[gberger]

> This just devalues cover letters.

They already are very low signal.

> we will end up that you have to attend an in person interview at some intermediary

So like a recruiting agency that does pre-screening? That is a thing already.

[1shooner]

>They already are very low signal.

This must vary a lot on context. For the hiring I've done, they're usually a 'low signal' only because they are so uniformly poor. I do read them, and a cogent, original letter immediately stands out.

[zabzonk]

> They already are very low signal.

by no means - when i was doing hiring (not now) cover letter was almost always the most important thing. the cv says what you have done, the cover says what you want to do.

> So like a recruiting agency that does pre-screening? That is a thing already.

and a very bad thing - i do not want possible good candidates screened out by some chinless-wonder in an agency.

[anigbrowl]

I would not be inclined to use AI for this sort of thing, but it's a two-way street. but I can think of many hours spent writing carefully crafted introductory letters only to receive a form letter or nothing at all in return.

In the context of job applications, think how many recruitment ads are just a collection of buzzwords and happy talk, while omitting crucial information like pay etc. HR departments are notorious for their low quality of communication.

[zabzonk]

> I can think of many hours spent writing carefully crafted introductory letters only to receive a form letter or nothing at all in return.

yes, well, stuff happens. still, i don't think you can beat a good covering letter.

> In the context of job applications, think how many recruitment ads are just a collection of buzzwords and happy talk

which is why i hated using agencies.

my favorite interview memory was (for a c++ role) with a guy who had a degree in ancient greek (anyone fluent in ancient languages seems brilliant to me, as i only have a bit of schoolboy french). anyway, this was for a big 6 accountancy firm, and us programmers had to pass the same IQ tests that the accountants did, adminstered by HR. i amazed them by 100% on the visual/spaciel test - HR girl: "golly, no one has done that before!" though what accountants were to be expected to do with this skill i have no idea.

anyway, the guy we were interviewing was given the test papers and a pencil by the HR girl and left him to do it. 5 minutes later he came out of the interview room (i'll call him A):

HR: sorry is there a problem?

A: i've lost my pencil

note this was a very small room.

but once provided with another pencil, he did a pretty good job.

then he got the techie interview stuff with me (project manager/architect) and J (tech lead). this went well - he obviously knew his stuff. but then he offered to show some of his code for his current project:

me/J: cool

A: [searches through briefcase] oh, oh god, where is it???

me/J: collapse laughing

and we hired him. and he was great.

sorry this went on a bit, i had forgot and just rembered. this was about 30 years ago

[ajb]

Yeah, but recruiting agencies suck. Anything that causes more reliance on recruiters is bad for both employers and applicants.