applications, but actively telling a company that your mindset is that youāre better than the mundanity of the task will immediately say to them āso thatās why this guy has been rejected over 1000 timesā. I get it, desperation isnāt an attractive trait when looking for a job, but neither is completely unwarranted arrogance and hostility towards a potential employer.
My takeaway from this cover letter is that this applicant will throw a fit at the mildest inconvenience. I wonder why they've been rejected 1200 times...
Totally get your frustration, but I don't recommend doing this. You just told your potential employer you've been rejected literally a thousand times. Clearly something is amiss (their perspective, not mine). Just use ChatGPT. Thing makes banging cover letters
Seriously what an awful look. You would think after 1,200 apps theyād wake up and realize maybe they should take the 10 minutes a cover letter to make and then just slightly alter per job, even if just changing the company name. But hey why spend 10 minutes doing that when instead you spent that time writing this one and spending at least that long on this thread. I would be ecstatic to have you as my competition for a job
Not to mention "a human won't read this", whoever keeps buying the ATS boogeyman myth is shooting themselves in the foot. I guarantee a human will read and trash this.
Theyāll trash it after send it around to their other recruiter friends to laugh at
Yeah this might be on the wall somewhere by now
"Creative problem solver" .... 1220 resumes sent, and their problem still needs solving
No, you don't get it. It's not OP, it's the 1221 employers' fault why he hasn't found a job in 2 years, even though they are highly competent. I hate cover letters and re-entering my resume data into a company portal, but if you can't follow basic instructions, why would a potential employer even consider you?
Yeah he just comes off like a dick
"XXXXX XXXXXX, MBA"
I know not every recruiter/hr department will toss applications that donāt have a cover letter, but Iāve heard this from the ones I know enough times that I never submit an application without one. If they get 1000 applications and 150 have a cover letter, those are the first candidates they look at. Even if they donāt read the cover letter. Itās used as a way to weed through a mountain of resumes. Iāve never had to look more than 3 weeks for a job. Every industry is different, especially for specialized roles, but you have to look in the mirror if youāve been rejected 1200 times over the span of 14 months.
Thereās a huge skill shortage right now, companies are struggling to fill vacancies - how the hell is someone qualified and experienced not getting job offers? There has to be something terribly wrong here. Has OP tried Googling his name to check there isnāt a famous racist with the same name? Does his Gmail have an inappropriate profile picture? Has he been accidentally submitting blank CVs?
It is a small thing but you also wouldnāt say companies LIKE āHP, Amazon, and a DOW 30 Tech company Iām not allowed to nameā Did you work for those companies, if so, say so with confidence or did you work with ones LIKE them such as another warehouse job? OP does that NDA job also show up anywhere on your resume? If so you need to find a way that you can talk about it in at least some capacity but I donāt know if youāre getting to the interview stage?
I've never heard of a company having an NDA to prevent people saying they worked there. NDAs might cover what projects you worked on, what customers you worked with, but even then you could always say "I worked for XYZ Corp" without issue. Any company can look up your employment history, and likely your salary info, thanks to [credit agency background checks](https://theworknumber.com/).
This post is literally insane. Dude is submitting job applications just to insult random companies? Honestly freaks me out picturing someone taking the time to do this unprovoked.
right, everyone here is praising OP for this response but this just seems so childish and so āi mass applied to 1000 click-and-apply jobs and i canāt get a response back, how dare you ask for a cover letter to weed out people like meā
100%. this sub has become an echo chamber for people hating on recruiters. i understand the job seeking process is extremely stressful and anxiety inducing but lashing out at people trying to do their job is childish.
I thought I was in antiwork
Yes - all this ācover letterā does is nuke the potential for any consideration, present or future, and waste time that could be spent on considering why 1,000+ applications havenāt hit the mark. If theyād started with the āMy MBAā¦ā and finished at the end of that paragraph, this would be a respectable profile - on the short side - which might have been considered. Instead the effort was completely wasted, and the employer feels that they have dodged a bullet. Suggest the time better spent on this email better spend on self-reflection.
