This used to be a cornerstone of every job application. Not anymore. — from washingtonpost.com by Julia Carpenter; this is a gifted article
Has AI finally killed the cover letter?
“It’s not just easier to write a cover letter, it’s easier to write a phenomenal cover letter,” Kessler said. “That’s become more of a prerequisite and less of a differentiator.”
At the same time, the use of AI has contributed to an explosion of applications. For every open role in 2026 there are twice as many applicants as there would have been for similar roles in 2022, according to a recent study from LinkedIn Research.
That makes hiring managers and recruiters less likely to give cover letters even a perfunctory glance. They have too much else to handle during a busy job search, said Johnny C. Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Human Resource Management.
“The cover letter is literally dead, never to be resuscitated,” he said. “There’s too much volume for this beautiful piece of prose.”
“It’s tough when no one can give you a right answer,” Ogunlana said. “You have some recruiters saying ‘It’s worth it’ and others saying ‘No.’”
If there is any consensus, it’s that cover letters with a “human element” still can help an applicant stand out.
They need to sound different from all the ones written with AI, said Jason Baker, vice president of talent acquisition at Arctic Wolf, a security operations firm.
Baker recalled one applicant who didn’t land the job they originally applied for, but because their cover letter made such an impression, Baker invited them back when the company was hiring again for a similar position.