Cover letter format that actually gets read

Most cover letters restate the resume in worse prose. A useful one adds the thing a resume cannot carry: why this role, and what you would do in it.

Does anyone read it?

Honestly: sometimes. At high-volume employers it may go unread. At smaller organisations, and for any role where judgement matters, it is often the deciding document between two similar resumes. It is cheap to write once you have a structure, so write it.

The structure

Paragraph one — why you are writing

The role, where you saw it, and one line placing yourself. No throat-clearing. "I would like to apply for the Operations Lead role at Acme, which I saw on LinkedIn. I am an operations analyst with six years in logistics, most recently at Meridian."

Paragraph two — your evidence

Two or three specific things you have done, ideally with a number. Not a list of duties; the outcomes. This is the part that earns the interview.

Paragraph three — why them

Something true about the organisation and how it connects to you. One sentence is plenty. This is the paragraph most people skip, and its absence is why so many letters feel interchangeable.

Paragraph four — close

Offer to talk, thank them, stop. No begging, no "I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience".

Openings to avoid

• "I am writing to express my keen interest in..." — says nothing, uses ten words.
• "Ever since I was a child..." — almost never true and never relevant.
• "As you can see from my attached resume..." — then why am I reading this?
• "To Whom It May Concern" — find a name, or use "Dear Hiring Team".

Practical points

• Name the company correctly, every time. A wrong company name is the fastest rejection there is, and it happens constantly when letters are reused.
• Address a person if you can find one. If not, "Dear Hiring Team" is fine and better than a formula that sounds like a legal notice.
• Match the register of the employer. A law firm and a five-person startup should not receive the same tone.
• Send it as a PDF unless the form asks for text in a box, in which case paste it plainly and check the line breaks survived.
• Do not repeat the resume. If a sentence could be lifted straight from your bullets, cut it.

When to skip it

If the application form says a cover letter is optional and gives you a "why do you want this role" free-text box, put your effort in the box. Two versions of the same argument is a waste of your evening.

Common questions