Sample Cover Letter for a Job

Whether you enjoy writing about yourself or put it off until the night before, many hiring managers still use your cover letter to judge how you write and how much you want the job. The key to a good one, then, is to answer the posting directly and to keep the letter short but full of detail. Detail is the hard part.

The example below answers a posting for a customer service team lead. Each paragraph has one job. The notes under the letter show how to swap in your own details and keep the parts that work for any posting.

What to Include

• The job title exactly as the posting writes it, and where you saw the posting.
• A sentence near the top that says why you fit, in terms of the job's main duty.
• Two examples from work, school or volunteering that match what the posting asks for, each with a result.
• Something that shows you know the employer, such as a product, a location or a line from the posting.
• A closing that asks for an interview and gives your phone number and email.
• A sign-off and your typed name, with your handwritten signature above it if you print the letter.

Sample Cover Letter

Cover letter template

Copy this outline into a blank document and replace every bracket with your own details. Delete the brackets as you go, then read the finished letter aloud once before you send it.

• [Your name] | [City, State ZIP] | [Phone] | [Email]
• [Date]
• [Hiring manager's name], [Title], [Company], [Street address], [City, State ZIP]
• Dear [Mr. or Ms. Last name],
• Opening: I'm applying for the [job title] position posted on [where you found it]. [One sentence on the strongest reason you fit, tied to the job's main duty.]
• Middle: Your posting asks for [a requirement]. At [employer], I [what you did], which [the result, with a number if you have one].
• Second example: You also mention [another requirement]. [A short account of a time you did it well.]
• Closing: I would welcome the chance to talk about [something from the job posting]. You can reach me at [phone] or [email]. Thank you for your time.
• Sincerely, [Your name]

How to adapt the sample

Follow the same pattern for any other job: a requirement from the posting, an example that proves you can meet it, and what happened as a result. If you do not have work experience that matches, you should also include class projects, volunteer work or a part-time job following the same pattern.

Change the employer detail every time. The line about the store's tents and stoves works for an outdoor retailer and would sound odd anywhere else, which is exactly why it helps: it shows the letter was written for them.

Sending it with your resume

A cover letter and resume travel together, so give them the same header, font and margins. Save each one as a PDF named with your name and the document type, such as Emily-Tran-Cover-Letter.pdf, unless the posting asks for a Word file.

Tips

• Read the posting with a highlighter, mark the things it asks for most and make sure your letter answers at least two of them.
• Keep each paragraph to three or four sentences so the whole letter fits on one page with white space around it.
• Use the hiring manager's name whenever you can find it. The posting, the company website or a quick call to the front desk will often turn it up.
• Numbers help an example stand out, so use them where you have them: wait times, sales, orders or people trained.
• Look over the finished letter on your phone or on paper before you send it. Typos you missed on a laptop screen tend to show up in a new format.
• Keep a copy of each letter with the posting it answered, so you can reread both before an interview.