Death of the Cover Letter

By Yosef Solomon on Apr 14, 2010

One of the most annoying and counterproductive elements of the job process is the Cover Letter. That age-old formal document that explains why you want to work at the company you are applying to is being replaced. By what you may ask? How about a 140 character sentence describing why you want the position. Finally, a solution that actually merits action.

MTV decided to forgo the traditional cover letter and enlist this new form of expression. So will 140 character cover letters replace the old ones. Well that depends on what industry you’re in. I’m not saying that 140 characters is the for all, but I do think these companies need to reevaluate how they are finding new talent and what measures they’re utilizing to acquire them.

In the perfect world, I’d like to see unique ways in which companies hire their employees. Instead of resumes, why not specific objectives or project proposals. Potential candidates should be tested on what they will be doing at the present company rather than summarizing their past experience and employment history. Yes, it is important to measure experience when finding new candidates, but it shouldn’t be the only factor. In Hollywood, writers write spec commercials and directors shoot specs for future work. This way, production companies and businesses understand what they’re getting when they hire these people on.

In reality, the cover letter is just a vague piece of writing meant to entice employers, who honestly may never actually read it. I agree, it does show the applicants interest in working for the prospective company, but so can a lot of other alternatives. For example, if I were looking for an intern at the local radio station, I would rather they have them submit a 30 second promo “on-air” as to why the would be the best person for the job. This might already be the case in the radio industry, but regardless, it’s worth more than a dry, 1-page cover letter.

By administering a job related task that adheres to what the prospective candidate would be doing, we’d be able to better gauge that persons potential in that job function. When we really think about it, it’s no different than testing out a product or service. Not to compare a human being to a product or service, but rather their experience to the job function.