First of all, I really appreciate the straightforwardness of the text, and once again, it offers direct and systematic methods for generating technical documents. I think that most people have, by now, made at least one version of a resume at some point, so there isn't much to say about this. But, 'Functional Resumes' are at least worth mentioning because I'm sure not many people have made this type of resume. The functional form seems to focus on experience related skills, where the archival resume is more of a list of 'what I've done so far' with a few skills listed at the end.
Cover letters, on the other hand, are slightly more mysterious (for lack of a better term), at least for me. I feel that they are somewhat unnecessary and maybe even repetitive. I know that the text explains that the cover letter is supposed to contain information that isn't on the resume and that it should layout why I would be a good addition to their company. This is fine, I guess, but I tend to have a problem with this sort of thing-it seems too much like fluff to me. If the person reviewing your resume has an empathetic viewpoint (which should be easy for them since they are probably reading these all day-HR people) then the resume should suffice when describing skill sets and references should do for additional information. These sorts of fluffy formalities are not my thing, but then again-I’m insane, but I’m ok with that.
Portfolios are somewhat opposites of the cover letter-for me. This is where the real information is divulged to a prospective employer. It is living proof of the skills that were mentioned directly or otherwise in a resume. Before reading this text, I never even considered making a portfolio, but now I’m thinking that this is something I would spend the most time on as far as employment documents are concerned.
Cover Letter
After reading the text, the cover letter seems to be a pretty important document. Like you said, a resume only contains information on skill sets, experience, references, etc... The cover letter, on the other hand, gives the applicant a chance to personalize their resume. It also gives HR somewhat of an idea of the actual person behind the resume. As you stated yourself, you're supposedly "insane." Who wants to hire an insane employee? Companies out there are going to want to see a cover letter, because without one they probably won't get any hint of your insanity through your resume alone. So yeah, if your personality isn't well received by other people, then I could see why you wouldn't want to include a cover letter with your resume. However, eventually the employer is going to meet you in person and find out what you're like anyway. A cover letter might save you a trip.
Cover letters
When I first sat down to try and write a cover letter for a job, I also thought that they were pretty mysterious and unnecessary. However, I was looking for that edge that just might put me above some other applicant vying for that same job. Once I read some sample cover letters online I decided that it was a way to make myself look better to the recruiter without filling my resume up with too much information. I have since found that using a sort of template approach for writing your cover letter is a quick and easy way to make your name stick out.
Not just a "formality"
I can't speak for you, but I have to imagine that in a stack of hundreds of resumes you could probably find one that is pretty similar to mine. So the burden is on me to take every step to set myself apart. Throwing my resume into the ring by itself and hoping it will pop out of the pile on it's own is, in my mind, playing against the odds.
You're right about HR people having to read resumes all day. That means they aren't going to want to put the effort into figuring out who each applicant is by analyzing resumes. The easy thing for HR people would be to read cover letters and let applicants tell them who they are. So it's not just a hoop to jump through, it's a way to get recruiters to lift your name out of a stack.
cover letters
First, I appreciate your straightforwardness as much as you did the reading. However, I have to dissagree with your point about cover letters. I think that if someone writes simple, to the point explanations of what they have done to back up their resume, they can be very effective. The idea is to elaborate on, not repeat what is on your resume. For instance, I say that I increase an advertising section of a newspaper from one page to 16, that doesn't give you much of an idea of what I actually did, just the results I achieved. This may be fine for some employers. They most likely don't require a cover letter, just a resume. I think that in some cases, for some jobs, they are very neccessary.
Mike Sheridan