Resume Writer Reads my Blog

A gang of resume writers disagree with my take on Cover Letters and mistake me for a career expert (hey! I'm just a grunt who's looking for a job, but I've done that quite successfully for 10 years).

They have a self-serving theory (and BS IMNSHO):

Letter-writing may not be relevant to all jobs,
but willingness to go the extra mile and attention
to detail are. The presence of a cover letter helps
prove you possess those qualities; the absence
implies you don't.

Step back one second and think: they are Resume writers. A Cover Letter is part of their livelihood -- if someone says it's not required that's one less revenue stream for them as the theory goes that these letters must be custom tailored to each employer.

BTW: I had an interview this morning and the hiring manager said that he had to go thru a stack of 50-60 Resumes and he only looked at the 1st page for 10 seconds max. How many seconds did he devote to Cover Letters? I guess none. So hiring managers don't care about these letters. Good.

And speaking of attention to detail... my Resume is so long (9 pages) and so detailed that one cannot allege that I don't have this skill. Yes, they imply that there is the "human detail" but IMO recruiters are to be dealt with in bulk unless they are really good.

It is easy to offer "professional" opinions but finding a good job and dealing with recruiters is not.

-ulianov

P.S. As always my opinions and experience pertain only to the IT field.