Resume guides

The cover letter that is actually read

A cover letter is not a prose version of your CV. It answers one question the CV cannot: why this role, at this company, now.

When it is worth writing

• Always, when the posting asks for one — omitting it is often an automatic filter.
• When you are changing industry or function and the CV alone looks like a mismatch.
• When you have a gap, a relocation or a non-obvious motivation to explain.
• When applying to a small company, where a person rather than a system reads it.

Four paragraphs, under 350 words

1. Opening: the role, and one specific reason you are writing to this employer — a product, a market position, a recent announcement. No 'I am writing to apply for'.
2. Fit: two or three sentences matching your strongest evidence to their top requirement, with a number.
3. Contribution: what you would work on in the first months, phrased as a proposal, not a promise.
4. Close: availability, and a plain request for a conversation.

Openings to avoid

• "To whom it may concern" — find the hiring manager or use "Dear Hiring Team".
• "I am a hard-working team player with excellent communication skills." Unverifiable and universal.
• A restatement of your CV in paragraph form.

Formatting

• One page, same font and header as your CV so the two look like a set.
• Paste it into the email body when applying by email, and attach it as PDF too.
• Name the file Firstname-Lastname-Cover-Letter.pdf.