As artificial intelligence becomes part of working life, some employers are removing cover letters. Their reasons are understandable: candidates use AI, applications sound similar and it is difficult to know which words are their own. I nevertheless believe this risks moving recruitment in the wrong direction. Making a process simpler can also make it less informative.
The traditional cover letter was a personal sales pitch for a particular job. Recruitment now also involves identifying people who may suit future roles. A candidate who is not selected today may be relevant later, where retaining their information is appropriate and lawful.
A CV records what someone has done. A cover letter can explain what that experience could contribute. Photography skills may support marketing, content production or employer communication. Economics may contribute to leadership, project management or business development. Performing arts experience may transfer to teaching, communication and presenting.
Such connections are not always visible through keywords, screening questions or standard fields. Candidates, sometimes supported by a recruitment adviser, may be best placed to explain them.
AI can make capability easier to explain
Some employers think a letter loses value when the candidate receives help with wording. I see another possibility. If AI helps someone organise experience and clarify connections, the employer receives more useful information.
We have never expected every candidate to be a professional writer, yet writing ability has often acted as an intentional or unintentional filter. Helping more people express the value of their capability should be viewed as an opportunity rather than automatically as cheating.
Tools can also assist employers in summarising and organising applications. That weakens the argument that useful information must be discarded simply to save time. Candidates can prepare applications more efficiently too. A cover letter may still appropriately be optional for some roles.
A beginning to a dialogue
Another misconception is that a cover letter is mainly evidence of motivation. Motivation matters, but is not itself a direct competence requirement.
Many attractive candidates are not actively seeking work. They need to be approached and helped to understand why a role, organisation or opportunity could be relevant. Employers must explain the opportunity as effectively as candidates explain their contribution.
Once that understanding develops, the candidate can articulate why the role interests them. The letter becomes the beginning of a dialogue rather than a one-sided sales pitch.
Keep room for the unexpected
My concern is that recruitment may become better at recognising the obvious while becoming worse at discovering unexpected potential.
Organisations say they want innovation, diversity and new perspectives. Standard criteria can instead favour people similar to those already employed. Unconventional backgrounds, cross-industry experience and unusual combinations of skills become harder to see when candidates cannot explain their relevance.
As technology and roles change, organisations need people who combine knowledge from different fields. We need ways to understand more than a chronological CV.
The more AI sorts and categorises applicants, the more important it is to retain room for what does not fit a standard field. AI can help identify obvious matches. We also need methods that help people and AI recognise less obvious value.
That is why I believe the cover letter matters more than ever.
English editorial adaptation of the Norwegian original.
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