A cover letter is a one-page document you send alongside your resume when applying for a job. It explains why you’re interested in the role, highlights the experience that makes you a strong fit, and gives the hiring manager a sense of your personality beyond bullet points. Below you’ll find the standard structure, a full example, and practical guidance for writing your own.
What a Cover Letter Actually Does
Your resume lists where you’ve worked and what you’ve accomplished. Your cover letter connects the dots. It tells the reader why this specific job at this specific company appeals to you, and it lets you frame your experience around what the employer needs rather than just recounting your career chronologically.
Hiring managers use cover letters to gauge three things: whether you’re capable of doing the job, whether you’d be pleasant to work with, and whether you’d be a good fit for the role. A strong cover letter addresses all three in about 300 words, which is enough to make your case without losing a busy reader’s attention.
Standard Cover Letter Structure
Every effective cover letter follows the same basic layout. Sticking to this format keeps your letter scannable and professional.
- Header: Your name, phone number, email address, and optionally your LinkedIn URL. Place these at the top, matching the style of your resume header if possible.
- Date and employer info: The date, followed by the hiring manager’s name (if you can find it), their title, and the company name and address.
- Salutation: “Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name]” is ideal. If you can’t find a name, “Dear Hiring Manager” works.
- Opening paragraph (2-3 sentences): Name the exact position you’re applying for. State why you’re excited about it and drop one compelling fact about your background that earns the reader’s attention.
- Body paragraph (4-6 sentences): This is the core. Connect your most relevant skills and accomplishments to what the job posting asks for. Use specific numbers or outcomes when you can.
- Closing paragraph (2-3 sentences): Reaffirm your interest, mention what you’d bring to the team, and express enthusiasm for the opportunity to discuss the role further.
- Sign-off: “Sincerely” or “Best regards,” followed by your name.
Full Cover Letter Example
Here’s what a complete cover letter looks like for a marketing coordinator position. Notice how each paragraph serves a distinct purpose.
Jane Doe
jane.doe@email.com | (555) 123-4567 | linkedin.com/in/janedoe
June 10, 2025
Michael Torres
Marketing Director
Greenfield Consumer Brands
200 Commerce Ave, Suite 400
Dear Mr. Torres,
I’m writing to apply for the Marketing Coordinator position at Greenfield Consumer Brands. Your team’s recent rebrand of the Evergreen product line caught my attention, and I’d love to contribute to campaigns that blend sustainability messaging with measurable growth.
In my two years as a marketing assistant at Bloom Media, I managed social media calendars across four client accounts and helped plan a product launch campaign that increased web traffic by 35% in its first month. I’m experienced with email marketing platforms, Google Analytics, and content scheduling tools, all of which your job posting highlights. I also collaborated regularly with designers and copywriters to keep campaigns on brand and on deadline, which taught me how to communicate clearly across teams.
I’m drawn to Greenfield’s mission-driven approach to consumer products, and I’m confident my combination of hands-on campaign experience and data-driven mindset would be a strong fit for your growing team. I’d welcome the chance to discuss how I can contribute. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
Why This Example Works
The opening names the exact role and shows the applicant has done research on the company. It doesn’t waste space on generic phrases like “I am writing to express my interest” without any specificity.
The body paragraph leads with a concrete accomplishment (35% traffic increase) and ties specific skills directly to what the job posting requested. This is the single most important technique in cover letter writing: match your experience to their needs, and prove it with results rather than vague claims like “I’m a hard worker.”
The closing is brief and forward-looking. It reinforces cultural fit (mission-driven approach) without overstaying its welcome. The entire letter runs just under 200 words, well within the recommended 300-word range that keeps hiring managers reading to the end.
How to Tailor It to Your Situation
If you’re early in your career, lean on coursework, internships, volunteer work, or transferable skills from part-time jobs. A student applying for an entry-level analyst role might highlight a class project where they cleaned and visualized a dataset, or a retail job where they tracked inventory metrics. The structure stays the same; the evidence just comes from different places.
If you’re changing careers, use the body paragraph to draw a line between your previous experience and the new field. A teacher moving into corporate training, for example, would emphasize curriculum design, presenting to groups, and adapting material for different learning styles. Focus on the skills that overlap rather than apologizing for the ones that don’t.
If you’re a senior professional, resist the urge to recap your entire career. Pick two or three accomplishments that directly match the role’s biggest priorities. A 15-year operations manager applying for a VP role doesn’t need to mention their first job. They need to show they’ve led teams, managed budgets, and delivered results at scale.
Formatting for Applicant Tracking Systems
Many companies route applications through software called an applicant tracking system (ATS) that scans your documents before a human ever sees them. To make sure your cover letter passes through cleanly, follow a few rules.
Keep the formatting simple. Avoid tables, columns, graphics, and decorative fonts. Stick to standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman in 10 to 12 point size. Save the file as a PDF to preserve the layout across different devices.
Pull keywords directly from the job posting. If the listing mentions “project management,” “cross-functional collaboration,” or a specific software tool, use that same language in your letter. A practical approach: look at three or four similar job postings, identify the terms that appear across all of them, and weave those phrases naturally into your sentences. Don’t stuff keywords awkwardly. The letter still needs to read well to the human who eventually opens it.
What to Leave Out
Don’t restate your resume line by line. The cover letter should complement your resume, not duplicate it. If your resume shows you worked at Company X from 2021 to 2023, your cover letter should explain what that experience taught you or how a particular project there prepared you for this new role.
Skip salary expectations unless the posting specifically asks for them. Leave out personal information like your age, marital status, or hobbies unless they’re directly relevant. And avoid generic filler. Phrases like “I am a team player with excellent communication skills” tell the reader nothing. Replace them with a brief story or result that demonstrates those qualities instead.