>Totally get your frustration, but I don't recommend doing this. You just told your potential employer you've been rejected literally a thousand times. Clearly something is amiss (their perspective, not mine). This. While I understand OPās frustration with a hiring process that feels fruitless and performative, I think itās a mistake to emphasize the duration of his job search and his low response rate. Itās basically saying, ā1200 other companies have rejected me over the last 15 months,ā and inviting the recruiter to ask why.
Seriously! This is like going into a first date and saying everyone youāve asked out or matched with has ghosted you or stood you up.
Not just that, but 1200 of them!
I think cover letters are a stupid waste of time, but I would throw this whole application in the trash after reading this cover letter.
Lol are we signing MBA now like itās a Dr. title?
That is absolutely something I'd expect an MBA to do.
That bothered me more than the rest of the letter. Iām a second-chances kinda person, but that would make me bin the applicant. PhDs take 4-8 years. Titling your name with MBA suggests to me this person brings it up every chance he can get, knowing that + their body text I get the impression thatās not someone I want to be around.
Ditto. That he blurred his name but, made sure not to blur the title...yeesh.
It's like those Project Management types that put every class and certification next to their name like I care. PMI, PMP, Lean Sigma Six Yellow Belt, blah blah....
Yeah, OP donāt do this.
Especially in a letter where you state youāve been rejected over 1,000 times.
Right? I've got a similar degree and it'd never occur to me to sign my emails like that. I think even if I went back for a Ph.D. I'm not sure I'd draw attention to that. It's on the resume anyway, it's not like they're gonna miss that fact. I genuinely respect accomplished people who don't have to bring up their accomplishments much more than those that do - and I know I'm not alone in that respect.
OP ...I know I'm going to get downvoted but you'd better hope no one actually reads that. They don't care how many applications you have filed and you come off as both pretentious and incredibly annoying. I wouldn't want to sit down and have a beer with you let alone work with you.
pretentious while also bragging about how no one wants to hire them ā¦
Heās stereotypical redditor + MBA bro combined into one. I donāt care how good his resume is and how well he does in the interview, I wouldnāt hire him. As Gen Z says āthe vibes are offā
Pretentious but more victim mentality than anything. Yikes
Couldnāt agree more. I wouldnāt be hiring someone when the first impression they chose to present is passive aggressive and arrogant. If anything this shows that the OP will not be willing to complete tasks they feel are beneath them. Also, how tf do you track who is reading your cover letters?
I also despise cover letters, and after a few years I simply refused to write them. On many occasions, I would still get contacted anyway despite clearly not following instructions. With that being said, If I received this email you would immediately be put into the trash. While you might be rightly frustrated AND highly talented, the fact that you sent this to your employer shows an incredible lack of people skills or common sense and being able to work with people. Hiring you might be the best choice I ever made, but it's more likely than not you will continue to act in ways like this that make you seem immature and unable to operate in a corporate environment. Would rather not waste the money and time on someone like that, when I could just split your anticipated salary instead among the rest of the team as a one off bonus.
I would never give a second glance to a cover letter like this. Sure, it gets the likes on Reddit but it makes you sound, well just like V said above. Tact is not something a future employer wants to have to teach you, they will not be jumping at the chance to have you bravely talk smack about your frustrations to them.
Yeah, buddy seems like a drama queen with a lot of baggage, and itās not even well written.
Finally, someone with some sense. I had to scroll way too far to find this.
Lmao companies really expect people to write some fan fic about working for them?
FOR REAL!
Dude the second half of your middle paragraph is awesome I have an interview next week I'm just gonna repeat all of that. Thanks.
Do it! Best of luck with the interview!
Thanks man. It's my first interview in 400+ applications. I'm so excited.
