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A cover letter that’s well written and tailored for the position you want to get is an essential part of any job application. A cover letter is expected by at least 10% of all recruiters in addition to a properly prepared resume. Make sure yours stands out perfectly for the role you’re seeking by using our professional examples below along with our cover letter builder.

An effective cover letter will need the following four key elements shown below

1. A formal greeting

Your first contact with the employer should be a formal one. You should address them as Mr/Mrs/Ms. for this initial interaction and state their name. If possible, avoid generic openers like “Dear Sir/Madam” or “to whom it may concern”.

2. A persuasive introduction

Use the first paragraph to introduce yourself as a candidate and to give a great first impression. Use this space to give quick reasons why you applied and would be the right choice for the precise job on offer.

3. Compelling paragraphs

This next part of the letter can be used to build a convincing argument as to why you’d be the right pick for the company. Use numerical evidence to support your case and make your achievements eye-grabbing.

4. Strong Final Impression

Finally, start moving the conversation towards the next stage of the job selection process. Encourage the recruiter to read your resume for further details and explain that you’re keen to meet in person as well as how you can be contacted.

Hiring Manager’s name

Company name

Company address

Date

Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms. [Hiring Manager Name]

I am contacting you to communicate my interest in the Administrative Assistant role being advertised by [company]. This role really caught my attention as I have a strong educational background and extensive experience in the office administration of medium-sized businesses. I think this knowledge and expertise could be highly valuable to [company].

During my 6 year career, I have assisted with a wide range of office administrative tasks using Microsoft Office and LibreOffice software. I have been responsible for maintaining and managing sensitive data at each and every step of the meeting organization from planning to the recording of minutes, as well as drafting critical communications.

In my current position, I was also tasked with optimizing the efficiency of our office supply buying, the results of which saved the company over $1,800 per quarter. I also enhanced my written skills greatly by assisting with the drafting and proofing of important executive correspondences.

I have enclosed my resume with this letter to provide further information about my career history so far. I hope that my credentials represent a good match for this role.

I’m very keen to learn more about the position and would be eager to organize a meeting to discuss it in more detail. In the meantime, I’d like to thank you for your consideration and to invite you to contact me at any time regarding the opportunity.

I can be reached every evening from 4 pm-8.30 pm via home phone or at any time with my email address listed below.

Sincerely,Name

AddressPhone numberEmail address

Create a compelling cover letter to get the attention of a recruiter. We’ll show you in the points below how it’s done and what to highlight when using our cover letter builder.

What should or shouldn’t be included in an effective document and what should a cover letter say? Let us briefly explain…

There’s more than one way to format and prepare a letter. Depending on the type of job you’re targeting and your level of experience you have several options to choose from.

Our example of a simple cover letter shows you how to start preparing a document that can be used if you have little-to-no professional experience but that also allows you to highlight your most employable features. It is an easy cover letter to create, which is useful when you are just starting your career.

Text Format

February 16th 2020

Dear Adrian,

I am writing to apply for the Customs Broker position at Geoplex Inc as posted on LinkedIn.com. I am a qualified and fully licensed broker, with over 4 years of experience and exemplary history of managing drilling machinery imports.

I was particularly interested in the position with Geoplex, as I share in the company values of growth and innovation. Working with Benson LLC, my current organization, I’ve overseen a 12% cut in costs, as well as ensuring the standards of compliance expected by the US CBP.

Furthermore, I’ve developed a reputation for coming up with exceptional solutions to problems. This has been an especially vital skill in my current role, especially when resolving any factors arising with clearance and deliveries.

I am eager to continue my upward trajectory in a new position and would relish the opportunity to make that happen with Geoplex Inc. Please find enclosed my resume, which provides additional detail on my skills and experience as well as my complete contact information.

Please feel free to reach out to me at your leisure via my personal number or email address. I look forward to speaking to you further regarding the position.

Sincerely,

Connie Barnes

Generally speaking, a simple cover letter allows you to convey a lot of information fast with little excess detail. It fits in all the required information that will help give you an edge over the competition, in a concise and focused manner.

As we can see in the adjacent cover letter example, the applicant focuses on a polite greeting, conveys all the contact details necessary, and uses the first paragraph to quickly outline their interest in the job and why they’d be suitable.

This allows you as the candidate to show that you have a genuine enthusiasm for applying, which will in turn interest the employer. You can then dedicate the rest of the initial opening to offering some tidbits of information that will further motivate the recruiter to keep reading.

In the next part of the document, our writer has added some key examples as to how they made the difference in their last job. They’ve demonstrated a little about the essential tasks they did and focused on the results they achieved in doing so.

