Cover Letters Are Important - but Maybe Not That Important, HR Professionals Say.Business Editors OLD SAYBROOK Saybrook may refer to:
HRnext In HRnext.com/BLR.com poll, 40 percent say, "It's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have among the important factors." Human-resource professionals have varying opinions on how important it is for job applicants to write good cover letters, based on the results of a recent online poll held at HRnext.com and its sister site, BLR BLR Belarus BLR Business & Legal Reports BLR Boiler BLR Broad-Line Region BLR Base Lending Rate BLR Binary Language Representation BLR Bintan Lagoon Resort (Indonesia) BLR Bangalore, India - Hindustan .com. Both sites asked visiting HR professionals to answer the question: "How important is the cover letter in an application?" Here's how they answered: 40% - It's among the important factors. 21% - It depends on the job. 17% - It's important only if it's awful. 11% - Very important; it can clinch Clinch, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, formed by the junction of two forks in SW Va., and flowing generally SW across E Tenn. to the Tennessee River at Kingston. a job. 11% - We don't even look at cover letters. The poll, held the week of June 2, drew a total of 1,087 votes. "I wouldn't interpret these numbers as proof that cover letters are unimportant un·im·por·tant adj. Not important; petty. un  im·por tance n. ," said HRnext President John Brady. "An applicant should assume that the HR professional reading his cover letter will treat it as one of the important factors in the hiring process. At the same time, the importance an HR professional actually attaches to a letter depends on several variables - among them, the type of job being filled." Since over 50% of HR managers in the online poll said cover letters are "among the important factors" or "very important", job applicants should use them to put their best foot forward. Brady added that job seekers job seeker also job·seek·er n. One who seeks employment. should consider how a really excellent cover letter could help get them to be considered seriously. "If you describe persuasively per·sua·sive adj. Tending or having the power to persuade: a persuasive argument. per·sua why you are the right person for that job, you've just bested all the candidates who didn't make that effort." About HRnext and BLR HRnext.com, HR Answers Now, is a popular website from Business & Legal Reports, Inc. (BLR). HRnext features a 5,000-page online HR Library, daily HR News, white papers, pre-written job descriptions and checklists for HR professionals. Visit HRnext at http://www.hrnext.com. BLR, a nationally recognized publisher of plain-English analysis on regulatory and legal compliance, is based in Old Saybrook, Conn. The firm also publishes many other resources for professionals in safety and health, and environmental management. For more information, call 1-800-727-5257, or visit www.BLR.com. |
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