Reading time: five minutes

Let’s be honest, most people hate writing cover letters. They stare at the blinking cursor, wonder how to magically sell themselves and end up either writing a stiff, robotic essay – or a copy-and-paste template that sounds like it came straight from a 1998 careers handbook. However, here’s the thing – when done right, a cover letter is one of the few places in the job hunt where you get to sound like an actual human being instead of a list of bullet-point achievements.

A cover letter is really just a personal introduction with a mission – to persuade someone that you’re worth calling in for an interview. It doesn’t repeat your CV and it also doesn’t need your life story. It’s the space where you show your personality, your motivation and why you’d fit the organisation better than the next stack of CVs sitting in the recruiter’s inbox.

Most organisations expect one, even in the rare cases where it’s ‘optional’, skipping it’s practically throwing away an opportunity to stand out.

A good cover letter feels like a short conversation, not an essay exam. Think of it as the confident handshake before the interview, the ‘here’s who I am, and here’s why you’ll want me on your team’ moment that your CV can’t quite capture. The structure varies from person to person, but the strongest ones all do the same things including:

• telling a clear story;
• showing genuine interest in the role; and
• connecting your experience to what the employer actually needs.

The tone of the cover letter matters more than people realise. The goal isn’t to sound like a Victorian legal document, it’s to be professional without being painfully formal. Short, direct sentences read better than academic paragraphs filled with unnecessary jargon. If you study somewhere that uses terms nobody outside your university understands, translate them. For example, recruiters don’t know what ‘prelims’ are, call them ‘first-year exams’ and move on.

Most hiring managers want one page – think of it as a tight pitch. One A4 sheet, broken into focused paragraphs. Anything longer feels like you’re padding, anything shorter can feel rushed. However, always follow the instructions if the employer gives you specifics, some sectors are picky.

Your opening should simply explain who you are and why you’re writing. Nothing dramatic. If you’re responding to an advert, mention where you saw it. In a couple of lines, introduce yourself the same way you’d at the start of a professional conversation: clear, calm, and confident.

Then comes the part so many job-seekers botch – the ‘why this job?’ paragraph. This is where you show the employer you actually know who they’re, beyond a quick skim of their homepage or a template comment about ‘your values’ or ‘your industry leadership’. Really spell out what hooked you. Maybe it’s work they’ve published, a conversation you had with one of their employees, something interesting from a seminar or industry report, or a project they’re known for. Recruiters can smell mass-sent letters immediately, showing that you’ve done real research is one of the easiest ways to stand out.

Next, it’s all about ‘why you?. This is the core of your pitch, where you pull out three to five of your strongest, most relevant skills or experiences that directly match the job description. Don’t assume the recruiter will connect the dots for you, make the links obvious. If the job calls for analytical thinking, negotiation, leadership or problem-solving, give an example that illustrates that specific skill in action. Proof always beats vague claims. Anyone can write ‘I’m proactive’, but only you can explain the time you solved a difficult customer problem on a tight deadline or led a project that actually made a measurable difference.

The conclusion should be polite, warm and forward-looking. Re-state your interest in the role and express that you hope to discuss the application further. Use “Yours sincerely” when you have a name and “Yours faithfully” when you don’t.

Before sending your letter, always proofread it, ideally more than once. Then have someone else also take a look – most people are blind to their own typos. Check for awkward sentences, repetition or any section that feels overstuffed. Ask yourself: does this say exactly what I want it to say? Is anything confusing? Does this sound like me or does it sound like a textbook?

Also, please don’t start every sentence with ‘I’. It’s the cover-letter equivalent of wearing a name tag that says “hello, I’m repetitive”. Mix your sentence structure, shift the focus and keep the flow dynamic.

Every cover letter should be different and if you can change the company’s name and the letter still makes sense, it’s not tailored enough. Recruiters want to feel you’re genuinely interested in them tailoring shows effort and effort stands out.

Avoid overly formal or overly casual greetings. If you’re addressing the letter, try to find a real name. Look at the job advert, check LinkedIn, scan the company website and if you’re still stuck, you can call the company and ask who applications should be addressed to. If all else fails, “dear hiring manager” works.

Finally, save your cover letter as a PDF unless the employer says otherwise. It guarantees your formatting will look the same on any computer. If you’re emailing the letter, many recruiters prefer the text in the email body instead of as an attachment; it reduces the risk of your message getting buried or flagged as spam.

Writing a good cover letter isn’t easy, but it becomes much more manageable when you stop trying to sound like a corporate robot and start writing like a thoughtful, motivated professional. It’s your moment to connect, show why this role matters to you, why you’re ready for it and what makes you stand out in a sea of applicants.

Give yourself time, rewrite as many times as you need, and trust that your own experience and voice are more compelling than any template.