The Cover Letter Debate
Ask ten recruiters whether cover letters matter and you'll get ten different answers. Some will tell you they never read them. Others will say a strong cover letter has been the deciding factor in advancing a candidate.
The truth is situational. Whether you need a cover letter depends on the company, the role, the industry, and your specific circumstances. Blanket advice like "always write one" or "nobody reads them" ignores the nuance that actually determines whether your application succeeds.
Let's look at what the data says and build a framework for deciding on a per-application basis.
What the Data Actually Shows
A 2024 survey by Resume Genius found that 68% of hiring managers said a cover letter influences their decision, at least somewhat. But that number drops significantly in certain industries. In tech, only about 30% of hiring managers consistently read cover letters.
Here's what matters more than the overall statistic: the type of company and role you're applying to.
Small companies (under 200 employees) are far more likely to read cover letters. The hiring manager is often the person reviewing applications directly. At a 50-person company, your cover letter might be the first thing the founder reads.
Large companies with high application volume often run everything through an ATS first. Your cover letter might get parsed for keywords, but a human may never read it. When a job posting gets 500+ applications, recruiters are spending 6-7 seconds per resume. The cover letter is an afterthought.
When a Cover Letter Gives You an Advantage
There are situations where skipping the cover letter is leaving value on the table.
Career changes. If your resume says "accountant" but you're applying for a marketing role, the resume alone doesn't explain why. A cover letter lets you connect the dots: "My five years analyzing financial data taught me to think analytically about metrics, which is exactly what drew me to this growth marketing position."
Employment gaps. A two-year gap on your resume raises questions. A cover letter lets you address it proactively and briefly: "After taking time to care for a family member, I'm returning to the workforce with renewed focus and three recent certifications in cloud architecture."
Referrals and networking. If someone at the company referred you, the cover letter is where you mention it. "Sarah Chen on your engineering team suggested I apply" carries weight, and there's no natural place for that on a resume.
Communication-heavy roles. If you're applying for a writing, marketing, PR, or client-facing position, the cover letter is a work sample. A poorly written cover letter for a content strategist role is disqualifying. A sharp one demonstrates exactly the skill they're hiring for.
When the posting explicitly asks for one. This should be obvious, but ignoring application instructions signals that you don't follow directions.
When You Can Skip It
Not every application warrants the 20-40 minutes a good cover letter takes to write.
The job posting says "no cover letter." Respect this. Some companies use structured application forms specifically to standardize evaluation. Attaching an unsolicited cover letter doesn't make you look thorough -- it makes you look like you didn't read the instructions.
High-volume tech applications. If you're applying to a FAANG company through their careers page, the application will go through an ATS and then a recruiter who's screening hundreds of profiles. Your resume and any coding assessments will matter. The cover letter won't.
When you'd send a generic one. A bad cover letter is worse than no cover letter. If you're going to write "Dear Hiring Manager, I am excited to apply for this position at your company," don't bother. Generic cover letters signal low effort.
The Decision Framework
Use this table to decide whether to write a cover letter for each application:
| Situation | Write a Cover Letter? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Career change | Yes | Explains the pivot your resume can't |
| Employment gap > 6 months | Yes | Address it before they assume the worst |
| Someone referred you | Yes | Name-dropping a referral is powerful |
| Small company (< 200 people) | Yes | Higher chance a human reads it |
| Communication-focused role | Yes | The letter itself is a work sample |
| Posting asks for one | Yes | Following instructions matters |
| Posting says "no cover letter" | No | Follow instructions |
| FAANG / high-volume applications | No | ROI is too low |
| You'd send a generic version | No | A bad letter hurts more than none |
| Quick Apply on LinkedIn | No | The format doesn't support it well |
| Startup with a short application | Maybe | Check if there's a field for it |
How to Write One That Actually Gets Read
If you've decided a cover letter is worth writing, here's what separates the ones that get read from the ones that get skimmed.
Keep it under 300 words. Recruiters are busy. Three short paragraphs is the sweet spot.
Open with something specific. Not "I'm excited about this opportunity." Instead, reference something concrete:
I read your team's blog post on migrating from a monolith to microservices, and the challenges you described around service discovery are exactly the problems I spent the last two years solving at Acme Corp.
That opening tells the recruiter three things: you researched the company, you have relevant experience, and you can communicate clearly.
Structure it as a simple argument:
Paragraph 1: Why this company/role specifically (show you did research)
Paragraph 2: Your most relevant qualification and a brief proof point
Paragraph 3: What you'd bring to the team + a confident close
End with a specific call to action. Not "I look forward to hearing from you." Try: "I'd welcome the chance to discuss how my experience scaling the checkout system at Acme could apply to your team's performance goals. I'm available for a conversation anytime this week."
The Real Cost-Benefit Analysis
Here's the honest math. A tailored cover letter takes 20-40 minutes to write well. In that same time, you could:
- Apply to 2-3 additional jobs with tailored resumes
- Research a company more deeply for an upcoming interview
- Follow up with a networking contact
The question isn't "do cover letters work?" It's "is this the highest-value use of my next 30 minutes?"
For a dream job at a small company where you have a referral and a career gap to explain, the answer is absolutely yes. For your 47th application on a job board to a Fortune 500 company, the answer is probably no.
Spend Your Time Where It Counts
Whether you write a cover letter or not, the resume is still the foundation. A strong, tailored resume gets you through ATS filters and into the interview pile. A cover letter can help at the margins, but it can't save a weak resume.
If you want to make sure your resume is doing the heavy lifting, Superpower Resume analyzes your resume against specific job descriptions and shows you exactly where the gaps are. That way, whether you write a cover letter or not, your resume is already optimized for the role.
Sources
- ResumeGo: Cover Letter Study — Controlled experiment showing applicants who submitted tailored cover letters received 50% more interview callbacks than those who did not
- SHRM: The Value of Cover Letters — Survey of HR professionals on whether cover letters influence hiring decisions and when they matter most
- Robert Half: Hiring Manager Survey — Annual survey data on the percentage of hiring managers who consider cover letters important and the situations where they carry the most weight
