What is the Cover Letter’s Job?

In today’s job market, cover letters are not just ancillary documents complementing your resume; they are strategic tools created by job applicants to perform specific, crucial tasks on our behalf.  Understanding the cover letter through this lens clarifies its importance and potential impact. It helps to look at cover letters through the lens of the jobs to be done (JTBD)  framework, which invites us to imagine that we are hiring the cover letter to perform certain tasks for us and ask ourselves exactly which tasks we are “hiring” the cover letter to perform, in other words, “Why is it important to write a cover letter”?

Five Good Reasons to Write a Cover Letter

Elevating Your Narrative

Whereas your resume lists your experiences and achievements, the JTBD for the cover letter is to contextualize these accomplishments within your professional journey. The cover letter is ‘hired’ to tell, and sell, the story of your career: your motivations, the challenges you’ve overcome, and how your past experiences have uniquely positioned you for the role at hand.

Demonstrating Enthusiasm and Cultural Fit

Employers are looking for candidates who are not only capable but also genuinely interested and culturally aligned with the organization. The cover letter’s job is to convey your enthusiasm for the role and the company and to argue why you’re not just a good fit for the job but the best fit within the organization’s culture.

Differentiating You from the Competition

In a crowded job market, standing out is paramount. The JTBD for the cover letter, in this instance, is to highlight what makes you unique—be it your skill set, experiences, or perspective—and why those unique attributes make you an asset unlike any other candidate.

Addressing Gaps or Concerns Proactively

This involves the cover letter working to reassure potential employers about any aspects of your resume that might raise questions (such as employment gaps or a career change). It’s ‘hired’ to transform potential weaknesses into narratives of growth, learning, and adaptability.

Prompting Action

Finally, the cover letter plays an important role in moving the hiring process forward. It does this by persuading the hiring manager of your merit and including a clear, compelling call to action that encourages them to take the next step, whether that means reviewing your resume with renewed interest or inviting you for an interview.

Now that we’ve answered the question, “Why write a cover letter?” the next step is to figure out how to do so effectively and efficiently.

Jobalope can you help you customize the perfect cover letter for any job. Add your resume and the job description to our cover letter generator, and you’ll get a personalized output that will wow any hiring manager.