Resume guides
The cover letter that is actually read
A cover letter is not a prose version of your Résumé. It answers one question the Résumé 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 Résumé 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
- 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'.
- Fit: two or three sentences matching your strongest evidence to their top requirement, with a number.
- Contribution: what you would work on in the first months, phrased as a proposal, not a promise.
- 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 Résumé in paragraph form.
A full example, paragraph by paragraph
Generic openings are the single most common cover letter mistake, so it is worth seeing the difference in full sentences rather than as advice alone.
Weak opening: I am writing to apply for the Marketing Coordinator position at your company. I am a hard-working team player with excellent communication skills. Stronger opening: Your team's recent expansion into three new European markets is the kind of growth I want to help sustain. As a Marketing Coordinator who rebuilt a lead-scoring process that lifted qualified leads by 27% in one year, I would bring the same approach to your regional launches.
The stronger version does three things in two sentences: it names something specific and true about the employer, it states a concrete, numbered achievement, and it connects the two directly instead of leaving the reader to infer the link.
Formatting
- One page, same font and header as your Résumé 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.
The middle paragraphs, weak vs. stronger
| Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|
| I have a lot of experience that I believe makes me a great fit for this role. | In my current role, I rebuilt our client reporting process, cutting turnaround from five days to two — the kind of efficiency your posting highlights as a priority for this team. |
| I am confident I would be a valuable addition to your team. | In the first few months, I would focus on auditing the current reporting workflow and proposing one change with measurable impact, the same approach that worked in my last two roles. |
Handling edge cases
| Situation | How to handle it |
|---|---|
| No posting to reference, cold outreach | Open with a specific observation about the company's work rather than a role title, and state clearly that you are exploring fit rather than applying to a listed vacancy |
| Applying through a portal with no name field | Use "Dear Hiring Team" and spend the saved sentence on a sharper opening line instead of guessing a name |
| The posting explicitly says a cover letter is optional | Write a short three-sentence note rather than skipping it entirely — a small amount of effort still stands out |
| Applying to a much larger, formal organisation | Keep the same structure but tone down the informality; still include one number and one specific reason for the employer |
Matching tone to the employer
A cover letter aimed at an early-stage startup and one aimed at a public sector agency should not read the same way, even if the underlying facts about you are identical. A startup letter can open with more personality and a shorter sentence structure; a formal institution generally expects fuller sentences and a more measured tone. Read the employer's own careers page and job posting for cues — a posting full of short, energetic sentences is inviting a different register than one written in dense, formal paragraphs.
The closing paragraph, weak vs. stronger
Weak: I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Stronger: I'm available for a call this week or next and can share a short writeup of the reporting project mentioned above if useful. I'd welcome the chance to discuss how I could contribute to the team's roadmap.
The stronger closing gives a concrete next step (a call, a specific week) and offers something extra rather than only waiting passively. It also references the earlier paragraph, which makes the letter read as one connected argument instead of four separate paragraphs stapled together.
Common mistakes beyond the opening line
- Addressing the letter to the wrong company name because it was copied from a previous application and not fully updated.
- Repeating the Résumé's bullet points verbatim instead of choosing one and explaining the context behind it.
- Writing in the passive voice throughout, which makes even a strong achievement sound like it happened to you rather than because of you.
- Ending without any request for next steps, leaving the reader unsure whether you expect a reply.
- Sending the identical letter to five companies in the same week with only the company name swapped — reused structure is fine, reused specifics are not.
A short-form version for optional or low-context applications
Not every application justifies a full four-paragraph letter. When a system marks the cover letter as optional, or when you are applying through a recruiter who will speak to the employer directly, a three-sentence note still outperforms silence: name the role, give one specific and relevant achievement with a number, and state your availability. This takes under five minutes and signals more care than leaving the field blank.
Apply it to your own Résumé
Build a tailored Résumé for free, or upload your current one for an instant score.
Keep reading
- How to write a Résumé that gets interviews
A practical, step-by-step guide to writing a Résumé: structure, section order, what to include, what to cut, and how recruiters actually read your résumé.
- ATS-friendly résumés: what actually matters
How applicant tracking systems parse your résumé, which formatting choices break them, and the keyword approach that gets your Résumé in front of a human.
- Writing a professional summary and strong bullet points
Formulas and before/after examples for the two highest-impact parts of a résumé: the professional summary at the top and the achievement bullets underneath.