How to write a cover letter, with examples
Updated November 1, 2026
A cover letter tells a hiring manager, in less than a page, why you are applying and why you fit. It does not repeat your résumé line by line; it picks the two or three things that matter most for this role and explains them.
Even when a posting calls the letter optional, a short and specific one can help. A letter sent unchanged to every employer rarely does.
Before you write: read the posting twice
Mark the three requirements that look most important, often the ones listed first or repeated. Then find one real example from your experience for each. Those examples are your letter.
Paragraph 1: the role and your reason
Name the role and say in one or two sentences why it interests you. Skip an empty opening such as "I am writing to apply" and go straight to something specific.
"I would like to apply for the Junior Data Analyst role. Turning messy sales data into reports people actually use was the part of my internship I enjoyed most, and it is the heart of this job."
Paragraph 2: proof that you can do it
Take the posting's most important requirement and show it with one example: the situation, what you did and what changed. Use numbers only if they are real.
"During my internship I rebuilt the team's weekly report in Excel and Power BI. A task that took two hours by hand became a refresh that takes ten minutes."
Paragraph 3: why this company
Start from something the employer says about itself: a product, a value on its careers page, a project in the news. One sincere sentence does more than a paragraph of praise.
Paragraph 4: a clear close
Thank them, say you would welcome a conversation, and stop. Put your phone number and email address under your name.
Common mistakes
Most weak letters make one of these mistakes.
- Sending the same letter everywhere and changing only the company's name.
- Retelling the whole résumé.
- Claiming skills the résumé does not show.
- Going over one page. Three or four short paragraphs are enough.
- Naming the wrong company or person. Read the name twice before you send it.
Length and format
Aim for 250 to 400 words. Use the same font and heading as your résumé, and send a PDF unless the posting asks for something else.
Some application forms ask you to paste the letter into a box. Keep the same four paragraphs there, with a short greeting and your name at the end.
Let Career Agent do the groundwork
Career Agent finds postings that fit your CV, writes a résumé and cover letter for each from your confirmed experience, and rehearses the interview with you.
See how it worksQuestions
- Who should I address it to?
- If the posting or the company's site names the hiring manager, use their name. Otherwise "Dear Hiring Team" is fine.
- Can I use AI to write it?
- You can use it for a draft, but every sentence has to be true and sound like you. Career Agent writes a letter only from the experience you have confirmed and blocks any number that is not in your evidence, so you can check every line.