If I have two candidates in front of me, one that included a cover letter about how he hand-rolled his own blog, comments, and feed aggregator for fun to learn a new framework, and another that just sends a resume with a one-liner in the body of the email, I’m going to be much more inclined to say “hire” for the guy with the cover letter, even if the second guy’s resume is a bit better. Similarly, I’ll be more likely to say “hire” to the Eagle Scout, triathlete developer than a candidate who bludgeons me with all of their “accomplishments”...
A company’s hiring process is usually a pretty good indicator of what kind of talent it employs, and thus the kind of quality the company has. The higher the bar, the better the talent, the more interesting the company.
Geoffrey Sneddon
on 14 Jul 09But do you really want the person who wrote everything themself? Should you not be weary that they suffer from NIH syndrome?
I can understand choosing the person who puts int he effort to apply, but it shouldn’t be taken to such an extreme as to hiring them when they might not be the best person.
Zach
on 14 Jul 09@Geoffrey Sneddon: Well he did say “to learn a framework”... Gotta have some kind of learning app.
suparabbit
on 15 Jul 09i think it means hire the better writer. http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/hiring_tip.php
Anon
on 15 Jul 09“how he hand-rolled his own blog … to learn a new framework”
That’s not hand-rolling.
Ryan
on 15 Jul 09Can we please stop using “hand-rolled” to describe “something you did that took a possibly unnecessary amount of work”?
Anon
on 15 Jul 09@Ryan
I agree. Hand-rolled should imply that there are specific, significant customizations that could only be accomplished through a one-of-a-kind piece of software. Not a run-of-the-mill blog.
I’d be more impressed if the interviewee could roll a good spliff. Nobody seems to be able to do that anymore.
Jeff Judge
on 15 Jul 09We’re looking to hire someone to lead up marketing efforts for our company (http://im.jobscore.com/jobs/im/marketingdirector/b9PjJQBner3QAfeJe4aGWH) and I agree with this post 100%. We’re using a service called Jobscore (which has been great btw) to house the job requirements and post to job sites like indeed.com and careerbuilder.com. When a candidate submits their resume, we get an email that includes their career summary, a cover letter if they include one, and a PDF copy of their resume. We’ve received over 60 resumes so far, and honestly the submissions with a cover letter are so much more noticeable than the ones that don’t include.
If you’re actually interested in the job, take the time to write a paragraph or two on why you’re interested and why you think you’re qualified. One candidate told us that they very interested in us and then used the wrong company name – which made me immediately not interested.
mikemike
on 15 Jul 09I love when people try to sound smart .
” A company’s hiring process is usually a pretty good indicator of what kind of talent it employs, and thus the kind of quality the company has. “
was supposed to be
” A company’s talent, and thus it’s quality says a lot about it’s hiring process. “
David Andersen
on 16 Jul 09Choice use of the apostrophe there mikemike. Perhaps being a pompous ass isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Mike
on 16 Jul 09If the best thing a candidate can put in the cover letter is developing a blog platform to learn a new framework, I wouldn’t hire that candidate.
Movely
on 19 Jul 09Your resume is the first impression that a prospective employer or initial screener has of you. It is a marketing tool and also the most crucial step to get your butt in the door for an interview.
Having said that, just like any other marketing material, it should be simple, well designed, focused, and truthful.
Lots of resume help material at http://resume.monster.ca/
This discussion is closed.