Why Applicant Tracking Systems Don't Like Cover Letters

ATSs don't like cover letters, and using them means that you're more likely to be blocked.

This means that using cover letters greatly reduces your chances of getting interviews.

Not only do the majority of employers say that cover letters make your odds of landing an interview and job far worse, but the prescreening process also works against candidates who send cover letters.

This may seem impossible, as many employers require cover letters. What you may not realize is that many IT departments require cover letters for all jobs, just to satisfy the small minority of hiring managers who want them.

Cover letter requirements aren't set up to make it easy for your search ... they are designed to make it more efficient for IT and HR. While this reduces IT and HR time, it's totally dysfunctional for you, the job seeker.

Here are a few reasons why ATSs hate cover letters:

1. Cover Letters Are Rarely Keyword Searched By ATSs: ATS executives shared that employers almost never set up their Applicant Tracking Systems to search more than one document ... and that document is the resume. This is why recruiters will regularly say "If it's not on your resume, it doesn't exist".
2. Cover Letters Distract Your Reader: They distract your reader from the document that 97% of employers use to decide if they'll give you an interview ... your resume. Since employers make this decision in an average 15 seconds, a second document is a distraction. Your cover letter keeps employers' attention away from the document they believe contain your features/benefits as a candidate ... again, it's your resume.
3. They No Longer Serve A Purpose: Cover letters made sense when you had to take your resume to Kinko's (remember them?) to have it printed, because when you took it to a print shop you couldn't change it for an individual employer's needs. But that changed about 30 years ago when high-quality word processing apps and laser printers became affordable to consumers. Since a resume could be easily customized to meet the hiring manager's individual needs, the cover letter no longer served its purpose. Now, even when emailed, cover letters are an obsolete relic of pre-digital age that only distract your reader's attention and hurt your chances to get interviews (while making your tech skills appear obsolete).

But cover letters are still recommended by many career coaches and resume writers, who sell cover letters services. Outplacement firms teach traditional job search, rather than give cutting edge advice (Your ex-employer paid the outplacement firm to reduce the risk of termination lawsuits, not to find you a job).

And when employers require cover letters in job descriptions or application process, there's a more effective document shows you followed instructions, but avoids distracting your readers' attention.

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/register for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2023.

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