To finish things off, they have reiterated their enthusiasm for the role available and have gradually started to draw the conversation towards the possibility of an interview. It also creates some interest in the resume (which will be a more detailed explanation of your professional experience).

As you can see, each part of the document takes the reader on a short journey from the reason for applying, to why you’d be the best candidate for the job, to finally angling towards the next steps of the process. By doing this while focusing on the job description this will provide the recruiter with exactly what they’ll need to see to pick you for an interview.

In our example of a professional cover letter, you’ll see how to start writing and organizing a document that can help take you to the next level of your career. If you’ve already got a few years of experience under your belt, learn how to use it to your advantage.

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Dear Patricia,

I wanted to make contact with you to register my interest in the Key Account Manager position with Rhino insurance that is advertised on LinkedIn. During my 8 years of working in insurance, Rhino is a company I’ve always admired and I think I could offer you the skills you’re looking for.

My goal is and always has been to get the maximum from my staff and create excellent relationships with high profile clients. That’s why over the last 4 years of working with Yannick Mutual I’ve overseen a 93% retention rate and helped to raise revenue by as much as 14%.

Great customer management is a skill that I know Rhino values highly and it is something I pride myself on also. Your 4.8-star customer satisfaction rating stands as a testament to your ability to respond properly to your client’s needs and I would love to bring my experience to help you achieve even better results.

I would be more than happy to talk in more depth on how I can help Rhino continue in its successes. Please contact me on 207-440-4475 if you would be interested in meeting for an interview.

Thank you for taking my application into consideration and I hope we can discuss the opportunity in more depth soon.

Sincerely,

Raquel Galaz

Professional cover letters will need to be more detailed than some other types like an entry-level or simple cover letter. However, conciseness is still key.

As we can see in this adjacent example the writer has started off as normal by detailing their contact information and formally greeting the recruiter. They then go on to make a short introduction of themself and start making a strong case for why they would be the right choice.

In the next section, they move onto explaining a little about the way they manage in their current job and illustrating where they brought results with specific instances as evidence. As a seasoned professional you’ll be expected to provide plenty of examples of how you made a difference in previous jobs and what you achieved.

To finish things off, the candidate added important elements of a good conclusion:

This detailed document covers a lot in just a few paragraphs, however, it strikes the right balance between essential information and brevity. It also functions well as it is specifically tailored to the type of profile that the recruiter is looking for.

When you’re starting out in your career or you’ve made a major change of industry you’re going to need an effective entry-level cover letter. Use our example to get your professional journey off on the right foot.

Text Format

Dear Paul,

I am writing to express my interest in the Structural Engineer position with Rode Engineering advertised on Glassdoor.com. Having recently completed my B.S. in Engineering from MIT in May 20XX, I would love to start my career with Rode and feel I would be a perfect fit for the role being offered.

You stated in your notice that you are looking for a candidate with superb communication skills, excellent focus, and who is a good team player. This is precisely what I would be able to bring to the position. During my time at MIT, I was an active member of the volleyball team, where interdependency, strategy, and quick decision-making were invaluable skills for success.

Additionally, over 2 summers, I interned with Humbert Energy for 6 months, working within their infrastructure team. This gave me a working knowledge of everyday engineering tasks as well as many more abilities such as spotting warn parts, serious flaws in a design, and necessary structural repairs.As you can see, my hands-on experience, my extracurricular activities, and my Engineering B.S. make me a great fit for the Structural Engineer role at Rode. I would be excited to discuss the position more in person.

Thank you very much for considering my application. Please feel free to contact me either on my phone number 412-721-6679 or my personal email to talk about the position at length. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Dan Gillard

Like all good covering letters, this example starts off by making a soft introduction and giving a little detail as to why the candidate could be a good fit for the role. However, unlike others, it immediately addresses the elephant in the room, namely the lack of professional experience.

Not only does it state the candidate’s enthusiasm for seeking the role but it also makes it clear that they are newly qualified. However, it still plays to the writer’s strengths by stating the qualification upfront which allows the recruiter to see that the candidate is fully trained for the job.

In the main body of this example letter, we can see that the applicant has focused entirely on addressing the job requirements point-by-point. They’ve brought specific examples of where their college education and time studying was put to good use and how this could apply to the sort of profile the recruiter is looking for.

This involves a mix of hard skills and soft skills, but it perfectly helps to make up for any lack of real-world professional experience. However, to make their case even stronger, they have been able to include details of an internship, which could help make the difference against the competition.

