Create personalized cover letters for every job in minutes, not hours.
A cover letter is overrated….said no HR person ever.
On the contrary, most treat a cover letter as a powerful add-on to a resume. Yes, even if it’s marked as *optional*.
Candidates who bother to write a cover letter (vs those who don’t) instantly appear more motivated and professional. Moreover, they establish a better rapport with the hiring authorities before even walking through the door.
Why? Because a cover letter gives you an opportunity to contextualize the qualifications and competencies you’re bringing up on your resume. Remember: You’re competing against other qualified people with very similar skill sets. A cover letter gives you an opportunity to show how you’re using your expertise in real-world settings, plus talk a bit further about your soft skills and passion for the selected profession.
When combined with a resume, your cover letter helps the employer get a wholesome picture of you as a candidate — and ring you up for a job interview.
If you’re tired of browsing generic cover letters which are clearly out of touch with the modern reality of work, you’ve landed at the right place. Freesumes runs an up-to-date database of sample cover letters, created and vetted by certified writers and HR experts.
A compelling cover letter for a first job is as important as your resume. Learn how to talk your way into getting that job when you lack extensive work experience.
Academia and education favor good writing. Use our samples as prompts to build a strong case of why you’d make a strong addition to the faculty.
Put your emotional intelligence and well-rounded people skills upfront. Healthcare is a sector where hard and soft skills are equally valued.
Orchestrate a memorable first impression with a cover letter that shows how perfectly you’d fit into any position requiring strong organizational and (self)-management skills.
Use real-life cover letter examples to showcase your technical skills and a bit of personality to impress potential employers and score some of the highest-paid jobs.
Make your personality stand out through writing by applying the tips we share alongside every sample cover letter for people-facing jobs.
Be a standout applicant by giving yourself the best promo. Our cover letter examples teach you how to present your creative abilities in the best light.
Compelling cover letters – the one HR folks exchange with one another – have one thing in common: they follow the same structure and layout.
That’s the first thing you need to master. You have just one shot to impress the same employer and you don’t want to lower your chance by making some basic mistakes in formatting. So let’s take a closer look at the anatomy of successful cover letters.
Header section: This one should take approximately 1/5th of your page and include your name and current position, e.g. Jane Smith, Chief Accountant. You can also add your headshot at the top left corner if you prefer (as an example above) to make your letter more personal. List your contact information just under your name and title.
Opening section: This one should be formal. Add a date and type the full address of your employer in the following format:
To Name
Title
Company
Address
City, State Zip Code
This should be single-spaced and left justified. If you don’t know the full employer’s information, you can skip this. Though it’s advised to research those details in advance – this will show that you did your “homework” and didn’t just file some generic letters to a dozen companies in your industry.
Salutation: As a rule of thumb, you should use the formal “Dear, [Mr/Ms Surname]”. Though if you are applying to some hip, modern company you can replace the old-fashioned “dear”, with a simple “Good day” or “Hello” or just “[Name Surname]” combo.
Opening paragraph: This one’s pretty standard as well: state what position you are applying for, how you heard about the opening and why you are a solid candidate. You can make the last statement more attention-grabbing to entice the recipient to read on.
Body of your letter: This can take up to 2-3 paragraphs. Use the space to explain what makes you the perfect match for the announced position:
The second body paragraph should speak about why the company is the perfect match for you:
“Remember CPR (CHALLENGE – PROCESS – RESULTS)! In your cover letter, it is important to demonstrate your exponential value by incorporating strong examples of opportunities where you were presented with a challenge, your process to implement a solution, and the overall results.”
Career Consultant, CPCC, CPRW
Colorado, United States
Closing paragraph: Wrap up your pitch, thank the employer for considering you and include a call-to-action. Check our previous post for more tips on how to close a cover letter with a bang.
Formal closure: Bade your goodbyes with a “Kind regards, [Your Name Surname] ”. If you are sending your cover letter the old-fashioned way by mail, you should also add a handwritten signature after that.
“Use a cover letter to introduce yourself, tell the hiring manager who you are, what you are looking for in your next career opportunity, how this job fits in with your career goals and explain why or how you can bring value to the company by highlighting your key skills which are aligned to the job description.”
HR Consultant
London, United Kingdom
For when your goal is to get that coveted position in a Fortune-500 corporate company or it’s smaller sized counterpart with equally big love for formalities, stick with a very formal, utterly professional cover letter.
This style works best for positions in big business, finance, law, government, retail, and education.
