Being out of the corporate environment myself these days, I am constantly keeping myself in check by doing research on hiring trends and the job market. I recently received a connection request from a local recruiter on LinkedIn. Since I'm not in the habit of connecting with people that I don't know, I set up phone call to see how we could add value to each other's networks.I took this opportunity to pick his brain about all of the burning questions that my clients have about working with recruiters. Why? So I can share all of the insights with you-my tribe!Here are the top two takeaways from our conversation....Are cover letters dead? No, but they are on life support. The modern cover letter is now reincarnating as an "E-Note." E-Notes refer to electronic communications such as emails and LinkedIn messages. I asked the recruiter if he read traditional cover letters and he said no. No surprise there! But there are times when they are useful, he said. As an agency recruiter, he often takes information from the cover letter and uses it in his presentation of the candidate to the client. Additionally, he said if the application calls for it, then you should send it. Sounds like sensible advice to me.What's the best way to get the attention of a recruiter? Email. Recruiters get inundated with LinkedIn messages from applicants and your message may get lost in the shuffle. However, they are always on their email because they use that for general work purposes. Look at their profile to see if their email address is on there, quite often it is!There you have it, folks. Don't throw away your cover letter yet (but don't stress over it either) and look for emails instead of LinkedIn messages.Happy Hunting!
Being out of the corporate environment myself these days, I am constantly keeping myself in check by doing research on hiring trends and the job market. I recently received a connection request from a local recruiter on LinkedIn. Since I'm not in the habit of connecting with people that I don't know, I set up phone call to see how we could add value to each other's networks.I took this opportunity to pick his brain about all of the burning questions that my clients have about working with recruiters. Why? So I can share all of the insights with you-my tribe!Here are the top two takeaways from our conversation....Are cover letters dead? No, but they are on life support. The modern cover letter is now reincarnating as an "E-Note." E-Notes refer to electronic communications such as emails and LinkedIn messages. I asked the recruiter if he read traditional cover letters and he said no. No surprise there! But there are times when they are useful, he said. As an agency recruiter, he often takes information from the cover letter and uses it in his presentation of the candidate to the client. Additionally, he said if the application calls for it, then you should send it. Sounds like sensible advice to me.What's the best way to get the attention of a recruiter? Email. Recruiters get inundated with LinkedIn messages from applicants and your message may get lost in the shuffle. However, they are always on their email because they use that for general work purposes. Look at their profile to see if their email address is on there, quite often it is!There you have it, folks. Don't throw away your cover letter yet (but don't stress over it either) and look for emails instead of LinkedIn messages.Happy Hunting!