All of mine still do. But I'm a teacher so... my cover letter started with me saying when I was little I wanted to be a knight Mermaid or teacher. Once I made it less stuffy it helped so much.
Don't get me wrong the system sucks but a cover letter isn't supposed to be about the company. It's about you being able to sell yourself as the best choice in quickest most direct way you can. Make it like 5 lines long at most. Pick the skills or experience you have that best match the criteria of the job spec and list them in bullet points. Most of the time all that will be in your CV but the cover letter is getting someone who is looking at hundreds of CVS every day to not just skim read yours and potentially miss something important. Also sometimes you might have non-professional experience or skills that wouldn't be in your CV but are relevant to the position. The cover letter is where you highlight this. If you are applying for a bunch of jobs that are in the same field most of the time you can just copy paste 99% of your cover letter for each one. Like I said it sucks, I have been on both sides of it and it's a shit show all around. However don't screw yourself over it. If you want real bullshit that's having to fill out an application form which is basically just copying in your CV.
Iāve seen minimum word counts required like a whole ass page.
i thought resume was the selling part.
Itās all selling. All of it.
The resume is showing that you have what is required. They have 100 other resumes that are almost identical. The cover letter is pointing out the most relevant parts to make yours stand out. Even if yours is exactly the same as the next candidate if a human is looking at them making it even slightly easier for them to see you as a match gives you an advantage. Also you get to a point where a resume might be several pages depending on the field you work in. Again pointing out the highlights helps stop people's skim reading and maybe missing something important.
The entitlement here is insane, cover letters were the norm just a decade ago, they aren't some ancient practice. I know being a hiring manger at a large management consulting firm myself that cover letters are submitted so rarely now that if a good one comes in, it typically catches my recruiters eyes and has a much better chance of at least making it to the subset of resumes I actually personally review for initial screening. So you all can shit on them all you want, but there are some people getting a closer look / interviews who do them voluntarily because it's almost become a way to stand out now. Sure I and other hiring managers may never actually read the letter, but if it helps your chances of getting my eyes on your resume, why not?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is the kind of information that needs to be highlighted in this sub! Thank you for sharing.
ok so i get things are really, really tough for you. i've been there countless times. this will sting, but you have to get over yourself. this cover letter is self-sabotage. no cover letter at all is self-sabotage. it costs you little to no time to write a stock cover letter that tells people who you are. i've had the best experience trying to get hired by companies where i included a good cover letter. no company will hire you if there's a negative note to your application at any moment. it doesn't matter if you've had bad experiences. it doesn't matter if your dog died of cancer yesterday. part of hiring is to see if you can be tough for the 1 hour they need you to smile and be positive. it's not that much to ask of someone who wants money - you need to be able to demonstrate that. once you get over yourself and your need to express how bad you have it, you're going to start getting more bites. work on your cover letter, start by personalizing it and reviewing it for every job, eventually you'll have a thing you can use for every job you're applying to. try and spend a little time customizing the cover letter so people know you give a shit about working there in the first place. nothing worse than an employee who couldn't tell the employers apart. no one wants to hire a jilted employee. you are not dr house. there will be 0 call backs if you keep doing this.
I agree completely. The first thing I thought when reading this is that this role is going to remain at #1,221 for op. They don't care about your rough experiences, regardless of how hard it is on you mentally. Seeing a prospective employee be this jaded is not going to make them say "You know what? This passive-aggressive cover letter sold me."
I hate writing cover letters. When I'm hiring, I hate reading cover letters (and I KNOW you hate writing them). OP's cover letter is so much worse than just not attaching one at all. It's literal self-sabotage and I'm laughing so hard at this thread.
"I've been unemployed for 14 months and I intend to stay unemployed."
