Do You Need a Cover Letter?

Fact is, as the hiring manager I hardly ever see cover letters; they’ve usually been stripped off by the time the resumes get to me. So if you do write a cover letter it should be targeted at the recruiter or HR manager. For the hiring manager you should focus instead on a good objective or summary on your resume.

If you do write a cover letter then, it should specifically address the qualifications listed in the job req, as that’s what the recruiter or HR person will be looking for. For instance, say the job req is as follows:

"Looking for an experienced .NET engineer with 3+ years ASP.NET, C#, and SQL Server. Knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and SQL Server required. Nice to haves include WCF /WPF, WinForms/WPF, .NET 3.5, and AJAX. Contact Joe at Joe
Schmoe Recruiting."

Then you might compose a cover letter like this:

"Dear Mr. Schmoe,

I wish to apply for the .NET Engineering position you have listed online. I feel that my nearly 4 years of ASP.NET and C# experience more than meet your requirements. I also have significant experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as part of my development responsibilities. And while my hands-on SQL Server experience is limited, I do have a strong command of database concepts.

I also possess many of your desired supplementary skills, including hands-on experience converting a WinForms application to WPF. I have also researched WCF and LINQ from .NET 3.5 for one of my projects.

Yours Truly,

John D. Applicant"