What surprises me is how many people dislike cover letters. When I go through applicants, a decent cover letter demonstrating some enthusiasm about the company and a unique point or two is appealing.
It surprises me how many employers think that any of their engineers give a crap about the actual business. The better ones have some form of passion for creating good code, the actual business is an implementation detail.
I guess I've only worked for businesses that I gave a crap about.
The domain, product, or use case is what draws me in. But then, I'm of the "classic" engineering mindset; a maker. Code is a means to an end, not an end in itself.