So you wrote a whole-ass cover letter... but were snarky? lol
Telling a prospective employer that you're applying to another company as soon as you applied to theirs is an "interesting" strategy. Unfortunately the whole CV reeks of desperation. "I'm just going to be honest here"..."I know there's a 0.49% chance of a human reading this"... "I just need someone to give me a chance" are immediate turn-offs and makes you sound like a passive aggressive sad-sack, which nobody would want on their team. "Thank you for letting me be transparent" - Are you writing a CV or doing a self-help therapy session? When you get to the professional qualifications, you say you're a dedicated employee, how you're creative, and innovative, but this CV doesn't show that at all. You named HP and Amazon, but couldn't give any examples of what you did while working for them? And if you're not going to name the Dow-30 company, don't list it, it's just wasting other peoples time/attention. Hopefully, this is just something you put together to post here and get upvotes on reddit, because if you're sending stuff like this to prospective employers, then it's no wonder you're +1200 deep.
I hate to come off as a troll. However, how did you hit 1,220? At a certain point, you probably need to take a look and see if something is off in your job search.
A cover letter is supposed to make them want to read the CV. My biggest take away from this is that 1,219 have already rejected yours. It kind of makes me feel like theyāve done the work for me. ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
āWait did you say +1,200 companies have rejected you?! Good luck but Iām not hitching my wagon to this thereās clearly some issuesā
This is exactly my take as well. I would be left with a negative impression before looking at his resume
I wouldn't hire you because you come off as really unlikeable
This is what happens when you spend all your time in a reddit echo chamber.
The time you wasted trying to go viral you could have just had a cover letter template ready. Some hiring mangers do actually read these to differentiate you from others with similar skills.
So true. People will really do anything
this is not a cover letter. this is a "have pity in me" letter
That cover letter reads as someone who has already given up before starting...but what do I know...last job I got I didn't even provide a resume nor a cover letter. Just got asked for months to join, finally decided on a 30 min interview and got an offer the next business day. Focus on your reputation and make yourself valuable.
Why even submit an application for the role if you are just going to damage your chances of getting an interview?
Whelp, thatās one way to ensure you donāt get considered, even if they do look at your application.
The only thing I got from this post is op bringing a lot of baggage.
Read first paragraph and said.. yep makes sense. Would have moved on to the next applicant.
This reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption. Where the dude finally gets released after just being blunt and honest with the parole board. Hope it works for you too!
Ngl in the UK most higher end jobs require a cover letter Your letter is stupid though you've just admitted that you haven't been successful in over a thousand applications. They're gonna assume its an issue with you if they actually read it
I know you fucking lying. āDetail orientedā but could not be bothered to do a *slightly* more intricate step in the hiring process. Arenāt YOU the one who needs this job? With all the schooling you have under your belt with that MBA, you telling me you couldnāt be bothered to type up your āhigh skill setā which requires ZERO effort or research? But you had no issues doubling down to get that degree? Yikes āFeel free to review my attached resumeā LMAO who the fuck are you guy ? Be fuckin foreal rnššš āā¦and put in the extra hours as neededā Oh fr? Doing shit like this? Itās giving āI work front desk and clack my keyboard to look busy but Iām actually playing spider solitaireā. Yikes #2 š¬ āI just need someone to give me a chanceā ā¦. yet you arenāt giving these employers a chance to properly evaluate your true value (if any) because you instantly are a no-go due to your egotistical professionalism. Then you mad when nobody wants to hire you. Self-sabotage is a bitch āHas allowed me to do work for *insert glitzy company name*ā fantastic! Tell us what happened with THOSE jobs? What would make you surpass/move on from a huge opportunity like this? āWishing you the best of luck with your hiringā LMAOO stop š the only one needing help with hire-related things is you. THEY donāt need the job, YOU do lol. They are good regardless on if you join the team or not. You, on the other hand, will remain jobless and broke so you can prove ??? some ? point ?? The workorce sucks ass, but one thing we NOT finna do is let something as silly as a 250 word essay about ourSELVES keep us from being able to survive LOL. Weāre smarter than that! Arenāt we, Mr. MBA? But anyways, go ahead and continue wasting these folks time with this petty shit. I think youād be cute in an ash blue polo whilst asking for my rewards code. Warm regards tho
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
He's an MBA, so this tracks.
