How to Write a Cover Letter

What is a cover letter?

A cover letter, also known as a covering letter or application letter, is a one-page document that introduces a job seeker’s work history, professional skills, and personal interest in applying for a job.

Although it might seem old-fashioned in 2021, cover letters are still necessary.

The purpose of your cover letter is to expand upon the achievements in your resume, showcase your personality, and explain why you’d be a good fit for the company. Overall, your cover letter (paired with your resume) helps managers and recruiters screen your job application.

What to include in your cover letter

When writing your cover letter, use the following basic structure:

• Introduction: Carefully written to grab the hiring manager’s attention, and explain why you want the job.
• Body paragraphs: At least two paragraphs detailing your relevant education, skills, work experience, and why you’re a good fit for the position.
• Conclusion: A concise ending that reiterates your strengths, and asks the hiring manager to contact you (known as a call to action).

This cover letter writing guide will teach you how to write each of these sections step-by-step, with examples showing exactly what to say.

Depending on where you’re at in the writing process, these additional resources can help you:

• I haven’t started writing: find a free Microsoft Word cover letter template that suits your style and profession. Or instantly download a simple one here.
• I’ve already started writing: consult this library of cover letter examples by industry (if you already have work experience), or entry-level cover letters (if you’re a student or recent graduate).

Pressed for time? Consider using a cover letter builder to finish the writing process in less than 15 minutes, or follow a sample cover letter template to quickly write a letter that works for most job applications.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a perfectly formatted and persuasive cover letter that looks like this:

How to write the perfect cover letter

When it comes to writing a perfect cover letter, job seekers tend to have many questions.

What should I put in my cover letter? How exactly should I say it? How much detail should I include?

We answer these questions and more below.

Step 1: Put your contact details (and the employer’s) in the header

Contact Details

At the top of your cover letter, type your:

• First and last name
• Email address (make sure it’s professional, and not ridikulus_clownz@gmail.com)
• Phone number
• Mailing address (optional)
• Linkedin profile link (optional)

Under your contact details, you should then type:

• Today’s date
• The first and last name of the person you’re writing to, or the relevant department
• The company’s address
• The company’s phone number
• The hiring manager or company’s email address

Here’s an example of how that looks, depending on the template you choose:

Step 2: Address the hiring manager by their name

Opening Salutation

Make a great first impression by addressing your cover letter directly to the reader. Robotic and impersonal greetings like “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam” come off as lazy and insincere.

Not sure who to address? Try checking the company website, searching Linkedin, or even calling or emailing human resources to ask. If you’re still having problems addressing your cover letter, follow these tips:

• If you’re not certain about the recruiter’s title (like Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc.,) you can drop it from your cover letter salutation. For instance, “Dear Jane Smith” is acceptable.
• If you can’t figure out who the recruiter is, you can guess. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing position, you can address the marketing director by name instead.
• If you can’t find anyone’s name, you can address it to the department. For instance, “Dear Marketing Department” is okay.

Step 3: Hook the hiring manager with a strong introduction

Intro Paragraph

Job seekers often worry about how to start a cover letter, but it’s actually quite straight-forward. An effective cover letter introduction simply includes the following:

1. Job position: The name of the position you’re applying for
2. Company name: The name of the company you’re applying for
3. Intention to apply: An enthusiastic announcement that you’re applying for that position

If your cover letter introduction has those three elements, you’ll successfully hook the hiring manager into reading more. Here’s an example of an acceptable cover letter introduction:

However, we recommend that you make your introduction even more attention-grabbing by adding some personality, passion, or a major career highlight. You shouldn’t be afraid to let some of your unique personality quirks shine through in your cover letter. But be sure to strike the right tone, and don’t be weird.

Here are some examples of unique (but optional) cover letter introduction strategies you can use:

Step 4: Prove that you’re the perfect candidate for the job

Body Paragraphs

Next, it’s time to make a convincing argument that you’re the right person for the job. To write your body paragraphs well and sell yourself as the perfect candidate, remember three main points:

• Be bold, but don’t brag: A strong cover letter conveys confidence. If you’re able to provide evidence for a claim (like how you’re the best candidate for the job), include that evidence in your cover letter.
• Be honest, and don’t embellish: Don’t lie or even stretch the truth about your experience, because getting caught could devastate your career. Don’t worry, you’ll get a job with the experience you already have.
• Don’t include irrelevant information: Your cover letter should directly target the job and company you’re applying for. Your cover letter (and resume) should respond to the job posting, referencing the skills and qualifications required for the role.

Ready to start writing?

• If you have some work experience, keep reading.
• If you’re an entry-level candidate, like a student or recent graduate, skip to writing tips relevant to you.

Writing tips (if you have some work experience)

Hiring managers will look closely at your cover letter for evidence that you’re a qualified candidate worth considering for the position. Use your recent work history and achievements to prove (with numbers) that you have the skills to get the job done.

Here are some examples of proof you can include in your cover letter to highlight your value:

• Professional achievements: Did you exceed targets for production, sales, revenue, profit, customer satisfaction, or any other business objectives?
• Professional praise: Have you received compliments from management or colleagues for your work?
• Professional awards: Have you received awards for your work, like Employee of the Month?

