I posted a job description which asks for a cover letter and a resume. I've received some emails with cover letter-like content, but no attached cover letter. I'm torn between accepting the email content and trashing them, for lack of attention to detail.
If cover letter-like contents are in the email to which the resume is attached, is it fair to say this fulfills the cover letter requirement?
Expanding on the comment.
You are assuming that the hiring manager is who actually going to read your application email, and then read your email body as the cover letter that they requested.
But it is not always the case. What if Adam is reading the email and Eve is the hiring manager? Adam will then download/print the attachment(s) and pass them to Eve. Now Eve asked for a cover letter and a resume, but she only has a resume -> She will say it is the applicant's mistake.
Provide what they ask for so you don't decrease your chances in getting the interview. And always show that you do exactly what is requested from you.
EDIT:
After the OP edit, now the above is to a completely different question.
In the new case, I would suggest that you use your best judgement, based on the position you are trying to fill:
1-minute web search says either is fine and that no one cares (but we do actually!)
I've received some emails with cover letter-like content, but no attached cover letter.
When you ask for a "cover letter" then what you're asking for is an introduction for the candidate, which gives you some hint to their personality, motivation, and general suitability for the position.
Why care how it was sent, as long as it is easily readable? I have personally never sent a cover letter as an email attachment, but always used the inline email description. I would consider the email content to be the cover letter. Perhaps this custom varies per locality, but as far as I know this is very common at least in The Netherlands. A quick internet search reveals that for English-speaking localities some people recommend "send as attachment", some as "send as inline", and others as "no one really cares". From example from here:
I mean, people who hire may have individual preferences, but no one is going to penalize you over doing it in their less-preferred way. It’s like asking “should my hair have bangs when I go to an interview?” No one cares. And about half of the candidates I see do it one way and half do it the other way.
Dismissing a candidate just because they didn't choose to use an attachment means you've just guessed that the candidate understood that you wanted an email attachment. What you really care about is the content, and not how it was sent.
Even if you very clearly stated that you wanted an attachment in the job posting you need to think if you really want to outright dismiss a candidate over such a minor oversight. Perhaps they sent out 20 applications that day? It's easy to forget such a small thing, even if they did their research well. Personally, I think it would be unwise to dismiss someone over such a minor oversight if the rest of their cover letter/resume is looking good.
Can emails count as being cover letters?
Absolutely. I'm afraid you're off-base here. A cover letter can either be attached or it can simply be the body of the e-mail. Since you're actually thinking less of candidates who are doing something that has absolutely zero impact, you're one of the few exceptions to what Alison Green said on the subject:
People who hire may have individual preferences, but no one is going to penalize you over doing it in their less-preferred way.
If for some reason you really care about receiving a separate attachment, you should be mentioning that in the job posting. Only then can you say that someone is lacking an attention to detail. But you really shouldn't be marking people down for not following your unstated preferences.
When in nitpicking mode I would say a letter is a piece of paper, so an email-attachment does not qualify as the requested cover-letter.
Quoting wikipedia "A letter is one person's written message to another pertaining to some matter of common concern." - and email would certainly qualify for this.
So the "lack of attention to detail" could as well be seen in the person posting the description because of unclear requirements.
