HR cover letter

I recently read some interesting results from a number of surveys done by the Society
for Human Resources Management regarding cover letters, resumes and avenues for
getting hired. Results validated some of what I had always thought to be true, but also
contradicted some of my other beliefs. Before I discuss some of the findings, I would
add that these surveys were done between 2005 and 2006, so it is dated somewhat.
Also, the respondents were all HR professionals and they do have a different agenda
than an operational, hiring manager. So without further ado...

Cover letters without a resumes: 70% of the HR respondents stated that they would
not look at a cover letter without resume, whereas only 14% would reject a resume
without a cover letter. To state the obvious, your resume is your bread of your bread
and butter. Whether you need the butter evidently is questionable? According to this
survey of 351 HR professionals, the butter is not necessary.

Results are what they are; nevertheless, I think this result reflects that HR
professionals tend to act as gatekeepers. And to the gatekeeper, the document with the
most facts is the resume. Whereas, I think if you were talking about a hiring manager,
the importance of having a well written cover letter shoots up quite a bit. I personally
think that a compelling and persuasive cover letter will always work in your favor,
without regard to the results of this survey.

Cover letters and resumes with typographical or grammatical errors: This is a no

brainer, right? Over 86% of the respondents stated that they would reject an applicant
based on this error. That is huge. But to add real red flags to this result, the same
group stated that over 99% of them saw typos and grammar misses on the cover
letters and resumes that they have received. Based on those two results, I would
conclude 85% of applicants are rejected outright. Wow, that is huge.

There really is not excuse for being rejected for no proofreading your documents
before you send it in.

Referrals and Personal Contacts: The absolute, most effective means of getting hired
is through personal contact. 58% of executives, 67% of managers, and 65% of
professionals were hired through this avenue according to the HR professionals that
responded to this survey. The second most effective route was referrals which resulted
in 44% of executives, 56% of managers, and 61% of professionals. In an interesting
twist, headhunters were considered most effective for executives at 60%, yet only
about 25% for professionals and managers. Conversely, over 68% for managers and
professionals were filled through internal internet postings, whereas only 30% of
executives were recruited internally.

By the way, I should note that the numbers do not all add up to 100%, as the
respondents were allowed to give multiple answers to a question. This should be no
surprise. Referrals (which is what internal postings are) and personal
contact/networking are the most effective means of getting hired. What is headhunting
other than a professional referral.
Job Fairs and Open Houses: I always knew these cattle calls were worthless. Have
you ever been to a job fair that purports to target executives? Its effectiveness is 1%
with executives, although it was higher at 3% for minorities. For managers, it was
under 14% with minority only job fairs at 13%. Minority job fairs are also less
effective for professionals at 20% versus 27% for general job fairs. Do not even
bother attending open houses.

Job fairs, open houses, walk in traffic, and all the other miscellaneous avenue fared
poorly with the surveyed HR professionals. I have had personal success here but I was
always very targeted in what I did. I walked in with compelling arguments. If you
simply pop up, the initial reaction will always be negative. HR professionals are
gatekeepers. Gatekeepers like to follow rules. So, you want to get hired, do these
things:

1. Send in mistake free resumes, by the way, chronological resumes with no

employment gaps were most preferred.

2. Network and develop personal contacts who can then refer you for a position.

3. Job fairs, community organizations, open houses are all ineffective.