

Developers don't do cover letters - atomical
http://adamhallett.com/?p=1405

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BigZaphod
I've never written a cover letter. In fact, I've only needed a resume once in
my life so far (I'm 31, been employed steadily in the field since I was 15) -
and that was just so the company could "keep it on file." (I have no idea why
it mattered to them - they had already hired me before even seeing one!)

I hope this trend continues for me. :)

------
wccrawford
"He said it was refreshing that someone took the time to write a cover letter
because 99% of developers don't bother."

I find this hard to believe. I might believe that 99% of applicants don't. But
not 99% of developers.

~~~
lsc
I believe it. I know many programmers who are very passive interviewees, too.
"It's his job to interview me" said one friend, a man I recommended for an
opening at my then-workplace, The man was obviously far better than I am,
though he had been unemployed for the previous year (in part due to his poor
interviewing skills.) When he got rejected, after talking to both my friend
and my boss, as far as I can tell, the boss was kinda busy and distracted, and
my friend just passively answered the questions he was asked rather than using
those questions as a way to jump in to some story bragging about himself like
I would have. Also, my boss was suspicious that the only job on the resume for
the last few years was working for me.

Now, my friend was able to finally get an employment agency to notice him,
(one that did not know that my business, at the time, was probably less than a
$10K/year affair) and as the man really was good, he was able to leverage that
in to a full time job and has been working since.

The thing is, programmers use those sorts of sales skills a lot less often
than other professions do, so many good programmers almost entirely lack those
sales skills, which can be a huge problem if you get stuck in a situation
where you don't have someone else nearby who knows you are good.

