Career

Cover letters: why some jobs still ask for them

Rive News Research Desk

Published October 29, 2026 · 9 min read

By Rive News / Research desk | Rive News / Published October 29, 2026 at 9:00 AM PKT

Key takeaways

A cover letter answers why you want this job, while a resume answers why you are qualified for it.
Surveys show many hiring managers read letters late in screening, often to break ties between similar candidates.
Letters matter most for career changes, employment gaps, and roles where writing and judgment are central.

A job interview seen from above in a modern office, with interviewer and candidate seated at a table. Photograph: job interview scene

Image Credits: Pexels

A cover letter is a short letter sent with a job application that explains, in the applicant's own words, why they want a particular role. It is not a second resume. It is the one place in an application where motivation, context, and fit can be stated directly.

This article explains why some employers still ask for one, including what hiring managers use it for, when it gets read, and when it makes no difference. It also covers why other employers have dropped the requirement entirely.

What a cover letter actually does

A resume lists jobs, skills, and dates. It is built for scanning. A hiring manager can see in seconds whether an applicant meets the basic requirements.

A cover letter does a different job. According to Harvard Business Review, a resume answers why a person is qualified, while a cover letter communicates why they want the job. That distinction explains why the two documents survive side by side.

The letter can also supply context that a resume cannot. A career change, a move to a new city, or a gap in employment all look like blank spaces on a resume. In a letter, the applicant can explain them in two or three sentences.

That context matters most when a decision is close. When several applicants have similar qualifications, the letter gives the reader something to compare besides job titles. It shows how the applicant thinks about the role, not just what they have done before.

What the surveys say about reading them

Resume Genius surveyed hiring managers and found that the top purpose of a cover letter, across companies of all sizes, was to provide additional information and context about why a person is applying. At small companies with fewer than 100 employees, the top reason was judging whether a candidate was a good fit for the position.

The same survey work reported that 49 percent of hiring managers said a strong, persuasive cover letter could convince them to interview an otherwise weak candidate. A further 33 percent said a weak cover letter could hurt an otherwise strong applicant, as reported by Harvard Business Review's summary of the Resume Genius survey.

An earlier ResumeLab survey of 200 hiring managers in 2019 found that 63 percent rated explaining motivation for joining a company as an important purpose of a cover letter. Half rated explaining career objectives as important, and 49 percent rated explaining employment gaps as important.

These numbers come with a limit. Surveys measure what hiring managers say they do, not what every recruiter does on every requisition. Still, the pattern is consistent across surveys: letters are read selectively, and they carry weight when they are read.

When the letter actually gets read

Most recruiters do not read every cover letter in full. High-volume roles can attract hundreds of applications, and the first pass is usually a resume scan or a filter on stated requirements.

The letter tends to matter later in the process. Once a shortlist exists, a hiring manager choosing between five or six similar candidates has time to read. At that stage, the letter can break a tie.

It also matters when the resume raises a question. A hiring manager who wonders why an experienced engineer is applying for a junior role, or why an applicant left a job after four months, will look to the letter for an answer. Silence on that point can look worse than a brief, honest explanation.

The Muse reported a ResumeGo field experiment in which tailored cover letters produced 53 percent more interview callbacks than applications with no cover letter, across more than 7,000 job postings. Generic letters still performed 17 percent better than no letter at all. That result suggests that even a short, specific letter beats nothing, though a tailored one beats a generic one by a wide margin.

Why some roles demand one and others do not

Roles that involve writing, persuasion, or public communication are the most likely to require a letter. For a communications manager, a policy analyst, or a fundraising officer, the letter is itself a work sample. It shows whether the applicant can write clearly and argue a case.

Roles with a licensure or portfolio requirement often need one less. A nurse, a plumber, or a designer with a strong portfolio can be judged on credentials and past work. The letter adds less new information there.

Company size plays a part too. Resume Genius found that medium-sized companies, with 101 to 1,000 employees, ranked showing personality as the top purpose of a cover letter. Large companies leaned toward additional context.

Small companies leaned toward fit. Each size is using the same document to answer a different question.

Sector norms matter as well. Universities, charities, and government bodies have long asked for letters as part of a formal application pack. Technology startups, by contrast, often skip them in favour of a short application form, a portfolio link, or a work sample.

Why employers keep the requirement

One reason is screening for effort. Writing a specific letter takes time, and employers read that time as a signal of genuine interest. An applicant who copies the same letter to 200 employers is easy to spot, and that itself is information.

Another reason is that a letter reveals judgment. Choosing what to emphasise, what to leave out, and how much detail to give is a test of professional judgment.

A resume template does not test that skill. A blank page does.

A third reason is legal and procedural caution. In regulated or public-sector hiring, a standard application pack with a letter gives every applicant the same chance to make their case. Dropping it could look like narrowing the process, even if the intent is simply to save time.

Why other employers dropped it

The case against cover letters is also strong. Critics argue that letters reward polished writing over job skill, which can disadvantage applicants whose first language is not English or who lack coaching on application norms.

There is also a fairness concern. If letters are read only for shortlisted candidates, applicants who spend hours on a letter for a role they never reach may be wasting effort. Some employers decided that cost was not justified.

Time is a factor on the employer side as well. Reading letters for every applicant in a 500-person pool is not realistic. Some hiring teams concluded that a structured application form, with two or three targeted questions, extracts the same context faster and more fairly.

That is why the trend is split rather than one-directional. Letters are fading for high-volume, standardised roles. They persist for roles where judgment, writing, and motivation are part of the job itself.

What this means for applicants

The practical rule follows from how letters are actually used. If a posting requires a letter, write one that is specific to the role.

Name the team or the work, not just the company. Connect one or two experiences to stated requirements.

If a posting makes the letter optional, treat it as a chance to answer a question your resume raises. A career change, a gap, a relocation, or a move into a new sector are all good reasons to add a short letter. If your resume already fits the role cleanly and raises no questions, a brief letter still adds a small edge, according to the ResumeGo experiment cited above.

Keep it short. One page is the standard expectation, and most of the value sits in the first two paragraphs. A hiring manager deciding between similar candidates wants a reason to pick you, stated plainly.

A man and a woman talk during a job interview in a modern office. Photograph: job interview scene

Image Credits: Pexels

Frequently asked questions

Why do employers ask for a cover letter if they already have a resume?

A resume proves qualification. A letter explains motivation and context, such as a career change or a relocation, that a list of jobs and dates cannot show.

Do recruiters read every cover letter?

No. In high-volume hiring, most letters are skimmed or read only for shortlisted candidates. They carry the most weight when a decision is close or the resume raises a question.

Does a cover letter help if it is optional?

Evidence from a ResumeGo field experiment found tailored letters produced 53 percent more interview callbacks than no letter, and even generic letters performed 17 percent better than none.

When can a cover letter hurt an application?

A weak or generic letter can hurt a strong applicant, according to the Resume Genius survey summarised by Harvard Business Review, with 33 percent of hiring managers saying so. A short, specific letter avoids that risk.

Which jobs are most likely to require one?

Writing-heavy, public-facing, academic, charity, and government roles ask most often. The letter doubles as a writing sample and a test of judgment in those fields.

The bottom line

Some jobs still ask for a cover letter because a resume cannot explain motivation, context, or fit on its own. Surveys show hiring managers use letters to break ties, to understand career changes and gaps, and to judge writing and judgment in roles where those skills matter.

Letters are not read equally for every role, and many employers have dropped them for high-volume hiring. Where the letter is required or where your resume raises a question, a short, specific letter remains one of the cheapest ways to improve an application.

Tags: cover letters, job applications, hiring, recruiters

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