How did you write so many cover letters?

just change the bank name and address in each additional cover letter, nobody cares, i got an interview with a major bank where i didnt even mention the required contact (the attn:), mainly since i forgot and didnt care to check. dont worry about it

Change the names, and maybe a slight change or two regarding something specific to the firm. Should take about fifteen minutes to churn one out and make sure it is mistake free (though you will still make mistakes on a few of them).

I usually just talk about someone I met from the firm everything else is literally the same

I have heard that barely anyone actually reads them but then other times I have heard that they are important...which is more true?

I feel like it's a barrier to entry to discourage those who aren't serious enough to put in the time to write a cover letter from applying and wasting the recruiter's time. BarCap does a nice job with their personalized short answer questions.

I set up a template, and just changed the intro (why your firm, who I spoke to) and the ending (why your firm Part II). don't forget to Control-F at least twice to make sure you change all firm names as well as the address on top

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That was my cover letter, no lie.

Cover letters are completely useless unless A) its a boutique firm or B) it's a unique program where your work exp won't necessarily speak for itself, OTHERWISE, as others have mentioned, change the first and last paragraphy, mainly the first, and send off.

You shouldn't be changing too much between them, considering that the more important part of the body is what you can bring to the table that's interesting. Toss in any information about who you've met, i.e. name-drop as much as you can in the first paragraph, and that ought to be golden.

Question: are cover letters generally attached to emails, the "message" of the email, or otherwise?

It seems a little bit redundant to include the address of the bank at all, if a CV is being sent through e-mail. Is it just me? Is everyone using snail mail?