Do Speculative Cover Letters Work?

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Speculative cover letters do sometimes reach the right person at the right time.

In a job search context, if you understand that there may be a demand at a given company for someone with your skillset (over and above the employees that are currently working there), then a speculative cover letter can help to open doors. 

Say, for example, that you work in digital marketing and the company is lagging behind their competitors. Write a letter to show how you can help them catch up. Every speculative cover letter needs to set out the business need for hiring you.

View the job search process from a sales perspective. A speculative cover letter is a mechanism to make a hiring manager aware that there is a new “product” on the market. You are in the process of interviewing with other companies for open roles. If there is a potential interest, you would like to discuss the options.

One challenge with writing speculative cover letters is that, if written well, each cover letter requires a considerable amount of research and bespoke arguments to outline your fit. When there is no certainty of the role, you need to be hugely keen on the target companies and willing to send out a significant volume of letters to guarantee a response. Resist the temptation to write to multiple people. It is more effective to write to your future boss rather than HR (they won’t read it unless they have a relevant role).

Speculative letters work

There is also no guarantee that they will read your letter. One way of increasing your chances is to engage with the desired recipient(s) over some time on social media. They will recognise your name. Dropping them a message on socials to let them know that you will be sending over an email will then get over the standard “we are not recruiting” line. A curious hiring manager who knows who you are will at least give it a read. 

You might feel that you have a good chance of your speculative cover letter hitting the spot. However, it is too presumptuous to attach your CV alongside it immediately. An alternative is to send a link to your LinkedIn profile. This will help cement your case. If there is interest from your potential boss, they will ask for your CV in due course. 

If the response from the hiring manager is positive, expect a bumpy ride as they seek budget for the role from senior management and belatedly get the HR department involved. However, if the business case for hiring you is clear and you do yourself justice during the interview stages, there should not be any significant obstacles. So many jobs are not on the open market. If you have identified how you might add value to a potential boss at your favourite company (and if that boss knows who you are), a speculative cover letter is worth a try.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists.

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).