Do Cover Letters Still Matter in 2026? When to Write One and When to Skip It

The question that's costing you time you don't have

You've got the CV ready, the application portal is open, and there's a box that says "Cover letter (optional)." You stare at it. Forty minutes writing a letter nobody might read, or skip it and risk looking like you didn't try? Now multiply that hesitation by every application you send this month, and it's easy to see why this small decision quietly eats hours you don't have.

Here's the actual answer: cover letters aren't dead, and they aren't mandatory either. They're situational. The mistake most people make is treating the question as a rule to be settled once ("cover letters are pointless now" or "always write one") instead of a quick judgment call you make per application. Get that judgment right, and you stop wasting evenings on letters nobody opens — while making sure you write one exactly when it will change the outcome.

When you can skip the cover letter

Skip it, without guilt, in these situations:

• There's no field for it. If the application only takes a CV upload, with no text box, no attachment slot, and the posting doesn't mention one — don't invent a reason to attach one. Adding an unsolicited document rarely helps, and it can occasionally flag you as someone who didn't follow instructions.
• It's a high-volume, ATS-first process. Large employers and recruitment agencies processing hundreds of applications per opening usually route everything through software that a human only opens after the CV clears a first filter. Your energy is better spent making that CV filter-proof than polishing a letter that may never be opened.
• The posting says "optional" and the role is junior, seasonal, or high-turnover. For entry-level or high-volume roles, hiring managers are scanning CVs for basic fit, not reading prose. A cover letter here is rarely the deciding factor.
• A recruiter is submitting you. If an agency consultant already knows your story and is putting your CV forward, a generic cover letter adds nothing to what the consultant can say directly to the client. A short note to the recruiter about your interest is more useful than a formal letter attached to the file.

When you should write one — and actually mean it

Write one, and make it good, in these cases:

• The job posting asks for it. This one is non-negotiable. Skipping a requested cover letter tells the reader you either didn't read the instructions or didn't care enough to follow them — and both readings hurt you before anyone reaches your CV.
• You're changing careers or industries. Your CV shows what you've done. It can't explain, on its own, why someone with five years in retail management is now applying for a logistics coordinator role. A short cover letter is the only place to make that logic explicit before a recruiter draws their own — usually wrong — conclusion.
• You're relocating, or applying across a border. If you're an Italian applying to a company in Athens, or moving from London back to Thessaloniki, a few sentences on timing, availability, and why this move is deliberate — not desperate — remove the recruiter's biggest hesitation before it becomes a silent rejection.
• You're applying to a small or mid-sized company. In smaller organisations, a hiring manager or owner often reads applications directly, without an ATS in between. That's exactly the audience a well-targeted letter is built for — someone with the time and the interest to notice specificity.
• You have a real, specific reason to reach for this company. A referral, a product you've actually used, a project the company shipped that you followed — anything concrete beats "I am impressed by your company's mission." If you don't have anything specific to say, that's a sign to skip the letter rather than fake one.

A note for Greece and Italy specifically

If you're applying to a multinational with a Greek or Italian office, expect the ATS-first, high-volume default described above — the cover letter is a nice-to-have. If you're applying to a family-run business, a local SME, or a smaller agency, the founder or hiring manager is far more likely to actually read what you send, and a genuine, specific letter carries real weight. And if you're applying to an EU institution, an EU-funded programme, or certain public-sector processes, a "motivation letter" isn't optional at all — it's a formal, often scored, part of the application, closer to an essay than a cover letter, and deserves to be treated that way.

How to write a cover letter that gets read

If you've decided to write one, keep it to three short paragraphs — half a page, not a full one:

1. Who you are and why this role, specifically. Not "I am writing to apply for the position of..." Name the role, name the company, and give one real reason you're applying to this job rather than any similar one.
2. One proof point your CV doesn't fully carry. Not a summary of your CV — that's what the CV is for. Pick the one thing a recruiter needs explained: the career switch, the gap, the relocation, or a specific achievement that maps directly onto what this job needs.
3. What you want next. A simple, confident close: availability, enthusiasm for a conversation, nothing that begs.

What kills a cover letter instantly

• Restating your CV in paragraph form, bullet by bullet
• Opening with "I am writing to apply for..." or "My name is..."
• A template so generic it could go to any company in any industry
• Over-explaining qualifications that are already obvious from your CV
• Length — anything past half a page reads as padding, not confidence

If getting that one honest paragraph onto the page is where you keep getting stuck, you're not alone — it's the part most people struggle with more than the CV itself. It's also why our Career Premium and Career Concierge packages include a cover letter written alongside your CV, so the two documents work together instead of repeating each other. You can see what's included at /pricing.

The decision that actually matters more

Here's the thing nobody tells you: agonising over whether to write a cover letter is often a way of avoiding a harder question — is your CV strong enough to survive the first scan at all? A brilliant cover letter attached to a weak CV still gets rejected, because in most processes the CV is opened first, and the cover letter only gets read if the CV earns that second look.

So before you spend another evening deciding on a cover letter, spend ten minutes on the document that actually gets you through the door. A free, human CV review from Kaeros will tell you, specifically, whether your CV is doing its job — not a generic checklist, an actual reviewer looking at your document against what recruiters and ATS systems are actually filtering for.

The short version

Write a cover letter when it's requested, when you're explaining a career change or relocation, or when you have something genuinely specific to say to a smaller company. Skip it when the application doesn't ask for one, when you're going through a high-volume ATS process, or when a recruiter is already advocating for you. Everything else is a judgment call — and now you know how to make it.

If you're not sure which category your situation falls into, or you want a second pair of eyes on the CV that's doing the heavy lifting either way, start with the free CV review. It takes a few minutes to submit and costs nothing to find out where you stand.