The Importance of Cover Letters for Hiring Success in 2023 | #hrmanagement #hrexecutive

Typically application forms for open job postings include cover letters in addition to the applicant’s curriculum vitae (CV) or resume. Suppose you’re a hiring manager or human resource (HR) specialist. 

In that case, you’ll learn more about how an applicant’s experience and knowledge base corresponds with the listed role in your company, how they can contribute to your organization, and why they’re interested in the job. 

You can better understand a candidate’s eligibility for a job through their cover letters. In fact, cover letters play a crucial role in your organization’s hiring process because it frequently creates the initial impression you have of an applicant. 

Additionally, cover letters and CVs must be submitted with applications for positions at your company as a prerequisite.

7 reasons why cover letters must form a part of your recruitment approach

63% of companies state that cover letters are helpful in elucidating an applicant’s reasons for wanting to work for the organization. 

As per the same study, 50% agree that they aid in describing the applicant’s professional goals while 50% of respondents claim cover letters are crucial since they allow candidates to justify employment changes.

Irrespective of the position a person is applying for, adding a cover letter to their CV might increase the chances of getting hired. Below are some justifications for the significance of cover letters:

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1. Get a strong first impression

A cover letter enables you to get a first impression regarding an applicant. This can speed up the entire screening process for candidates. A well-organized structure and layout, alongside unique content, give you a glimpse into the prospect’s professionalism and sincerity.

Cover letters do a great job of selling a prospect’s skills and catching your attention – enhancing your odds of securing the best fit for the role since it stresses the candidate’s primary strengths.

Again, smaller businesses frequently recruit fewer individuals at a given time. Hence, if you’re a hiring manager of a start-up or a small-scale business, you’re more likely to spend time reading each person’s cover letter for a better understanding. 

It gives you enough insights into whether investing your resources in a certain prospect is worth it or not.

2. Recognize prospective employees’ writing prowess

A strong cover letter demonstrates if an applicant possesses excellent writing abilities. Companies admire the ability of people to express themselves clearly and intelligibly on paper – in the majority of positions. 

A comprehensive document, created using smart cover letter templates demonstrates that an individual has strong communication abilities, which are necessary for achieving success at work.

3. Take a deep dive into an applicant’s personality

Contrary to resumes, which have limited space, cover letters give professionals enough room to dwell on key personality attributes. You can skim through the document to check out a variety of admirable characteristics, like leadership, drive, or other abilities which will benefit your business. 

A well-written cover letter enables you, as a recruiter, to contemplate why a certain candidate may be the best-qualified person for your vacancy. The context of an application can be added through cover letters as well. 

It gives you the chance to go into more detail about your prospect’s prior employment history, achievements, difficulties, and motivations for looking for new chances. These provide you with insights into the individual’s motivation and may help you advance them to the next round of the recruitment process.

4. Check an applicant’s suitability for the position

A candidate can show your firm in a cover letter why their experience, accomplishments, and talents are appropriate for the position they’re applying for. 

You can leverage the insights obtained from the listed achievements from prior positions to understand if the applicant possesses the skills and experience necessary to perform well if recruited. In fact, the sole act of creating a cover letter demonstrates a prospect’s sincere desire to work for a particular company. 

You can ensure if the individual stands out from the competition and whether they’ll have a beneficial impact on your business — if you see a compelling letter that displays an in-depth knowledge of the position as well as your firm’s requirements.

5. Improve your relationship with applicants

A strong relationship-building tool, a good cover letter gives you insight into your applicants’ motivations, attitudes, and professional experience. You can use it to check how the person’s professional objectives and the goals you’ve set for your business are in alignment. 

By focusing on the prospect’s greatest successes and how they plan to use them to enhance the role and your organization, you can better comprehend how the candidate’s talents, expertise, and charisma will make them remarkable employees.

A well-written, succinct cover letter additionally showcases whether a person can follow directions. The document will not simply demonstrate the writing abilities – but also an intended recruit’s comprehension of the demands of the position and your business.

6. Comprehend an applicant’s commitment to the role

Whenever cover letters are prepared, they demonstrate how seriously someone is interested in the position. It never ceases to wow, according to the latest research. 

A cover letter serves as the second-best approach to draw attention to a CV after tailoring it specifically for the position, according to 49 percent of HR managers. As per the same source, about 53 percent of companies believe that a résumé alone is insufficient to stand out from the competition.

The statistics also indicate that cover letters prove effective for full-time, part-time, and internship positions alike.

7. Learn about job gaps or career transitions

Adhering to something like a two-page CV, limits a candidate’s ability to elaborate or justify an employment gap and the reasons behind changing careers; this is another critical function of a cover letter.

You can resort to a cover letter in order to learn more about the circumstances underlying any employment gap rather than throwing away someone’s CV because of it.

Use a cover letter to identify unique talents and personalities

Emphasize including a cover letter in your job postings since it conveys two crucial points: that the applicant has gone above and beyond in applying for the role; and that he or she is serious about getting hired.

A strong cover letter saves time throughout the screening stage. Your entire decision-making approach should include a cover letter. This is especially true when taking submissions from neurodiverse individuals into account — to offset the opportunity given to people who are good writers.