Applications: Letters of motivation are still important to companies

Every now and then it is said to be dead: The motivation letter in a job application. But a new study by JobCloud in cooperation with the LINK Institute shows that for many companies such a cover letter is still very relevant. Overall, 74% of the employers surveyed still consider the cover letter to be very important or important, and this figure even rises to 81% for manual jobs. In French-speaking Switzerland, by the way, the letter of application is even more important: 43% consider it very important vs. 36% in German-speaking Switzerland. "However, we know from job seekers that the letter of motivation is particularly time-consuming. In order to receive more applications, employers could take the bold step of explicitly mentioning in the job posting that candidates can refrain from writing a cover letter," says Davide Villa, CEO of JobCloud, which operates the jobs.ch, jobup.ch and jobscout24.ch platforms.

Letter of motivation yes, application photo less important

In contrast to the cover letter, the application photo is losing considerable importance for recruiters according to the study. In the results, it is noticeable that a photo in the resume is considered even more important in German-speaking Switzerland than in French-speaking Switzerland. While 53% of the respondents in German-speaking Switzerland stated that they considered this to be important or very important, this figure is only 38% on the other side of the Röstigraben. On the other hand, 13% of employers in French-speaking Switzerland and 6% in German-speaking Switzerland no longer attach any importance to the photo at all. "Most recruiters Google the applicants sooner or later anyway, where they then often also come across a photo. So the classic application photo no longer has the same significance as it used to," Villa comments. Applicant demographics, such as age or gender, are weighted similarly to references and are important or very important for 60% of the respondents.

The constant in recruiting: the search for qualified employees

The study also asked HR managers about the greatest challenges and difficulties in recruiting. It emerged that the search for qualified employees is particularly difficult. For example, half of the respondents said they had trouble finding skilled workers in Switzerland, and 45% see this as a major challenge outside Switzerland as well. "This is due to the shortage of skilled workers, which is becoming increasingly noticeable in Switzerland and also in neighboring countries," explains Davide Villa. Other major difficulties encountered in the search for personnel are the large number of unspecialized applications (e.g. from lateral entrants) and excessive salary expectations that companies are unable to meet.

Online job portals as the most important recruiting resource

When employers find suitable employees, they are most likely to do so via online job portals: 35% of the companies surveyed state that job portals are their most successful channel for recruitment. In addition, personal contacts (19%) and the company's own career website (11%) prove particularly promising in the search for personnel. "In order to exploit the full potential, it is recommended that employers use multiple channels for their recruitments and carefully consider what the most suitable channels are for the respective positions," concludes Villa.

As part of this study, companies of all sizes in German- and French-speaking Switzerland were surveyed about their needs and behaviors in recruiting. For this purpose, 700 online interviews of people responsible for recruitment were conducted. The survey took place in February 2022 and was organized in collaboration between JobCloud and the LINK Institute.

Source: JobCloud AG