The Cover Letter

Seth Godin points to a blog article on interviewing tips where one of the tips is that cover letters are "worthless" -- especially when you've got 350 applicants to sort through. The argument is that the meat is really in the resume and that's what sells you.

I respectfully disagree. I beleive the opposite is true. While there certainly is meat to a resume, it's the cover letter that explains who you are, what you believe in and how you connect the dots for the employer between resume and role. I believe the cover letter is where you give the example of standing out (with good writing, good relevance, good personal brand) and then the resume supports that with the technical details.