Until recent times, the cover letter has always been an undoubtedly important aspect of any recruitment process. Now, however, more and more people are arguing that it has become largely unnecessary. The recruitment website Jobvite stated that two thirds of recruiters do not consider cover letters to be a significant part of their decision-making process, while many others report instances where hiring managers go as far as ignoring them or even throwing them away.
Though it sounds an exaggeration (and many more people hold that the cover letter will always be a vital aspect of job applications) it nevertheless plants the idea that job-seekers who make an effort to submit a cover letter might not reap the reward of their hard work.
In light of this, a possible alternative has been gaining popularity: the pain letter.
“In a pain letter, you talk about your hiring manager’s biggest problem and how you, if hired, would plan to solve it” says Adrian Granzella Larssen, writing for the Muse. “In doing so, you highlight not only your skill set and how it applies to the new position, but also your knowledge of the company and your excitement about coming in and making an instant impact on the job.”
Expert Liz Ryan explains that as a HR leader, she was much more attracted to candidates who thought outside the box and wrote her a pain letter, than those who wrote a standard cover letter. She even encourages job-seekers to do something that lots of other HR managers would fervently disagree with, telling readers to “find their hiring manager’s name and send a snail mail (surface mail) letter” – an unpopular opinion in a LinkedIn-dominated universe. But Ryan insists that it works: “We hired way more of the ‘direct outreach’ candidates, percentage-wise, than the folks who sent us resumes in response to our job ads, through the designated channel.”
Writing a pain letter can be a challenging feat, and when it is done, it has to be done well in order to achieve the desired effect. Job-seekers want to impress the hiring manager by appearing to be innovative, passionate and intelligent, but if you don’t do it correctly, you could come across as arrogant and egotistical instead.
So how do you write a good pain letter? Before you launch into describing what you think the company could do better, Liz Ryan explains that you should start off on a positive note: “…begin your Pain Letter congratulating your target hiring manager on something cool the organization has done recently (an item you found in the company’s About Us or Newsroom page) and then make a hypothesis about the most likely Business Pain for your manager…” This way, the hiring manager will feel compelled to read on, since you are demonstrating a working knowledge of the business, as well as your motivation to improve the company’s standing.
As for finding out what the pain is, the job description might give it away. If not, you can go on Glassdoor and read reviews of what past employees have to say, or you can read up about any recent news surrounding the company.
Despite what proponents of pain letters say, they come with significant risk. Some employers may not be very happy to be told by a complete stranger, (who may well be their inferior) that there is something wrong with their company. In fact, they might be quite insulted.
Another characterising feature of the pain letter seems to be that they are generally recommended be sent to hiring managers via ‘snail mail’. Though the point of this is to stand out, perhaps this isn’t the best way to do so. This tactic can often backfire, because recruiters may assume that the reason you have chosen this method of delivery is because you don’t know how to use email or social media. The last thing you want to do is come across as being unable to use the internet.
Lastly, the whole point of a pain letter is to grab the recruiter’s attention – but isn’t that what a good CV is for? If your CV is impressive enough, a pain letter becomes unnecessary. Besides, better quality conventional cover letters make employers sit up and take notice – but without the risk!
