Job application cover letter

How to use it well

• →One proof, told properly, beats five claims listed — the résumé already carries the list; the letter's job is depth on the best item.
• →The "why them" sentence must fail the swap test: if another company's name fits it unchanged, rewrite it.
• →Keep it under a page and cut every sentence that describes you without evidence ("I am a passionate team player") — recruiters report these as skim-skips.

Part by part

{{why_them}}

Something specific to this employer, which is the sentence that proves the letter was not sent to forty companies. It is also the one most often generic.

{{proof}}

Evidence rather than assertion. A claim about being detail-oriented is unfalsifiable; a specific thing you did is checkable and memorable.

{{fit}}

Connects your evidence to their need, which is the step readers otherwise have to make themselves — and frequently do not.

what the first six months in this role should deliver

Closes on the job rather than on gratitude. It signals you are thinking about the work, which most closings do not.

Common mistakes

• I am writing to express my interest in this position.

  The most common opening line in existence, and it says nothing. The first sentence is the one with the highest chance of being read, and it should carry something specific.

• Restating the CV in prose.

  The reader has the CV. A cover letter earns its place by supplying what the CV cannot — why this employer, and why the pattern of your experience fits this role.

• Adjectives without evidence.

  Passionate, detail-oriented and results-driven appear on almost every application, so they carry no signal. One specific thing you did outperforms every adjective available.

Questions