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Examples and a structure that works

Cover letter examples — copy one and make it yours

Your resume says what you have done. The cover letter says why this job and why you. Below are two complete letters you can use as a starting point, the four-paragraph structure they follow, and the phrasing that gets a letter closed after one line.

What is on this page

  • A full cover letter example for a standard job application
  • A separate example for applicants with no work experience yet
  • The four-paragraph structure — what goes in each one
  • The openings and phrases that make a letter read like a form
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Why bother

Does anyone actually read cover letters?

Not always, and not for every role. For high-volume positions the resume is usually enough and the letter gets skimmed at best. But when a posting draws a stack of similar applications, or when you are switching industries, the letter is the only place you can explain what the resume cannot show: why you are moving in this direction, how skills from another field transfer, what the gap in your dates was.

It also matters more the further you go. A letter rarely gets you shortlisted on its own, but a specific one gives the person deciding something to say about you in the meeting where the shortlist is made.

Tip
Write the letter after you have read the posting closely, not before. One concrete detail lifted from the job description does more than a whole paragraph about how motivated you are.
Structure

The four-paragraph cover letter

Aim for 250 to 400 words across three or four paragraphs. It is often read on a phone, so anything that does not fit on a screen belongs in the resume instead.

1. Greeting and first line

Use the hiring manager's name if you can find it. Name the role and where you saw it straight away — the reader may be handling several openings at once and needs the context in one second.

2. Why you fit

Two or three sentences on the experience that maps directly onto this job. Put a number in: team size, budget, accounts handled, percentage of target, hours saved.

3. Why this company

One concrete thing: a responsibility from the posting, the product, the market, how the team works. This is the paragraph you rewrite for every application, and the one that separates a letter from a mailshot.

4. Close and sign-off

Short: happy to talk it through, resume attached. Then your name and phone number. Skip "I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience" — it adds nothing.

Example

Cover letter example for a job application

Written for a sales representative opening. Swap the numbers, tools and company details for your own — the structure and tone carry over to any role.

Sample letter
Dear Ms. Carter, I am applying for the Sales Representative position at Northline Equipment, which I saw on your careers page. For the past three years I have sold industrial equipment to B2B buyers. Last year I closed 128% of my annual target, raised the average deal size from $9,000 to $14,000, and brought in 43 new accounts. I run the full cycle myself, from the first cold call through contract signature and renewal. Your posting puts weight on building a pipeline from scratch and on working inside a CRM rather than around it. That is what I did in my current role: we moved off spreadsheets onto HubSpot, and the time from inbound enquiry to first contact dropped from two days to four hours. I would be glad to talk through how that would apply to your territory. My resume is attached. Best regards, Andrew Novak (555) 014-2280

Notice there is not one adjective like "hard-working", "detail-oriented" or "results-driven" anywhere in it. Instead of describing character, the letter states results a hiring manager could ask about in an interview.

Special case

Cover letter with no work experience

With no employment history the letter matters more than the resume, because there is very little in the resume to read. The structure stays the same; the evidence changes from jobs to coursework, internships and things you ran yourself.

Sample letter
Dear Hiring Manager, I am applying for the Marketing Assistant role at Brightleaf. I finished my marketing degree this spring. For the last eighteen months I ran the Instagram account for our student association, where the audience grew from 400 to 3,200 followers with no advertising budget. I also spent three months interning at a small agency, building content calendars and putting together the weekly reporting on Meta Ads campaigns. I have not yet run a campaign end to end, and I would rather say so than imply otherwise - I am ready to start on the day-to-day work and learn the rest on the job. Your team works with independent food producers, and that is the kind of brand I want to build experience with. Thank you for considering my application. My resume is attached. Best regards, Maria Bennett (555) 026-4417
Mistakes

Why cover letters stop being read

The most common failure is retelling the resume in prose. The reader already has the file; repeating it adds nothing and uses up the only paragraphs you get. The second is the universal letter with no mention of the company in it, which is obvious from the opening line.

Does not work"I am a hard-working, detail-oriented team player with excellent communication skills and a passion for excellence. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to any suitable role within your organisation." No job title, no facts, no company — it fits everyone and convinces no one.
Works"I am applying for the Staff Accountant position. I close the books for three entities each month and have filed five years of returns without a penalty. Your posting mentions the migration to NetSuite — I led that implementation last year and would be glad to own that part of the work."
Before you send it
Read the letter back and delete every sentence that would fit another job posting unchanged. If less than half survives, the letter needs rewriting rather than editing.

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Describe the job and your background, and get a cover letter drafted alongside your resume in the same document set.

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FAQ

Cover letters: common questions

Usually yes, and that is exactly when it works hardest. Plenty of applications arrive as a bare attachment with an empty message body, so a few specific sentences stand out on their own. The exception is a posting that explicitly says to send the resume only - follow the instruction, because ignoring it is itself a signal.
Three or four short paragraphs, roughly 250 to 400 words. A hiring manager often opens it on a phone between other things, and anything that needs scrolling tends to get closed. Whatever does not fit belongs in the resume, not in the letter.
A cover letter goes with your resume when you apply for a specific job and argues what you bring to that employer. A personal statement is usually written for a university place, a scholarship or a fellowship, and is more about your goals and reasons for choosing that path. Sending one in place of the other reads as a copy-paste job.
Write about what you have actually done: coursework projects, internships, volunteering, part-time jobs, anything you built or ran yourself. Tenure is not what convinces anyone - a result with a number behind it is, however small the project. Then say plainly that you are ready to start on the operational work, which answers the question the reader already has.
Keep the backbone and rewrite the paragraph about the company and the role every time. A one-size letter is obvious from the first sentence and does more damage than sending no letter at all. The minimum to change: the job title, the company name, and one concrete detail taken from the posting itself.
Paste it into the body of the email and attach the resume as a file - a second attachment often goes unopened. If you are applying through a job board or an applicant tracking system, put the text in the cover letter field the form provides rather than uploading it as another document.
Use the name if the posting, the careers page or the company LinkedIn gives you one. If it does not, "Dear Hiring Manager" is fine and safe. Avoid "To Whom It May Concern" and "Dear Sir or Madam" - both read as forms rather than letters.
Next

The resume the letter goes with

A cover letter only works attached to something. Look at a finished resume example for your job title, and check that your own file survives an applicant tracking system before you send the pair anywhere.

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