Stop yelling and calm down.
For the record, I am not, have never been, and never want to be in HR.
But I am a manager and I hire people. And I work with my HR department to do that.
If you call me out of the blue and I am hiring, I will talk to you, briefly at least. But then I will refer you to HR. Thats the process, for better or worse.
I spend more time on the resumes than HR does. I also look at cover letters.
A good cover letter tells me they have read the job description and they know what I want, and they can match up their skills to my needs. Would I hire based on a cover letter? Of course not. Would I interview based on a cover letter? Well honestly its part of the package that I review before I decide who to interview so it can influence me.
I have had a circumstance where someone's excellent targeted cover letter got my attention, and I interviewed the candidate even though his resume was borderline.
If you run a job seach and you get half a dozen applicants, the cover letter probably doesn't mean much (unless you screw it up so much that it disqualifies you). But when you get a hundred resumes and letters, it might just be the difference between getting a rejection and getting an interview.
I do remember when I was job hunting sitting down with a friend who was a manager at a government department. She helped me craft a cover letter which fit the type the other government departments wanted. I did get an interview (6 people interviewed out of 500 applications) and I almost got the job.
There are some times when you can go around HR and others when you can't. Obliterate? Don't make me laugh.
James
