How to Write a Cover Letter That Gets Read
Most advice hands you a template and tells you to personalise it. That is backwards. Build the letter from the posting's requirements first, and the personalisation is already done.
- Use the job posting as your outline, not a blank page or a template.
- Open with the role you are applying for and one credible reason you match it.
- Pick one or two proof points that connect directly to what the employer asked for.
- Keep it to about 200 to 400 words on one page unless the application says otherwise.
- Proofread the company name, job title, hiring manager's name and the attachments.
The short answer
To write a cover letter, name the job, show why you are a strong match, prove it with one or two specific examples, and close by asking for the next conversation. Keep it tailored to the employer and to about 200 to 400 words when no other limit is given, and do not repeat your resume line by line.
Step 1: Read the posting and mark it up
Copy the job title, the must-have requirements and the skills the posting repeats into a note. Circle the ones you can actually prove with real experience. This turns a blank page into an outline the employer wrote for you.
Step 2: Choose one angle
Decide the single reason you are worth interviewing for this role. It might be direct experience, transferable skills, a relevant project, or a clear match between your background and the employer's work. Do not try to tell your whole career story.
Step 3: Address a real person
Use the hiring manager's name if you can find it. If you cannot, use a role-based greeting or the department name. Avoid To Whom It May Concern unless the employer specifically asks for it.
Step 4: Open with the role and the fit
Start by naming the position and giving a specific reason you are applying. Add one sentence previewing your strongest match. Skip the speech about passion unless you can back it with plain evidence.
Step 5: Prove the match
Use the middle to connect the employer's needs to your experience. Pick one or two examples showing results, scope, tools, customers or responsibility. Use numbers only when you can verify them, and describe the outcome plainly when you cannot.
Step 6: Show why this employer
Include one specific reason this employer or role makes sense for you. A product, a mission, a customer type, a team problem, or a requirement from the posting all work. Generic compliments read as filler.
Step 7: Close and check
Thank the reader, refer to your attached resume, and say you would welcome a conversation about the role. Before sending, check the company name, the job title, the hiring manager's name, your contact details and the attachments themselves.
What actually goes in it
Your contact information, the date if you are using business-letter format, a greeting, a short introduction, one or two body paragraphs and a close. The body should add the context your resume cannot, which is why your specific experience fits this specific job. If you are sending it by email, the email body can be the letter.
Using a drafting tool without sounding generic
Drafting help is fine, but you still have to verify every claim, cut the vague enthusiasm and make the voice sound like you. Feed it the posting and your real resume facts, then edit hard. Never let a tool invent experience, metrics, certifications or interest you do not actually have, because that is the one mistake an interview will expose immediately.
More step-by-step guides are on the guides index.