A recent article on social media news site Mashable debates the relevance of cover letters – in today’s web-based world, are they still necessary?  Various career experts were interviewed, and the jury was hung at the end of the article.

MSNBC Career Columnist Eve Tahmincioglu – who was on campus to speak with a UD journalism class last fall – thinks that the traditional cover letter is still a valid and valuable part of the job application.  She references the fact that companies are still looking for well-rounded employees, something that is hard to convey with just a resume.

On the other hand, Ryan Goff, director of social media marketing at advertising and public relations agency MGH, says that boring cover letters often stop him from reading the rest of the applicant’s information.  Spend more time on the resume, he says, and employers won’t even miss the cover letter.

This article makes cover letters out to be a double-edged sword – some employers expect it and others hold it against you.  The moral of this story?  If you’re going to include a cover letter, make it something worth reading.

What do you think?

Read the full Mashable article here.