All very fair points, I suppose it just comes down to whatever the particular company is looking for. At the time it was important to find people that showed enthusiasm and would fit well with the rest of the engineers. Taking the time to show that enthusiasm in a personalised way was a good start.
It's interesting though that there are such large differences in approaches out there.
> anyone can write anything about anything in a cover letter.
Very aggressive screening at the outset, with all the submissions in an easy to read list.
At my last job, we would ignore every single submission that didn't have a cover letter. If the cover letter has even the slightest red flag; for example if it doesn't mention anything specific about the company, then onto the next one. The next step would be an equally aggressive phone screen.
It's ruthless and you might miss out on some great candidates, but the time wasted by interviewing the wrong people is a killer.
Caught it out with "What is a lie that is always true?"
> A lie that is always true is when people say "I'm fine" when something is really wrong. Even if there is a problem, a lot of people will say "I'm fine" instead of talking about what's really wrong. So even when people say "I'm fine" in situations like these, it's still a lie - but it's one that's always true.
It's interesting though that there are such large differences in approaches out there.
> anyone can write anything about anything in a cover letter.
I could say the same thing about a CV.