In the following examples, we’ve color-coded the achievements, praise, and awards with underlining to show you how to include each:

Writing tips (if you don’t have much work experience)

For job seekers with little or no experience, writing a cover letter can seem difficult. Fortunately, employers understand that many applicants (especially for entry-level positions) don’t have much experience, and instead assess the cover letters they see based on other qualities, such as:

• Academic (and other) achievements: Do you have a degree (bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD?) Is your GPA above 3.5, and did you receive awards like cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude? Did you land a scholarship? Did you complete a thesis?
• Extracurricular activities: Have you done any part-time work, or been involved in volunteering, student government, clubs, athletics, theater, or other activities? Do you pursue hobbies and interests?
• Self-motivation and goal setting: What are the short and long-term goals you have, and how does the job you’re applying for fit in with them?

Remember that any of the information you include should be relevant to the job you’re applying for. For instance, your theater club experience will have no relevance for an accounting job, unless you were the treasurer.

We’ve color-coded the following examples to demonstrate how you can tie your qualifications into an excellent entry-level cover letter.

For more inspiration, check out our entry-level cover letter examples for students:

• High School Student Cover Letter
• College Student Cover Letter
• Internship Cover Letter

Step 5: Close your cover letter with a request to interview

Closing Paragraph

When writing your cover letter closing, be polite, confident, and continue to sell yourself as a candidate. It’s important to write your final paragraph as thoughtfully and strategically as the rest of your cover letter, so be sure to:

• Thank the hiring manager for reviewing your resume and cover letter
• Concisely summarize why you’d be a good hire
• Reiterate your excitement about the opportunity
• Politely ask them to send you an invitation to interview

Here’s an excellent cover letter closing example:

Step 6: Sign off with a professional closing salutation

Closing Salutation

Sign off your cover letter with a professional closing salutation:

Finally, make two spaces between the salutation, and type your full name. For some professional (but optional) flair, scan your written signature into your cover letter under your typed name.

Step 7: Review your cover letter

Now, it’s time to make sure what you’ve written follows cover letter writing best practices. Ask yourself the following questions:

Did I use correct cover letter formatting?

A professional cover letter format is 200-350 words, single spaced, and uses a single A4 page. The font should match any of these recommended fonts for your cover letter, and the font size should be no smaller than size 12. Your cover letter margins should be 1”–1½” on each side to make sure it’s readable and professional.

The content should be formatted as shown in the thumbnail on the left, regardless of how long your cover letter is.

However, we recommend that you keep everything concise and write a short cover letter.

Did I write in a personable, and not overly-formal tone?

A classic cover letter writing mistake is to think that long sentences with overly-formal wording make you sound “professional.” In reality, such language makes your cover letter feel stiff and hard to read.

To instantly improve your cover letter’s tone, try:

• Using contractions, like “don’t” instead of “do not”
• Avoiding clichéd words and phrases, like “dynamic,” “thinking outside the box,” and “synergy”
• Choosing simpler forms of words, like “helpful” instead of “advantageous”

Here’s a comparison between a personable writing style and an overly-formal one:

Did I remove unprofessional and unneeded information?

The following information makes your cover letter unprofessional, and may even invite discrimination from your potential employer. Delete any of the following:

• Personal information, such as family, religion, sex, or gender
• Salary information, such as former salary, or future salary expectations
• Questions and inquiries, such as ones about company benefits or job expectations. If you need to know, ask in an email outside of your application, or during the interview process.
• Information copy-pasted from your resume, such as bullet point sentences or skills lists. Instead, reference information from your resume in your cover letter naturally, and expand on it.
• Photos, like a professional headshot. If you’re a US-based job seeker, headshots are not necessary for the vast majority of jobs.

Did I proofread my cover letter?

You’re probably tired of taking the time to carefully write each sentence of your cover letter by this point. But you have to proofread it anyway.

Don’t only use spell check and scan the page for typos, because you’re likely to miss mistakes, especially flow-related ones. Here are two quick tricks professional editors use to catch sneaky mistakes and make good edits:

• Read your cover letter out loud: Doing this will force you to consider every word, sentence, paragraph, and piece of punctuation. Plus you’ll catch hard-to-read sentences, and can then adjust them as necessary.
• Change the font: A new font forces your brain to grapple with something that seems new. Switching your cover letter to a different font can help you notice mistakes you’d otherwise skim over and miss.

After you’re done proofreading your cover letter, have someone else double-check it. They can provide essential feedback about whether your letter is clear and well-argued. They’ll also notice small grammar and spelling errors you’ve missed.

Most Popular Cover Letter Templates

Over one million people have downloaded these cover letter templates. Each one has a matching resume template.

Most Popular Cover Letter Examples

If you’re looking for even more guidance, you can learn from our 10 most popular cover letter examples. Each one has a corresponding resume example.

Never settle for a less-than-perfect cover letter

Many job seekers wonder: Are cover letters important, and do they matter? The truth is that it depends on the hiring manager’s personal preferences. Some cover letters may go to waste, but most won’t.

For the sake of your career, you should assume that writing a good cover letter isn’t optional.

Remember, writing an awesome cover letter doesn’t have to be a painful experience. Some of the best cover letters are a joy to read, so try to have fun writing yours.

Good luck!

Cover Letter Writing FAQs

• How do I include a referral in a cover letter?
• How do you write salary requirements in a cover letter?
• What is an enclosure in a cover letter?
• Do employers read cover letters?
• Is a CV a cover letter?
• Should you use a template for a cover letter?
• What is a cover letter used for?
• Does a CV include a cover letter?

The post How to Write a Cover Letter appeared first on Resume Genius.