Dear Mr Thompson, I’m writing in response to the position of a Senior Associate Attorney in Divorce Law Firm, advertised on LawCrossing.com. Enclosed you will find my CV.
As an Associate Attorney at FirmX, I was effectively handling probate administration, estate planning and guardianship cases for the past five years. I successfully won 90% of trials for my clients and negotiated favorable settlement agreements on behalf of my clients.
As a former Court Facilitator, Guardian Ad Litem in the state of Colorado, I also possess deep knowledge in family, juvenile and criminal law. My background in court has prepared me for serving to the clients with great compassion and integrity. My colleagues and bosses have noted on my exceptional negotiation skills, as well as great attention to details, discretion and analytical skills.
In 2015, I have re-joined by former alma mater (the University of Northern Colorado) as a part-time Adjunct Professor. I know that your Big Law Firm is well vested in promoting intellectual vigor among younger staff and future employees through mentorship programs, and I would be honored to join in as a mentor if given a chance.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my candidacy and I would welcome the chance to have an in-person discussion with you concerning my application.
Yours sincerely,
Daniela Baker
Did you know that around 80% of jobs are never advertised publicly? And yet, they are still getting filled in by the savvy candidates. The “Hidden Job Market” isn’t as mythical as Atlántida – it has been effectively thriving since the 1990s.
“Hidden job market” encompasses all the opportunities filled in through employee referral programs, networking and speculative applications. Tapping into this cloaked area of job search means that you won’t rub with as many elbows as when applying for publicly advertised openings.
And here are your tips for finding those hidden opportunities:
Here’s a sample speculative cover letter you can file along with your application. Depending on the company/industry, such letters can vary in the degree of formality. This sample cover letter is modeled for a modern tech company.
Dear ‘Company Name’ IT Team,
I’ve read on your corporate blog that you have recently completed your migration to a microservices architecture (congrats!).
I believe that you may be now in need of experienced DevOps engineers to help you orchestrate your systems and fine-tune the continuous deployment pipeline. That’s why I am reaching out to propose my candidacy.
In my current role as Remote DevOps Engineer in e-commerce company XXX, I have managed to accomplish the following:
I have a strong familiarity with the following tools and technologies:
I’m also flexible to pick up new skills and eager to collaborate with others on your teams. I’m deeply impressed with how you managed remote work at your organization and foster collaboration within a globally distributed team.
Enclosing my CV for your consideration as well.
Regards,
Dan Bloome
In some industries, being incredibly formal can work against you. Most startups or creative agencies will find the standard cover letter a tad bit too snotty and personality-less. Even the traditional companies have a soft spot for unusual applications.
The viral cover letter example below has recently landed a great internship with a very prestigious Wall Street firm:
The applicant was brutally honest instead of being painfully polite and superficially flattering.
Want to pull a similar stunt? Here’s a less non-conformist, but equally engaging and creative cover letter example. But do proceed with caution! Such letters may not work every time, with every employer.
Dear [Name Surname],
I think words are boring.
Puzzled to hear that from a copywriter?Well, words alone are boring.
When you just paste some random words to your landing page – no one’s buying from you. No one’s even listening to you. And that’s a bad thing for business (#obvious).
I know how to find the words that will stop your customers right there on the spot, make them scroll back, rub their eye…and reach for their credit card.
So hi, I’m James, a conversion copywriter.
I might have spoken to you earlier. If you browsed SaaS Company website or read CoolCompany blog the other day, that was all me, watching you from the other side of the screen.
I also did some okay writing for the following companies:
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I don’t just write. I also talk – to your customers, your team and (sometimes in my sleep) – to capture that “special something” that makes everyone tick about your product. I also have a deep love for numbers and get way too excited by heatmaps (my girlfriend’s not thrilled, so please don’t tell her I mentioned this!).
So what do you say? Shall we talk about how I can help your brand develop that new unique voice and drive more sales through data-backed copy?
Regards,
James Knight
P.S. I noticed one major gap on your Service Page Name. Doing a few quick improvements (copy- and design-wise) can increase your conversions by 10-15%.
No matter which format you choose to use, it’s alright to be flexible. Don’t follow the same structure or layout to the last T. Remove paragraphs as needed, experiment with different degrees of formality and don’t forget to customize each letter for each job you are applying for. Hiring managers can sense a generic cover letter a mile away. So you definitely do not want to eschew your chance for landing a job by forgetting to change something as basic as the company name or address!