I am a hiring manager and see the cover letter as an invitation to discuss. Tie one of your very specific characteristics to one of theirs early in the letter. PPs are not wrong. You get about 30 seconds and I do not open resumes if I do not get through the cover letter.

The cover letter and resume are what you use to sell yourself. If you are not the right person, you can decide that in the interview process, however you need to get to the interview process first. You need to convince the HR person or whomever is reading your resume and cover letter that they need to search no more. You are competing against hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of others. Why are you so special? You need to convince someone in 30 seconds or less - and it should be specific to the job posting - not just a general cover letter that you use for everything.

NO, don't say that. Your letter and resume need to explain why YOU are the right fit. Convince them. You are the one who needs to do the work on this to show them why they should hire you.

Why would you say that?

No, they will not even read your resume. If you don't know if you are the right fit, they definitely won't think twice. Talk about what you think you are the right fit and if you get an knterview then ask the right questions to figure out if the job is right for you and they will do the same.

I have a position I like but am putting out feelers for other things.

I don’t know if I’m the right fit for the position, but I hope so. Can I say that in a cover letter? In other words, I think I am the right person for this position and I want to explore with you if that's true.