To finish everything off the writer has given a short prompt to reiterate why they would fit the desired profile well, in a quick conclusion. All that then needs to be added is a short paragraph giving the recruiter a call to action and hopefully instigate the next steps in the process.

Creative cover letters stray a little from the normal rules of job applications. Find out how to effectively create a document for a more artistic job that gets results and demonstrates your creativity.

Text Format

Dear David,

Fudge Digital is hiring and I am just the person you need. My name is Susan Taylor and I’m a seasoned and successful Digital Marketing Manager with more than 5 years of online marketing experience. Fudge is a business with a reputation for bringing together creativity and progress. Together, I think we’d make the perfect team.

I live and breathe life as a digital creative and in the last 5 years, it’s been my honor to be able to call myself a professional in this field. I make it my mission to create attractive and effective marketing assets that look great and sell better. In the last quarter, the digital assets my team and I brought to life have smashed their targets by over 30%.

My biggest guiding forces are communication and cooperation and I know that Fudge also appreciates these skills. I’ve been following your blog for a couple of years now and have always been impressed by the values of teamwork and inspiration that are woven into everything you do.

I was also totally blown away by your Award-winning video campaign. Hopefully, we’ll be able to work together to see that you retain the title next year.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my application. I am contactable by email every day or by landline Monday-to-Friday from 6 pm onwards. I hope we can meet soon to discuss how we can help Fudge reach even greater heights.

Yours truly,

Susan Taylor

In most cases, creative cover letters involve even more individuality than most and rely on standing out. Nevertheless, they still follow normal letter-writing conventions.

As you can see in our professional example, the writer still uses standard formality and letter structure. However, once they launch into their opening salvo they do so with a much more imaginative approach.

The letter opening still introduces the candidate and sells them a little as the perfect fit for the job. As you would normally expect, it also gives some detail about the motivations of the applicant.

The middle sections of this letter focus on building a complete picture of the candidate. It goes into detail whilst also adding more creative embellishments than you wouldn’t normally see in a simple or professional cover letter.

Our candidate, in this case, chooses to use specific examples that illustrate the success their work has brought in. In this case, exceeding commercial targets by double-digit percentages.

This writer also goes a step beyond and gives a lot more information about how the company itself got their attention and how both parties’ goals align. Again, they cite a specific example to strengthen their hand and to show they have done their research on the business.

The author of the letter then finishes off with a quick thank you for consideration and gives the recruiter some details on how to make contact. This leaves the reader with a positive final impression as well as the precise sort of information they need to move the process forward.

As we can see, creative documents are worded very differently to more conventional documents. However, even in these cases, it’s still essential to give as much evidence as possible on your working record, using numerical data where possible.

It isn’t always necessary to write a cover letter that fills an entire page. If you can manage to explain why you’re the best candidate for the position, your cover letter’s length does not need to be that long. Use the top 1 to 2 reasons you should be hired, and keep what you write relevant to the vacancy.

Text Format

Text Format

Dear Mr. James,

I’ve loved teaching and working with children and adolescents since I was a summer camp counselor in my junior year of high school.

I have over eight years of teaching experience at the middle school level, working with children that cover a wide range of learning skills. The state test scores of my students have collectively finished in the 95th percentile of all test takers in each of the past four years. Considering all of these factors, I believe I am the ideal candidate for the 7th and 8th-grade math teacher position at Woodlawn Middle School.

Please feel free to contact me at any time, I can be reached at 555-732-4198 or by email at [email protected]

Sincerely,Frederik Gorman

You might not think less is more when you are applying for a job vacancy. However, in this case, a short cover letter can be just as convincing as a long one. There are cover letters that last an entire page and list irrelevant information.

The purpose of a short cover letter is to get straight to the point. As we can see in the above short cover letter example, the applicant makes it clear right away that they are excited about the chance to fill the position

The body of the letter and the ending of the letter achieve several things:

Normal cover letters will go into further detail regarding the experience and skills the candidate possesses, however, this type of letter briefly yet effectively communicates the same information.

As well as offering guidance and some inspiration, cover letter examples can be useful tools in helping you learn how to highlight the most important information that employers will need to know about. When creating your cover letter, ResumeCoach’s examples can help with the following points:

1. Format

Learn the length you should use and the sections that you will need to include.

2. Keywords

Personalize your cover letter and find the keywords that work for your sector.

3. Choice of language

Get the level of formality right and make the text accessible for any recruiter.

4. Adaptability and speed

Complete and adapt your cover letter and resume for any job with our editor.

Discover our perfect cover letter examples and find out the best tips and advice to write an outstanding cover letter for your resume.

Last modified on January 18th, 2023