Why CVs And Cover Letters Are No Longer An Effective Tool For Graduate Recruitment

Are you searching for young talent for your business? If so, then you are probably trying to write an engaging and attractive advertisement and job description, preparing to sift through an endless number of CVs and cover letters, and diverting resources away from current projects to sift and interview.  All probably with the requirement of candidates submitting their CV / resume and a cover letter. Sound familiar?  All of this requires the investment of valuable time and budget from a business that many SME’s just can’t afford. This is how recruitment has always been done, but is it still effective in today's modern world? Is it getting the results that you need?

In the past, CVs and cover letters were the norm and perhaps the only way for people to apply for jobs. However, it is easy to argue that they are not nor have they ever been an effective tool for the recruitment process. Recruiters will reportedly spend on average approximately 11 seconds looking at a CV and cover letter before deciding on a candidates suitability. This is not enough time to understand who someone is and what they can bring to a business. Particularly, when the information is in boring black and white text. 

There are numerous reasons why CVs and cover letters should not be the main tool for businesses recruiting new candidates these days. Here are some key points to consider. 

Skills And Qualifications Aren’t The Only Important Factor

In the past recruiters focused solely on whether individuals had the right skills and qualifications. This is an inefficient process as skills and qualifications aren’t the only factors that matter to a business. There could be hundreds, even thousands of candidates with the same qualifications and similar skills. That’s why it’s important to find someone who will fit well with the team and office culture that you have created, increasing collaboration, productivity and ultimately results. CVs and cover letters can not reflect this, and therefore businesses have relied on the interview stage, at an even higher cost to the business than the sift stage, to discern this important business and recruitment evaluation.

There Are Better Alternatives

One of the main reasons why you should consider alternatives to CVs and cover letters is because technology is already providing more helpful tools that offer a clearer snapshot of a potential candidate. Arguably the best example of this can be seen in social media, with the likes of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and their use of short form video content as the leading form of communication and self representation. 

Gen Z is the TikTok generation, they are comfortable and adept at creating video content, they use the tools of these social media platforms to build their own personal profiles, they are comfortable with the public nature of these platforms, and feel confident in representing their personalities with these modern tools.  Short form video also gives recruiters and businesses so much more descriptive information. If 11 seconds is all a recruiter or sifter can offer a candidate as part of a review, then using short form video will give them more than a black and white CV or cover letter. 

Short form video content provides a more effective way to demonstrate who a person is and what they can bring to the table before they even need to be brought in for an interview. It can also help ensure that you are only considering the right candidates who have the right personalities to fit in with your office culture. 

Diversity Matters

Another reason to use video to recruit talented Gen Z team members is the importance of diversity to a business and team. Research shows that businesses with diverse teams are more likely to be successful and profitable. However, it can be difficult to recruit for a diverse team simply by exploring cover letters and CVs. This doesn’t provide a clear snapshot of who a candidate is, their personality, culture, ideas, and the things that make them as a candidate unique. Short form video content can once again be an effective tool for recruitment and building diverse teams.

Missing Out On Skilled Team Members

Not everyone understands how to write a fantastic cover letter or how to create a strong CV. Gen Z are more visual. If the role does not require writing skills, it doesn’t make sense to choose candidates based on whether or not they wrote a strong pitch, which can be carefully curated and often only tells a recruiter what they want to hear, rather than an honest reflection of who the candidate is and their potential. It makes far more sense to hire someone based on how they present themselves in a video where they can showcase their true personality, just like they would in an interview.

If we as businesses are only offering as little as 11 seconds to each candidate application in a sift stage; if we are not necessarily requiring strong written skills for a particular role; if black and white CVs and cover letters give us very little information about a candidates potential or suitability for a role; and if we are still relying on the interview stage to really get to know a candidate; then why are we still asking for these as the first step in the recruitment process, investing limited time, resources and budget into a stage that returns very little in value? There is an alternative, and technology can be that solution.