If you want to hire a new employee, do you request a cover letter together with a resume/CV?

If you require a cover letter with an application, what is it that you want to achieve and see, that you can’t see in a good CV? The motivation will be evident from the dialogue you have with the selected suitable candidates or…?

Finding and hiring the right person is usually an extensive and costly task (time and money). Some use recruiters/headhunters to find, screen and test applicants before presenting a few to the hiring manager (often a hiring team). After that, further meetings, references, tests etc. are held and you then choose the one you find to be the best to solve the tasks in the job description.

Headhunters add more value in a situation where you cannot find suitable candidates yourself, or have a desire for discretion, this, of course, comes at a cost.

Others use their personal network to find suitable candidates, and at the same time use their own organization to refer relevant candidates (via HR), both methods have obviously also a built-in reference for the candidate.

Many organizations also have an internal bonus scheme for the employee who refers a new candidate, if the candidate is hired. This increases the motivation to also ask people in one's network, even if they know that a specific person are not actively looking for a job change.

By the way, if you want diversity, it's important to be objective and not hire a mirror image of yourself.

It is obvious that the last form is more cost-effective than the first, many times also faster and if the candidate is someone the referral have worked with before, there is also a built-in chemistry and attitude validation, in these personal candidate references.

Virtually every survey shows that if you use an old-school hiring process, with a classic job posting, whether it is on LinkedIn or national job portals, you typically ask for both a cover letter together with a CV, after which you receive a number of applications over some weeks, which must then be read and answered (if you as an organization want to behave properly, ash stated in your CSR policy). In the first rough sorting, only a few seconds are spent on each application, most of which is a quick screen of the CV and very little time is spent on the cover letter. Whether it is an 80/20 rule or even less, between reading the CV and cover letter varies. Many organizations use software screening for this coarse sorting, which is also, by the way, not always a good idea for all job types.

So, does a cover letter in the initial hiring process provide any kind of value, or is it something you do because, that's how we've always done it? What do you do and why? Do you remember to challenge the status quo?

There are, of course, big differences between hiring a new CEO or a cleaning worker, both fulfill a desired and necessary function, and there is a difference in the employment process for several reasons.

Another little Sunday afternoon thought, that may or may not give rise to some thoughts for you?