How to Write a Cover Letter: 6 Steps and an Annotated Example

A good cover letter is one page, addressed to a named person, and shows in three or four short paragraphs why you fit this job. Read the ad, open with your strongest match, prove it with one concrete result, explain why this employer, and end by asking for a conversation. Below: six steps, a full graduate sample, UK, US and India notes, and a mistakes table.

What a cover letter is for

A cover letter is a short letter that goes with your CV or resume and answers one question for the reader: why should we talk to this person about this job? Your CV lists what you have done. The letter connects a few of those things to what this employer needs.

The rules that matter most are simple.

• Keep it to one page, roughly 250 to 400 words.
• Write it for one job. A letter that could be sent to any employer will read that way.
• Lead with fit, not with your life story.
• Prove at least one claim with something specific, such as a number, a project or a result.

If the application form says a letter is optional, send one anyway when you can make it specific. If the ad says "no cover letter", do not send one.

Cover letter, covering letter, motivation letter: the same thing?

Mostly, yes. The name changes by country, and so do a few conventions.

Whichever name applies, the six steps below work.

Step 1: Read the job ad like a checklist

Before you write a word, open the ad and mark three things.

1. The must-haves. Skills and experience repeated or listed first, such as "stakeholder reporting", "Python" or "customer-facing".
2. The problem behind the job. Why is this role open? A new product, a backlog, a growing team? Ads usually hint at it in the first paragraph.
3. The employer's own words. If they say "clients" and not "customers", use "clients".

Now pick the two or three must-haves you can honestly prove. Those become your paragraphs. Do not try to cover every line of the ad; a letter that does reads like a second CV.

Step 2: Find a real name to address

"Dear Hiring Manager" works when nothing else is available, but a name is better. Check the job ad, the company's team page and the recruiter's signature. If you only find a department, "Dear Marketing Team" is fine.

• With a name: "Dear Ms Okafor," or "Dear Daniel Reyes," when you cannot tell the title.
• Without a name: "Dear Hiring Manager,"
• Avoid "To whom it may concern" for a job application. It sounds like a form letter.

In the UK, Australia and India, match the closing to the greeting: Yours sincerely after a name, Yours faithfully after "Dear Sir or Madam". In the US, "Sincerely" or "Best regards" is standard either way. Our guide to how to end an email covers the same sign-offs for email.

Step 3: Open with a hook that is about them and you

The first two sentences decide whether the reader continues. Say which job you want and give your strongest reason in one breath.

A weak opening:

I am writing to apply for the Marketing Assistant position that I saw advertised on your website. I am a hard-working and motivated graduate.

A stronger opening:

I am applying for the Marketing Assistant role at Brightleaf Foods. Last year I grew a student society's newsletter from 300 to 900 subscribers using the same segmented-email approach your team describes in the job ad.

Why the second works: it names the job and the company, it contains a result, and it ties that result to something in the ad. The numbers in that sample are invented for illustration. Use only figures that are true for you.

Other opening patterns that work:

• The shared interest: a specific product, project or article of theirs and what it made you want to do.
• The referral: "Priya Nair on your analytics team suggested I apply." Only if she did.
• The direct match: "Your ad asks for someone who can write for non-specialists. I spent two years explaining lab results to patients."

Skip openings that say you "saw the job on a site" and nothing else, or that start with a quotation about passion.

Step 4: Prove fit in the body, with one measurable result

This is the part most letters get wrong. Adjectives such as "dedicated", "detail-oriented" and "team player" cost the reader time and prove nothing. Show the trait through something that happened.

A simple formula for a body paragraph: requirement, what you did, what changed.

Adjective version:

I am a detail-oriented person with excellent organisational skills and I work well under pressure.

Evidence version:

The ad asks for someone who can keep several deadlines moving at once. As events coordinator for my university's careers fair, I ran the schedule for 40 employer stalls across two days, moved six sessions when a speaker cancelled, and finished with no overlap complaints from exhibitors.

The second paragraph is longer, but each clause can be checked in an interview. Aim for one such paragraph per must-have, and keep each to three or four sentences.

If you have little paid experience, use what you do have: coursework, a capstone project, volunteering, a part-time job, a society role. A graduate cashier who "reduced till discrepancies by checking totals at every handover" has shown care with money.

Do not invent a number. If you cannot measure the result, describe it plainly: "my handbook was adopted for all new volunteers the next year" is better than a made-up percentage.

Step 5: Say why this employer

One short paragraph on why you want to work there, not just anywhere. Use something you can find on their site or in public coverage: a product, a stated value, a project, a customer group. Then say how your background connects.

I am particularly drawn to Brightleaf's move into school catering. My placement year at a local council's school meals team showed me how hard it is to balance nutrition rules, budgets and what children will eat, and I would like to work on that problem full time.

If you cannot say anything specific, you have not researched enough yet. Spend ten minutes on the company's "About" and news pages.