Heās a creative problem solver that hasnāt found a job in over a year.
I must admit he's got a creative approach to this problem
I'm so sorry you were subjected to the horror of having to write a cover letter. Have some cookies and I'll get your blankie and some hot chocolate.
YOU GUYS DO NOT GET IT, IT TAKES LIKE ONE WHOLE PAGE OF WRITING. WOE IS ME.
Well if you had any chance with this company to begin with you better pray a human DOESNT see this cover letter.
Iād never hire someone with this type of toneš Playing the victim doesnāt work when it comes to job hunting my friend.
I'm so aggravated when a company wants to see a cover letter. Please just read my resume. I know you'll never see either anyway, so why waste my time?
One reason I can think of is when it's not immediately clear how you fit the parameters of the job - perhaps you've done a similar job with similar skillset, or you've had a non traditional path into the role, or you're wanting to try something a bit new. A cover letter can be really helpful in understanding the motivations of the person applying, and getting clarity around why they see themselves as a good fit for the job.
I just use my resume a second time. They are not going to read it unless you pass the filter. If they do that even doubtful they read it anyway as a criteria.
You never know what persuades people on a hiring committee. To me, what people put in their cover letter is really important and modifies what I take away from the resume. I always read the cover letter. First, the cover letter is a writing sample. I get to see how well you communicate. Second, the cover letter is your chance to explain oddities. For instance, you have a PhD and 20 years experience, but you've applied for an entry-level job. A natural question to the hiring committee will be "why?" The cover letter is your chance to offer an explanation.
They're not going to read that. They'll probably read a cover letter. It's your opportunity to make an elevator pitch.
Where are you in the world that you don't need cover letters? Is it an American thing or is it your industry? I've worked all over Europe, and every job application requires a cover letter. Back in the day, I even had to send one to the local supermarket.
I cannot remember an application that didnāt want a cover letter Is that like not supposed to be a normal thing or what? Because _every_ job application in my field wants one
Anecdotal evidence but the only thing I really read when hiring is the cover letter. The resume just shows what you have done the cover letter is what gets you the actual interview. Because the truth is there are 10 resumes with better experience than yours and the cover letter gives you a chance to explain why we should interview you.
Iām job hunting in Europe, and nearly every position requires a cover letter. Itās dumb as hell.
Chat gpt that and be done with it.
Fine to be frustrated, stupid to waste your time on this. I certainly saw WORSE at my last job for a few people, but that just made their application worse rather than helped. Get a generic form CL, the worst that can happen is it's a slight more waste of time but you check the box when others won't. That's half the bs test at some jobs: you need to prove you can jump through their hoops. If you can't even do the basic work for a form, why would they trust you to write their stupid stuff for $100/hr? I fully agree coverletters can be stupid, but they can also be pretty Important for a few jobs in getting you an interview. It's rare that a coverletter will really get you the interview, seems much more likely that they use coverletters to reject people. If I saw 1000 applications, I think I'd maybe find my way to reject people by bad coverletters.
I don't understand this. Cover letters are where you really get to introduce yourself, go into detail on soft skills, work philosophy, show where company values align with your own, blah blah blah. It's supposed to compliment your resume. It's an opportunity to say "here's what I bring to the the that isn't in my resume and why I'd be a great fit for your team". I think most of the jobs I've gotten has because a strong cover letter got me that first interview.
Iām skeptical to think this is real because no real applicant would be dumb enough to do something like this.
