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Subject:Re: Resume and Coverletter Game From:Wayne Douglass <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 4 Feb 1999 13:17:31 -0800
At 12:54 PM 2/4/99 -0800, Sue Gallagher wrote:
>So I'm asking the other hiring managers out there, have any of you
>ever seen a cover letter that has influenced your interviewing decision
>positively? And what percentage of cover letters do you view as being
>positive, neutral, and negative?
>
When I was a hiring manager, I never saw a cover letter that overshadowed
what was said on the resume. Hence my scores are: positive=0%; neutral=90%;
negative=10%. I never received a resume from official channels (that is,
Personnel) without a cover letter, but I did look at plenty without a cover
letter that were passed on from friends, employees, etc. As anyone will
tell you, the latter are usually given more weight.
--Wayne (who remembers the words of Dirty Harry Callahan from _The
Enforcer_: "Personnel? Personnel is for assholes.")
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Wayne Douglass phone: 408-542-2139
Verity, Inc. FAX: 408-542-2040
894 Ross Road mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 http://www.verity.com
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