Step 6: Close with a call to action

End by saying what you want next, politely and without pleading.

• "I would welcome the chance to talk through how my newsletter work could support your spring campaigns."
• "I have attached my CV and a short portfolio link, and I am available for an interview from any date after 14 December."
• Avoid: "I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience" and "Thank you for your time and consideration" as the only line. A thank-you is fine, but pair it with a next step.

Then sign off, type your name, and add your phone number and email if they are not in the letterhead.

A full annotated sample for a graduate role

Imagine Maya Okonkwo, a recent economics graduate applying for a Junior Data Analyst role at a retail company. This is a model, not a template to copy: every fact in it is made up, and yours must come from your own life.

Maya Okonkwo 14 Elm Road, Leeds LS6 1AB · maya.okonkwo@example.com · 07700 900123

3 November 2026

Ms Helen Carter Head of Analytics, Northgate Retail

Dear Ms Carter,

[1. Role and strongest match] I am applying for the Junior Data Analyst role at Northgate Retail. Your ad asks for someone who can turn sales data into clear recommendations; my dissertation did exactly that with two years of supermarket loyalty-card data.

[2. Proof, requirement then result] For the dissertation I cleaned 1.2 million transaction rows in Python and SQL, built a model of which promotions changed basket size, and presented the findings to a panel of three lecturers who were not statisticians. I wrote the summary on one page with two charts, and my supervisor used it as an example for the next cohort.

[3. Second requirement] You also ask for experience with dashboards. In my summer internship at a charity, I rebuilt a monthly donations report in Power BI, replacing four spreadsheets that were emailed around. The finance lead began opening the dashboard in her weekly meeting.

[4. Why this employer] I am drawn to Northgate because your stores range from city-centre branches to small-town shops, which makes the data far more varied than a single-format chain. I would like to learn how you handle that variety.

[5. Call to action] I have attached my CV and would be glad to walk you through my dissertation analysis in an interview. I am available from any date after 1 December.

Yours sincerely, Maya Okonkwo

What makes it work:

• Four short paragraphs, under 300 words. Each has one job.
• Every paragraph repeats the employer's own requirement before giving evidence.
• Results are concrete but modest. There is no claim that cannot be checked.
• The closing offers a specific next step and a date range.

For a US version, change the date to "November 3, 2026", use American spelling (organization, program), drop "Ms" punctuation to "Ms." and close with "Sincerely,". For an Indian campus placement, add your degree, branch, college and graduation year in the first line and keep the letter to around 200 words if the portal limits length.

How the same letter changes by country

• US: Direct and confident. Short sentences, active verbs, results first. Dates in month-day-year order.
• UK: Slightly more restrained. Avoid superlatives such as "extremely passionate". Day-month-year dates and British spelling (organisation, programme). Many employers read the letter against the person specification, so mirror its headings.
• Australia: Often a response to selection criteria. Give each criterion a short heading and a worked example.
• India: Include degree, specialisation, college and expected or actual graduation year early. Mention relevant internships and certifications briefly. Formal but not flowery language reads best.

None of these conventions is a law. If the employer gives instructions, follow them over any guide.

Cover letter mistakes and fixes

Formatting checklist

• One page, with 10.5 to 12 point text in a standard font
• Your contact details, the date, the employer's name and company at the top
• Left-aligned text, short paragraphs, no more than four
• Saved as a PDF unless the employer asks for a Word file, with a clear file name such as "Okonkwo_CoverLetter_NorthgateRetail"
• The same header style as your CV so the two look like a pair
• Spelling variant that matches the country: US, UK or Australian

Using AdeptWrite to draft and polish

AdeptWrite has a free Cover Letter Generator that builds a first draft from a form: the position, the company, your experience, your skills and any extra detail, with modes for recent graduates, experienced applicants, internships, a standard letter and a formal one. Treat the result as a draft. It is generated text, so you must replace anything generic with your own specifics, check every fact, and make sure it does not claim anything you have not done. Free runs take up to 6,000 characters, which is far more than a one-page letter needs.

A sensible workflow:

1. Gather your evidence first: two or three results from your CV, matched to the ad.
2. Generate a draft in the Cover Letter Generator and keep only what is true and specific.
3. Rewrite the opening and the employer paragraph in your own voice.
4. Run the final text through the Grammar Checker and the Spell Checker, choosing American or British English to match the employer.
5. If a paragraph sounds too stiff or too casual, use the Tone Changer to try a different register, then edit by hand.

For the short email that carries your attachment, the Email & Letter Writer has a Job application mode. Our notes on CV versus resume and how to write a resume will help you make the document the letter sits beside.

Final check before you send

1. Does the first sentence name the job and a reason you fit?
2. Is each claim backed by something that happened?
3. Could you explain every line in an interview?
4. Is the company's name, and the contact's name, spelled correctly?
5. Is it one page and free of typos?

If the answers are yes, send it.

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