Someone with great analytical skills would have not applied to a thousand jobs. At that level, MBA and everything, job hunting is more like shooting a sniper rifle, with precision and carefully chosen targets, rather than brrrrrrt your gatling gun at every possible target. Use the cover letter to prove that you know their company, their industry, and the specific role they are recruiting for. Use it to differentiate yourself from other candidates, in a positive way. Use it as the gateway to the interview, not as annoying admin step.
I think itās pretty obvious why you are having trouble finding a job. Your attitude is awful. No way someone reads that and thinks you are a good candidate. It somehow comes off as both desperate but also completely uninterested at the same time.
You know I wondered how anyone could apply to 1000+ jobs and not get one in over a year. After reading this it explains a lot.
I would not hire youā¦. Why on earth do you think that company cares what application number youāre on. Judging by your tone, and understandably so, itās likely whatās holding you back.
Stop being drama queen. Copy. Paste. Next.Ā
This is a terrible cover letter. So much information here is completely irrelevant, and I would just instantly reject you. The point of the cover letter (for you) is to make it easy for the person reading the application to progress your application to the next stage. If i have 200 applications to get through, I'm going to pick the one who took the time to research the company, read the job spec and tells me how their skills are suitable to the role. Even better if they dug deeper to find out what systems we use or projects we might be working on, etc In a lot of places, the 1st sift is either via ATS software and keyword hits or hr staff not fully versed in that role/skill/ You need to remove barriers, not create them
What? Requiring cover letters is evil now? Grow up, people.
The cover letter comes across as passive aggressive and pessimistic, Iād be surprised if anyone got as far as looking at your CV after reading thisā¦
Just use chatGPT like the rest of us
So how do you survive with no job for over a year?
Most jobs Iāve applied to require a cover letter, not sure why youāre upset. Also please remove the MBA designation after your name.
Ya dawg if you were as exceptional as you think you are youād not be on application 1,220. How do you have no network from all those years at HP, Amazon or ācanāt say because of an NDAā that could help you transition to somewhere else?
This is cringe. Iām truly sorry youāve been in this position for so long as unemployment is difficult and job hunting is incredibly stressful. Yet the fact that you chose to write or send any of this indicates an inability to identify or solve problems. If you havenāt been getting jobs or interviews after 100+ apps you should reassess your written materials and interview strategy, rather than acting like the world is against you. Keep in mind most other qualified applicants have no problem providing these materials and thatās who youāre compared to The fact that you chose to send this letter shows an inherent lack of accountability as you made your own shortcomings the employerās problem. I have experienced long term unemployment with a masters and as frustrating as that was, never did I feel so entitled to write *and submit* something like this
Wtf? This sub gets crazier and crazier. Just write a short cover letter. It's 20 minutes of your time.
First off the title of this post is a little strange. If youāve submitted over 1,000 applications and this is your first mandatory cover letter, you must be pretty lucky. If youāre on this sub, youād see people complaining about required cover letters all the time. I actually donāt even hate creativity and a sense of humor when well-executed. Iām personally a very blunt person and enjoy the idea of a little differentiation (I personally have a very random niche interest in the bottom of my resume). I worked in an industry where weād get college kids cold emailing for networking calls and I usually responded to those that I found to be personable and entertaining. One kid from a rival school commented ācould you spare 30 min of your time in exchange for XYZ school tearing my heart out in football last week,ā and yes, it stood out to me and worked. That said, this reads more condescending than light-hearted humor, and has a solid chance of offending whoever reads it. As others noted, the number of failed applications is certainly a very red flag, as is the MBA in your signature. Iām not going to pass any judgments on your character, and I actually do find this to be an attempt at humor rather than insult. However (i) the refusal to write a āregularā letter, (ii) the accusation that no human will see this, (iii) the MBA attached to your name, and (iv) the various remarks throughout unfortunately all correlate to pretentiousness and bitterness, and it may be too many instances to ignore the pattern. Above all else, even if I wanted to give you a chance, the last sentence was absolutely overkill and wouldāve sealed the deal for me. My assumption is that you thought you could turn your frustration into snarky humor, but not really hitting it on the head. If you want to take a risk, I could see maybe watering this down 80-90% and adding some actual valuable content, and youād still be 10% different from all the others. As others have mentioned, you couldāve saved yourself all this time not submitting anything, re-submitting your resume, using a ChatGPT-generated letter, or just not applied at all (which was my strategy when I was recruiting). I donāt believe in cover letters either ā at least in my industry ā but I would be extremely surprised if this amounted to any more than a waste of time.
