How to Write a Cover Letter That Actually Gets Read (2026 Guide)

Your CV is ready, the advert is open in another tab, and the application asks for a cover letter. Most people stall on the first line. So this page starts there, then shows a complete letter, then covers length, sign-off and using AI.

How to open a cover letter

First sentence: say which job you are applying for and where you saw it, with the reference number if there is one. Second sentence: give the single strongest fact about you that matches the main requirement in the advert.

The first half is not optional. Both the National Careers Service and Prospects tell you to state the position and where it was advertised. Someone screening several vacancies needs to know which pile you belong in. Where most letters go wrong is stopping there. "I am writing to apply for the post of Operations Coordinator, as advertised on your website" is correct, and it tells the reader nothing about you. Put the match in the same paragraph, while they are still reading closely.

Other situations change the order:

• Someone referred you: their name goes in the first sentence, because it is why the reader should take notice.
• There is no vacancy: the National Careers Service says to tell the employer what sort of job you are looking for. That replaces the job title in the first sentence.
• You are changing career: the second sentence should name the skill that carries over, not apologise for the change.

For full letters by job type and situation, see cover letter examples. For students, see the internship cover letter guide.

A complete example letter

This is a worked example. The applicant, the employer and the role are fictional. Sam Okafor is applying for an Operations Coordinator job at a housing association. The advert names the head of housing services, asks for experience of scheduling repairs and handling tenant complaints, and mentions a new repairs IT system going live next year.

Sam Okafor
Bristol
[email protected] | 07700 900987

15 September 2026

Ms Helen Price
Head of Housing Services
Marlow Street Housing Trust

Dear Ms Price,

Operations Coordinator (ref OC-2291)

I am applying for the Operations Coordinator role advertised on the Trust's website. For the past three years I have scheduled repairs for 1,400 rented homes at a Bristol lettings agency, which is the work your advert puts first.

I book around 90 repair jobs a week across eight contractors, and I am the first point of contact when a tenant complains about a delay. Last year I introduced a same-day text to tenants whenever a contractor rescheduled. Complaints about missed appointments went from 41 in the first quarter to 12 in the fourth, and our tenant satisfaction score for repairs rose from 71% to 84%.

Your advert says the Trust is moving to a new repairs management system next year. I was one of two staff who tested our current system before launch, and I wrote the booking guide the rest of the team still uses. I would like to do the same work for a social landlord, where getting a repair right matters more to the people waiting for it.

My CV is attached, with more detail on my contractor management. I am available for interview on any day except 29 September, and my notice period is one month. Thank you for considering my application.

Yours sincerely,

Sam Okafor

Why each paragraph is there

• Opening: job, source and reference in one sentence, then the match. The phrase "the work your advert puts first" shows Sam read the advert, without praising the employer.
• Evidence: one example, with the scale (90 jobs, eight contractors) and a before-and-after result. The CV can list the job title. Only the letter can tell the story of the text-message change.
• Why this employer: it picks up a specific fact from the advert, the new system, and answers it with relevant experience. The reason for wanting a social landlord is one sentence, not a paragraph about values.
• Close: it points to the CV, gives the dates Sam cannot attend and the notice period, and thanks the reader. Prospects suggests the closing paragraph is the place to mention dates you are unavailable. The National Careers Service suggests thanking the employer and saying how to contact you.
• Sign-off: "Yours sincerely", because the letter opens with a name.

The letter is about 270 words. Nothing in it repeats a line of the CV word for word.

Length, layout and sign-off

Length. The National Careers Service describes a cover letter as usually 3 to 5 paragraphs. Prospects gives the same range and says it should not exceed one A4 page. Within that, I aim for 250 to 350 words. That is room for one strong example told properly, which persuades more than three examples squeezed in.

Layout. Use the same font and size as your CV. Both guides recommend this, and it makes the two documents look like they belong together. Put your name and contact details at the top, then the date, then the recipient. Skip columns, colour blocks and logos.

Who to address. Find a name. The National Careers Service suggests checking the company website for the head of the department, the head of HR or a recruitment manager. Prospects says it is fine to phone the organisation and ask. If you still have nothing, I would write "Dear Hiring Manager" rather than "Dear Sir or Madam". It says the same thing without sounding like a form letter from another decade.

Sign-off. This is the UK convention both guides spell out: "Yours sincerely" after a named greeting, and "Yours faithfully" after a general one such as "Dear Sir or Madam".

File and format. Save it as a PDF unless the advert asks for Word, as Prospects recommends. When you apply by email, the letter goes in the body of the email. The guide to job application emails covers that version, including the subject line.

What to leave out

• A retelling of your CV. Prospects' wording is that the letter should complement the CV, not duplicate it. Pick one or two things from the CV and give the context the CV has no space for.
• Salary. Prospects says to mention current or expected salary only if the employer has asked. If they have, it suggests putting it between the third and last paragraphs.
• Self-descriptions. "Highly motivated", "a great fit", "a team player". The example either shows these or the claim does not help.
• Apologies for what you lack. Prospects advises replacing "although I don't have experience in…" with what your experience has given you. The letter above never mentions that Sam has not worked for a housing association.

Writing it for this job, not the last one

The National Careers Service says to write a new cover letter for every job, and to match the keywords the employer uses in the advert. In practice that means you keep the layout and your contact block, and write the body fresh each time. Start by reading the advert and marking the requirement it lists first, plus one thing the employer says it is changing or starting. Those two marks become your opening match and your "why this employer" paragraph.

Use the advert's own words where they are true of you. If it says "contractor management", write that, not "supplier liaison". If the application goes through an applicant tracking system, that also helps anyone searching the applications. The same reading of the advert drives tailoring your CV to the job description, so do both at once.

Some UK applications do not want a separate letter. Civil Service applications, for example, ask for a personal statement, and that statement does the cover letter's job. See the Civil Service personal statement guide.

Using AI on a cover letter

UK guidance draws the line in the same place. Prospects' guide to job applications says you can use AI to improve formatting, grammar and keyword use, and to tailor an application to a job description. It also says not to copy generic AI responses without editing them, not to use AI to fabricate skills or experience, and to be mindful of confidentiality when uploading documents. Civil Service Careers is more explicit. Refining your ideas and checking spelling, grammar and clarity are acceptable. Inflating or inventing experience, and creating generic responses to copy into an application, are not. It says it may reject applications where AI is used inappropriately.

The order I would work in, with any tool:

1. Write down the facts yourself first. The requirement you are matching, your example with its numbers, and the specific thing about this employer. A tool cannot supply these, and if you ask it to, it will make them up.
2. Write a rough draft in the four-part shape above. Clumsy is fine.
3. Then ask for narrow edits. For example: cut the draft to 300 words without removing any number or name; point out any sentence that could appear in any applicant's letter; check the letter uses the advert's wording for the main requirement.
4. Check every claim in the result against your CV. Delete anything you could not explain in an interview.

Leave your address and phone number out of what you paste into a chatbot. Add them to the final letter yourself. And delete these phrases wherever a draft produces them, because they could sit in anyone's letter:

Applying in Germany or Switzerland

A German or Swiss application letter (Anschreiben or Motivationsschreiben) follows more formal conventions than a UK letter, and it sits inside a full application file. The guides to finding a job in Germany as a foreigner and applying for jobs in Switzerland cover what changes.

Frequently Asked Questions