This cover email landed on my desk, with a CV/Resume attached, today….
Short-Term Contracts FAA A&P or EASA B1
**
That was it; nothing else at all.
What are we meant to think?
The Candidate is too lazy to even say hello….
He doesn’t care what we think of him, yet he wants us to represent him to one of our valued Clients….
Maybe he’s sent 100 applications out already and he’s given up trying….
Perhaps he’s the best Candidate with those qualifications we’ve ever come across and he just knows we’ll see that and call him immediately!….
It could be he thinks no-one will read his Cover Email if he does send one….
Whatever the true answer is, would you put him at the top of your shortlist, with a view to hiring him for your Team?
Chief Pilots say keep it all as brief as possible, a 1page CV, they have no time to spare…so hows he going to spend 1+ mins reading a cover letter? Then you talk to HR and its 2-3 page CV and Cover letter with several paragraphs. It would be great if the industry would bang their heads together and agree.
Hi Andrew
It’s like the opening words of a great book. If the first few words grab you, you keep reading – and you carry on to the last page, for as long as you like what’s unfolding in front of you.
Sadly, 99 out of 100 CVs aren’t well written, or engaging, or compelling (in the sense that they don’t effectively convey the skills required and/or the attitude and approach needed).
For that reason, most Hiring Managers want to cut to the chase and hence the 1 page request; he’s been reading CVs for years and he knows most will be just like all the others and is probably thinking… ‘let’s just get this job out of the way because I’ve got a whole pile to look at and still 10 more hours of other work to do today’…
Show him you’re the person for his team – and why – and he’ll gladly turn a page or two to find out more.
F
I should have added, Andrew.. the same holds true of a cover letter. Make the first sentence compelling. Answer HIS needs…and he will read on – just keep it relevant and sensibly concise.
I might just say that I often take the time to research a role and the company when writing an in depth covering letter.
A motivation killer is when I don’t receive any ackowledgement or feedback, which smacks of lack of courtesy, frankly I would expect a company that value their employees to conduct themselves better.
A consistent voicemail for the HR department when I make a follow up call too and not answering subsequent messages.
Companies offering employment are often unrealistic about the level of experience and don’t realise that they are being evaluated too.
We probably all need to brush up our act and allocate more resources.
Best regards
Paul
I may only think it’s a mistake. Perhaps it was way too late at night, he was sending CVs around and already sleeping or…
On the other hand, it happened actually to me through a job board, I clicked to attach the CV and… it was sent without giving the possibility to write the letter.
I must say also that through (major) job boards sometimes the CV never arrived. I waited for a feedback, then called some days later to discover they hadn’t it (!?). So now I ALWAYS call direct the recruiters to double check.
Ciao
For me, Lorenzo, I actually don’t mind if a CV submitted via a jobsite has no cover letter attached – for the reasons you give, it isn’t always possible.
Calling around 3-4 days later to check it’s received is an intelligent approach; I would actually recommend you first apply when the Vacancy is launched and then again about 7-10 days later if you’d had no response.
When a new job first appears everyone applies and the Hiring Manager is overwhelmed with CVs; a week or so later they’ve been through them and your second application is likely to get their attention for a bit longer.
As an extra note, do also bear in mind that 100 CVs can come in and it does take some time for all of those to be read and acknowledged (unless an auto reply is sent, of course)
most definetly…he met my requirements to open his resumee….all those flowery cover letters tell me they have no hands on skills …having attained all three of those licences is quite an accomplishment. I hire contractors all the time ….send my guys on contract…..when I push the throttles foward….I want to know it is a qualified mechanic keeping me airborne and not a padded resumee.
I can see your point exactly, Nev.
The only thing I would add is that you clearly prioritise a technical approach.
My brother (an IT professional) would heartly agree with you, but 90% of job applications go through some sort of HR/Personnel route – and people who work in those environments handle CVs from all sectors of any business; they develop an instinct about who this person is, as they read their application.
When your job is about judging who will give the best after they actually join the company, whatever their title, you do learn that an application which demonstrates some desire to join your company very often reflects who you get after they have been appointed.
In the same vein, whatever qualifications a person has (and as an extreme example) if you later found out they also threw desks around the office if their coffee was too cold, you’d probably wish that had been picked up during the interview process.
It’s a big subject and it impacts across the whole team – it’s almost like trying to sell your house; it needs to appeal to every potential buyer who views it, to ensure someone will make an offer…