Cover Letters: When They Matter and When They Don't

The Cover Letter Debate

Ask ten career advisors whether cover letters matter and you will get ten different answers. The truth is nuanced: cover letters matter in specific contexts, and in those contexts, a good one can be the difference between an interview and a rejection. But writing a cover letter for every application — especially when it is not required — is often a misallocation of your limited job-search time.

The goal of this chapter is simple: know when to invest in a cover letter, and when that time is better spent elsewhere.

When Cover Letters Definitely Matter

The Application Requires One

If the application form has a required cover letter field, submit one. Period. Leaving a required field blank signals that you either cannot foll...