I applied to 18 roles last month — mostly via LinkedIn Easy Apply — and only 2 portals even had a field for a letter. Are we clinging to a tradition that hiring managers don’t read, or do the rare times they’re read move the needle? If you review applicants, I’d love a reality check because I’m not convinced the ROI is there.
, same — Easy Apply rarely surfaces a letter, so I turned mine into a resume header: ‘Why me for this role: 2 lines + one metric,’ customized per post. It gets scanned with the resume and scratches the cover-letter itch; tiny caveat: if the JD explicitly asks, I still attach a short PDF. Have you tried that tweak after those 18 LinkedIn submissions?
And quick example: after a month of ‘Easy Apply’ apps, I started exporting my resume as a 2-page PDF with a short role-specific note as page 2, so it rides along even when there’s no cover letter field. @OP, have you tried that with those 18 apps last month; it hasn’t been magic, but I’ve seen more callbacks when a human opens the PDF and the note is right there.
This drives me nuts: you sent 18 apps and only two had a text box, so make the pitch impossible to miss. Add a 1‑sentence ‘impact bar’ at the top of your resume (e.g., ‘Shipped X; cut costs Y%; NPS +Z’) and rename the PDF to ‘Samuel Campbell — [Target Role] — reduced onboarding time 32%’; smaller teams notice, giant ATS. not always. @hiringmanagers does this stand out on your side?
Quick example: I stopped writing letters and send a 45‑second Loom for the role, then drop the link (plus a tiny QR) in my resume footer and in the LinkedIn connection note — think trailer, not documentary (https://www.loom.com). Overkill for high-volume postings, but when you can name a human reviewer it gets opened more often than a PDF.
with only two portals giving you a text box, I’d sidestep it: upload a one‑page “Role Evidence” as an extra document and name it YourName_Role_Evidence.pdf, with a tight problem→approach→result tied to their JD. In my experience it gets opened more than a generic note, and at teams under about 100 it can bump you to a screen; at big orgs it won’t move much. @szimmerman16 is right about making it impossible to miss — would you try this on your next few apps and see if reply rate improves?
I treat cover letters like hot sauce — use sparingly where it helps. Try a 2-week A/B: skip it on half, and for the others send a 100-word DM/email to the hiring manager that opens with “In 60 days, I’d [do X] by [Y]” tied to one metric; track which bucket gets more replies. If there’s no lift after about 10–12 tries, drop the extra step.
I only write one when I need to add context a resume can’t: ‘say why you, now, here.’ Concrete step: if you have (or can create) a light referral, give them a 3‑line blurb to paste in the internal note instead of a letter; if not, skip it and add a one‑sentence pitch under your name on the resume — @jay4414’s video add‑on is gravy. Would that tweak your ROI?