The DL on TA.

This blog was originally posted in March 2018 by Jessica Kay , the  writer and master content strategist behind   Cubical Chic . To Cover Letter or Not Cover Letter, That Is The Question || Are Cover Letters Still Relevant? If I had a dime every time I hear the question “should I create a cover letter”, I would be a happy person with a great passive income (a very specific example, I know.) In my personal experience, I have not done a cover letter in the last 3 years and I have definitely managed to get not only interviews but job offers. However, this has been my personal experience, and a part of me still wonders if I simply got lucky. So, I consulted with a talent acquisition professional who is an industry expert experienced in evaluating talent and extending interviews… I present you Virginia Lloyd and her perspectives on  whether or not we should still do a cover letter in 2018 . Skip the Cover Letter Applying for jobs has become increasingly easy...

Traditional recruiting involves gathering as many applications as possible and hoping the right one finds its way to the top. At any given point in time, the candidate pool will change, so essentially this means you're left trying to find the best of what's available and not necessarily the best candidate for the role. Most recruiting teams focus on gathering rather than hunting; being reactive rather than strategic. The focus has primarily been on high volume and a short time-to-fill (the period of time it takes between posting a job to hiring someone into the role) rather than searching for highly qualified candidates in a proactive manner. Outdated recruiting practices are inefficient and costly for many reasons, but many companies continue to use them today. Compare candidates to the requirements of the role, not to each other. Hiring is expensive and extremely time consuming. Unfortunately, we've become accustomed to believing that talking to more candidates means...

There are a million blog posts describing all the characteristics of bad recruiters - trust me, I'm well aware. I constantly battle this perspective when working with candidates for the first time. So what does it take to be great? I mean really great, not just above average. Let's face it - average is still not a place any recruiter wants to be. The TL;DR of it is this:  Create a great experience from start to finish. This should apply to the way you work with candidates and the teams you support. Do what's best for the candidate and your teams.  Changing jobs is one of the most stressful events of a person's life. Don't forget that this is a matchmaking process meant to find the right person for the long run. Be honest and responsive. Searching for a job can be as stressful as starting a new one. You're busy, I get it. So is everyone. But make it a priority to respond to anyone that reaches out to you, even if they're not a fit. And always - always ...