It’s time to (finally) kill the cover letter

I’ve spent the last three years helping to hire 90+ people for Crossbeam, a Philly SaaS company. Earlier this year I made that statement on LinkedIn and it really hit a nerve. HR leaders reinforced their efficacy while job seekers expressed their distaste. People had *feelings* on the application process and whether or not we need cover letters. Whose idea was it to start writing cover letters anyway?

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with inventing the cover letter in the 1400s, writing to the Duke of Milan with a project pitch. In the 1950s, the first recorded cover letter requirement was posted in The New York Times’ job classifieds.

Since then, the structure of the cover letter has not changed much. A Google search for “AI cover letter generator” yields literally millions of results. For even more fun, have ChatGPT write yours! I tried a few of them recently and, honestly, they are better than any cover letter I’ve personally written. The reason for that? There is a formula to the not-so-modern cover letter that’s so predictable and so blasé that even a computer can do it:

• Introduction
• Purpose
• Skills overview
• Value proposition
• Closing

Copy, paste, yawn, repeat. Career books lay out that simple formula — “Do exactly this, and you’ll land the job.”

In this moment of layoffs and instability, we have an opportunity to take some pain out of the application process. Talent acquisition teams can streamline the application process and help candidates apply to fewer jobs and more quickly find high quality candidates.

Consider these cover letter alternatives:

Application questions

In the hiring Crossbeam did these last few years, strategic application questions helped us to screen candidates efficiently and fairly. Application questions are a game changer, especially in a hiring market where a job opening can generate hundreds of applicants overnight.

In addition to providing important information, application question responses can give the recruiter a number of insights on a candidate:

• Enthusiasm for the role — Did they craft an original response or cut and paste from the company website? Did they bother to complete the question at all?
• Written communication skills — In many roles, especially in a remote environment, written communication matters. If a candidate is motivated, they’ll take an extra moment to ensure a well-crafted response with attention to spelling and grammar.
• Technical or industry expertise — While these questions aren’t intended as an in-depth tech screen, a candidate’s answer can indicate their comfort level with the industry they’re applying for.

If you use application questions, it’s critical to calibrate with the hiring manager on what makes a great/good/non-passing response.

Some of my favorite application questions and what we expect from them:

Customer success — “What company has a customer success strategy you admire and why?” 

For this example, we’re looking for:

• An understanding of what a customer success strategy is and how it’s different from a customer support strategy
• An interest in the strategy behind what they do
• Strong written communication skills

Sales — “In your own words, what does Crossbeam do?”

For this example, we’re looking for:

• The ability to understand complex ideas and translate them into their own words
• Critical reading and writing skills
• An excitement for what Crossbeam does and an understanding of the problem we are trying to solve

Engineering — “What unique skill or perspective could you bring to the engineering team?”

For this example, we’re looking for:

• Excitement to share knowledge within a team
• Their personality: Engineering resumes often list the same tools and languages, but this gives them an opportunity to express what they enjoy outside of the languages they use

Application directions

Using directions in a job posting is a great way to streamline the process for the company and for the candidate. While this method can be used for any level hire, it’s exceptionally helpful in hiring for entry-level or generalist roles, where skills like attention to detail and ability to follow directions are key to a quick ramp time. In a job posting, tell candidates how to apply:

“Apply by sending resume and portfolio to info@company.com with the Subject: Associate Designer Application. Please answer the below questions in the body of the email.”

By giving clear instructions on how to apply, you’re setting folks up to succeed while evaluating their attention to detail and comprehension of directions. When I post a job, I often get 200+ applicants overnight. In using application directions there is an added benefit of filtering out folks who might be spam applying without considering the role or reading through the job description fully.

A great option for hiring a customer-facing role like sales or customer success is to instruct candidates to reach out to the recruiter, allowing candidates to pitch themselves and demonstrate their written communication skills. (Pro tip: Set up an internal email alias for this to keep your inbox clutter-free.)

“The next step in your application for <role> is to send an email to recruiter@company.com, telling us why you’re the right candidate for the role. This is your opportunity to showcase your communication style and creativity to the hiring team!”

If you apply to an opportunity at Crossbeam, you’ll still see the option to upload a cover letter. The option.

Note that if a company runs a predictable vanilla process (like asking for cover letters) they will get a lot of predictable and vanilla applications. We like to give the applicants a way to shine without undue stress or unpaid work. Things like questions and detailed application requirements do that. Cover letters do not.

Perhaps when the industry catches up with the “I hate cover letters” movement, I’ll remove the option entirely. Until then, we at Crossbeam understand that everyone has a unique story to tell. I take time to read any cover letter someone chooses to write because that effort should be taken into consideration.