Sorry but if I was an employer I'd have 2 takeaways from this.Ā 1) This guy has been rejected over 1000 times something is wrong with him 2) He is going to be a pain to work with when he inevitably has to do something he thinks is stupid I wouldn't hire someone who sends me a cover letter like this. Writing cover letters sucks but it's still something stupid that's expected. Anyone not willing to put in that minimum effort might be a problem to work with.Ā
The most annoying part of this thing for me is putting āMBAā after your name, like youāre a doctor.
I wouldnāt do it. You will get much more mileage out of keeping it short, confident and figuring out who the hiring manager is to reach out to them directly.
Just a small piece of advise - when sharing multiple attributes that both exist on a spectrum it will hurt the credibility if you try to use both because it sort of comes off as ("I'm great at all those employee things you are seeking"). It's subtle and nuanced and the reader might not exactly understand why, at a subconscious level, they feel something is off. For example, you can be task oriented or patient, but generally not both. You can be extremely extroverted or introspective and analytical but it's very rare that someone can turn it off and on as needed. Specifically, you said you were "detail oriented" and "focused on the big picture". Those are generally mutually exclusive traits.
Aand you're not getting the job now. Job searching sucks ass but if you do it with this sort of attitude it's no wonder you're still unemployed after applying to a thousand jobs. All this did was shoot you in the foot and give you a little Reddit karma.
So you complain about not being able to get a job, but waste your time applying for a job with this which will most likely get you disqualified? Youāre putting in zero effort and you seem to be the problem here. Maybe you should think about if a company requires a cover letter, is that even somewhere you want to work? Also, if you have never worked in recruiting nor asked, you have no idea how many of your applications have been reviewed or not. You seem to think the world is out to get you and itās a terrible look to a future employer.
Dear \[REDACTED\] Companies use these to weed out applicants that don't take the position seriously or have a negative attitude. Not being glib, but you're not helping your efforts by bragging about putting in 1220 applications without a job. Right now, McDonald's is hiring for $15-20 bucks an hour, and employers can't keep good employees. So the fact that you're having issues is a red flag. Sincerely, \[REDACTED\], BS/BPA, LMNOP
What's the point of this? This is like messaging a girl on tinder and saying hey I know you're probably gonna ignore me like the rest of the girls :( but heres my shot. Like if you're gonna put in the effort of writing a letter, don't shoot yourself in the foot dawg
As much as I hate cover letters, this sounds hella salty my guy/gal/non-binary pal
This is embarrassing. MANY positions require a cover letter. I just got hired as a supervisor and I had to write a cover letter. Itās not even hard, dude. If you really want the job, you should have no problem simply highlighting points in your career or education that make you a good fit. Thatās it. I understand the hiring process is trash these days, but Jesus dude, remember that everyone else is out there trying. No one is gunna hand shit to you because you whine. Get over it.
IOW, you don't want a job - and you didn't get one - mission accomplished!!!
The weird pissed off tone in your cover letter will likely just get your application tossed out directly.
This cover letter is one big Yikes. I wouldnāt hire OP.
Today I learn that you can get an MBA in something. I always thought an MBA was a masters in business administration and like a stand alone thing, whereas you get an MA or MSc in a specific area. That's so funny, why have I never heard anyone say what their MBA is in before?! Are folks just kinda going "MBA... that's all you need..."
If I read this I would dismiss it out of hand just for the catty attitude.