Twenty statistics to show you why cover letters are important for your job search

Twenty statistics to show you why cover letters are important for your job search

Our resume writers always talk about the importance of attaching a strong cover letter to your job application. Did you know that a majority of employers prefer to receive a cover letter from job applicants? In fact, some employers even reject applications that do not carry a cover letter.

This is why you must always attach a cover letter to your job application, even when the employer has not required you to write one in the job posting. Imagine being the only job applicant who submitted a cover letter for a particular job opening. You will stand out almost instantaneously.

Many hiring managers believe that a cover letter allows them to have a glimpse into the personality of the job applicant. While the resume of a job seeker is almost always very technical, a cover letter carries a personal touch. Your cover letter can set the employer’s mood before they even get to the resume.

49% of hiring managers admit that a strong cover letter has convinced them to interview a candidate who has submitted a relatively weak resume. On the other hand, 18% of hiring managers say that they have rejected job applicants just because they submitted a weak cover letter.

Here are twenty cover letter statistics that you must know about:

  • 25% of employers believe that a cover letter is very important for a job application.
  • Most hiring managers who read cover letters, 48%, take 30 seconds to two minutes for each cover letter.
  • 60% of companies demand cover letters from job applicants.
  • Only 6% of hiring managers think that a cover letter is unnecessary for a job application.
  • Out of hiring managers, 83% frequently or always read cover letters.
  • 83% of hiring managers take the cover letter into consideration for their hiring decisions.
  • 16% of hiring managers believe that reading the cover letter is necessary to be thorough.
  • 59% of hiring managers think that the cover letter provides insight into the applicant’s personality and attitudes.
  • Medium and large companies with over 100 employees are twice as likely than small businesses to think that cover letters are important.
  • Only 15% of small businesses consider cover letters to be important when making hiring decisions.
  • 36% of hiring managers devote less than 30 seconds to a single cover letter.
  • When it comes to large tech corporations with over 5000 employees, 48% require cover letters.
  • A majority of tech startups (65%) require a cover letter from job applicants.
  • A total of 87% of hiring managers read cover letters from job applicants.
  • 22% of hiring managers admit that they just read cover letters out of habit.
  • Even employers who don’t require cover letters from job applicants read them. 73% of these employers read the cover letters they receive.
  • Only 4% of hiring managers never or infrequently read cover letters.
  • When it comes to hiring, 45% of hiring managers read the cover letter before they even look at the resume of a job applicant.
  • 15% of hiring managers take more than 2 minutes to go through a cover letter of an applicant.
  • If a job posting requires job seekers to submit a cover letter, 72% of hiring managers read them.

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