Resume without a cover letter: Redesigning the CV format
Even though cover letters play a significant role in the job-seeking process, their relevance is fading away. Those who opt out of submitting one need to enhance their resume instead. But, how can this be achieved?
Cover letters are often a source of stress for job seekers, prompting them to look for templates online or seek advice from chatbot AIs.
Ben Dehn and Stefan Gerth, from the recruitment service "The Resume Writers," assert that the quality of many cover letters is dismal. They base this judgment on their daily work experience.
Employers find the poor quality of cover letters a reason why they're losing weight in the recruitment process. Since they provide minimal data beyond the resume and don't offer significant added details, some companies have stopped asking for cover letters altogether. In such instances, resumes need to present additional information, such as how a candidate would fit in with the team. Recruitment consultant Ben Dehn proffers some insights on how job seekers can redesign their resumes.
- Write a brief motivation as an integrated text
Job seekers should express their motive for wanting to work at a specific company. This information can be extracted from a cover letter and integrated into the resume. A suggestion from the recruitment experts: Starting your resume with a short three-to-four-sentence flowing text explaining your reasons for applying to that particular position. This replaces the introduction of a cover letter.
- Incorporate relevant skills
List vital and relevant skills for the position you are applying for in your resume, before your professional career history - as a bullet list. This lends an edge to your resume: Recruiters use scanning tools to examine resumes, increasing the likelihood that your resume will be selected instead of overlooked.
Recruiters rely on these tools to search the candidate pool for specific keywords, allowing them to create a list of candidates who meet these requirements.
- Emphasize professional accomplishments
Job seekers can opt for two-to-three professional achievements or highlights and exhibit them in a brief list before listing their career history - or link them to each occupational position. Both approaches are popular, according to recruitment consultant Dehn. Apart from quantifiable achievements like sales growth, work-related projects, and collaboration with interdepartmental teams are also acceptable.
- Place salary expectations aptly
"Please provide information on your possible start date and your desired salary" - these phrases are common in job ads.
If the cover letter is missing, job seekers can insert this information into their extended resume - for example, as a written request in an "About Me" section at the beginning of the resume, suggests Dehn. The recruitment advisor recommends the following phrasing: "Keenly motivated, I am accessible to you from TT.MM.JJJJ at a balance salary of XX.XXX Euro."
Alternatively, you can include this information in a tabular layout. "The location is hardly important because it's all about readability first," says Dehn. He advocates either positioning the statement earlier in the timeline before exploring the narrative of your career - or at the end of the timeline as concluding remarks. For this, two lines are employed: one with "Availability: from TT.MM.JJJJ" and one with "Salary Expectation: XX.XXX Euro".
