Writing a smart cover letter can get your foot in the door, even if you have a weak resume. This guide will help you to write the best cover letter possible.

Remember, your cover letter is just a piece of the application process — you will also need to learn how to write a resume persuasively. Or you can use our HR-approved software to make a resume in minutes.

Table of Contents

Don’t forget to double check! Be sure to use our Cover Letter Checklist to easily find out what you may be missing on your cover letter. It is free to download.

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Cover Letter Samples by Industry

Cover Letter Format & Writing How-To Guide

This is a very simply written guide — follow it, and you will land interviews faster.

Mini Table of Contents:

A cover letter is a one page document that you send with your resume when applying for a job. It is meant to:

Introduce yourself to the hiring manager
Argue why you’d be a good fit for the job
Fill in places your resume cannot describe
Further explain other aspects of your resume

By hitting those 4 aspects, a cover letter can be a convincing and powerful companion to a well-written resume.

RG TIP

No spelling or grammar errors! This one really goes without saying. Spelling mistakes make an awful first impression.

Cover Letter Content Format Guide: 4 Steps

1. Contact Information

To begin your cover letter, include both the employer’s and your contact information. See the example below:

Cover-Letter-Contact-Information

While the example above demonstrates the information you need to include in the section, there are various ways to format it. Check out the cover letter templates below to get more ideas on how you can structure this section.

2. Introduction

Find out to whom you’re writing

Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes for a second. Would you like to be addressed as “Dear Sir or Madame?” or “To whom it may concern?”

“Dear Sir or Madame” makes you sound like you’re from the year 1865, and “to whom it may concern” is very irritating to hiring managers.

You can easily avoid this problem by doing your research. Look through the company’s website, LinkedIn, or even give the company a call to ask for the hiring manager’s name. Even if you get it wrong, it still looks like you’ve made an effort.

Introduce yourself

In the first paragraph of your cover letter, begin by telling the employer the position you are applying for and how you learned about the opportunity.

The rest of this paragraph should briefly present basic info about yourself, including: degree, area of study/expertise, and your career goals in terms of how they align with the goals of the company.

3. Sell Yourself

The second paragraph should respond directly to the job description written by the hiring manager. Describe how your previous job experiences, skills, and abilities will allow you to meet the company’s needs. To make that easier, you can (and should) literally include words and phrases from the job description in your cover letter.

RG TIP

No bombast! The rule of thumb is that you’re allowed to be as boastful as you want – so long as you have the evidence to back it up!

To go the extra mile, do some research about the company, and try to find out what they are doing — and why — given the current state of their industry. In a third paragraph, explain how you can fit into that schema, and help push the company forward and achieve any goals you suspect they may have.

4. Conclusion

The final paragraph is called the “call to action” portion of your cover letter. Inform them that you’d love to get interviewed. Tell them that you’ll be in contact with them in a week if you don’t hear back. Thank them for spending the time to read your cover letter.

Cover Letter Page Format Guide: 4 Steps

Aside from the content on the page, the actual look and feel of the document is also an important aspect of the cover letter. Elements such as margins, font size and style, and alignment all factor in to the hiring manager’s overall impression of you.

Here are a few quick tips when styling your cover letter:

1” – 1.5” margins are always a safe bet. If you having trouble fitting everything on one page there is some wiggle room, but be careful not to make the content look crammed together
Don’t go below a 12-point font unless absolutely necessary. Anything below 12 can strain the eyes.
Font style is really a matter of preference. Try to choose one that looks professional or that matches what the employer uses on their website. Keep in mind that different styles will change the size of the font.
Maintain a uniform alignment throughout your cover letter. We suggest keeping all paragraphs left-aligned.