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Employer Preferences for the Form and Substance of Employment Application Cover Letters
Author(s) -
STEPHENS DAVID B.,
WATT JAMES T.,
HOBBS WADE S.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of employment counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.252
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 2161-1920
pISSN - 0022-0787
DOI - 10.1002/j.2161-1920.1979.tb01185.x
Subject(s) - sample (material) , psychology , cover (algebra) , perception , principal (computer security) , social psychology , personnel selection , marketing , management , business , economics , engineering , computer science , mechanical engineering , chemistry , chromatography , neuroscience , operating system
This study investigates the effect some principal characteristics of employment application cover letters have on personnel officers. A sample of personnel executives from 100 major companies was queried as to their perception of the desirability of 12 common cover letter characteristics. The results indicate that the personnel officers do not consistently perceive letters in the manner suggested by the existing literature. Some characteristics are shown to elicit negative responses from personnel officers, and thus should be avoided by job applicants. Several characteristics are strongly preferred by the sample surveyed. The model for an employment cover letter derived from this study should enhance the applicant's chances for a favorable response, or at least prevent letter forms which might detract therefrom.