I was talking about CVs and cover letters with my friend who is looking for a job, and that made me realize the usefulness of both.

In school, especially during all those career lessons and seminars, our profs and NBS Career Services kept emphasizing on the importance of cover letters. They said that a well-written cover letter would determine whether the HR opens up your CV to consider.

Actually, I realize that for myself, I don't do that when it comes to screening candidates. I would just open the CV straight and read from there. At a short glance, I can immediately tell if the candidate is suitable or not, based on qualifications and experience. Seriously, in the amount of time I spent to read a whole chunk of cover letter, I could have browsed through several CVs already. Rarely do I take cover letters into consideration, when it comes to selecting candidates to forward to my hiring dept.

So yeah. Do you still think a cover letter is necessary? I don't know. Or maybe it's just me and my quirks. Haha, or maybe I shall consult my colleagues on this matter. =p