Create a Professional Cover Letter with Our Cover Letter Builder

The general purpose of a cover letter is to convince a hiring manager or recruiter that you are the best candidate for a job. Going beyond that, a cover letter is a great way to introduce yourself and provide additional information that could not fit into a traditional single-page resume. It serves as a primer for your job interview and can help you make a quality connection with a potential employer.

Your cover letter should cover basic information, including your contact information, why you are applying for the job in question, and what makes you the best candidate. But a really good cover also expresses why you’re excited about the job opportunity, and provides some key details about your skills and career that incentivizes the recruiter to read your resume and consider you for an interview. Do this by finding ways to show connections between your values and the company’s culture, as well as highlighting unique qualifications and career achievements that fit what the job (and employer) need.

Yes, you should have a different cover letter for every job application. Recruiters want to see cover letters that accurately address what the company is looking for in a new employee and generic cover letter content creates the wrong impression and may hurt your chances of getting the job.

Tailoring your cover letters for each job application is also useful because of applicant tracking systems (ATS), which employers sometimes use to scan job applications for job-specific keywords found in the original job listing. If your resume and cover letter don’t contain those keywords, the ATS will reject your resume outright.

A cover letter should not just be a word-for-word rehash of all the information in your resume. Think of using it as an elaboration of your resume, structured like this:

1. Header: This is where all your contact information goes, typically with your name a little larger than the rest of your information so the recruiter sees your name before anything else (as you’ll see in our templates). You’ll want to include your name, phone number, email address, physical address, and LinkedIn profile if you have one.

2. Salutation and opening: Use the hiring manager’s name rather than “To whom it may concern.” Introduce yourself, the job you’re applying for and an overview of your credentials. This is where you’ll typically list top achievements that can catch the manager’s attention.

3. Body paragraphs: Here, you’ll explain why you’re a good choice for the job you’re applying for. Explain how your skills, past experiences and knowledge all align with what the job listing is looking for.

4. Call to action: Use this section while wrapping up your letter to express your strong interest in the position and your desire to discuss your application further in an interview.

5. Closing: Request an interview, reiterate that you believe you’re the right choice for the job and thank the hiring manager for their time. Then use a formal sign-off.

This general structure is basically how you’ll formulate every cover letter. The cover letter builder at ResumeHelp is a great way to stick to this structure with all your cover letters. Using the cover letter builder, you can quickly produce a cover letter for every job listing, showcasing what a specific job listing values and giving your cover letter a better structure. For more cover letter writing guidance, see our How to Write a Cover Letter page.

Matching your cover letter’s look to your resume makes for a polished, professional job application. When you use a matching cover letter and resume, it tells the hiring manager that you really care about how you present yourself.

ResumeHelp offers 23 different cover letter layouts and 15 professional resume designs that complement each other. You can pair up resume and cover letter templates with customizable colors and fonts for a streamlined job application package.

Typically, you don’t want to draw attention to your employment gaps. You can discuss these employment gaps if the potential employer mentions them in your interview. If you bring up the gaps yourself, you’re opening yourself up to many questions right off the bat. For this reason, it’s almost always best to focus on your qualifications and relevant experiences in a cover letter. (Be prepared to discuss the topic if it comes up in a job interview.)

The exception to this is if you can explain an employment gap in a way that makes a positive impact on a hiring manager. For example, if you’re applying to work at a charity that helps support people who need at-home care and you have a three-year gap in your employment because you had to provide at-home care for your spouse, mentioning it in your letter is a way to build credibility.

The cover letter builder at ResumeHelp includes 23 different cover letter templates, which means there are many different options to choose from. Still, it’s important to remember that cover letters tend to be relatively uniform in layout, compared to resumes, so you don’t have to pore over the differences too much.

Remember, it’s very easy to switch between cover letter templates with ResumeHelp’s cover letter builder. Choose a template that catches your eye when you load up the builder. If you decide that it doesn’t end up fitting your needs, you can change it to something that does at any point.

Typically, your job application should include a cover letter and a resume. If anything else is required, like a portfolio, CV or additional credentials, it’s best to follow the guidelines that are set out in the job posting. You should typically submit the cover letter and resume as individual PDF files (which you can create using our builders).

If you’re ever in doubt, consult the job description to see what your expectations are. Sticking to these guidelines will show the hiring manager that you know how to follow directions, so make sure you read the job description in full before you start applying.

There are five key components you should include in your cover letter (along with your full name, phone number and links to professional social media like your LinkedIn profile): a business-style header, an introduction that clearly states why you’re interested in the role, body paragraphs that use metrics to highlight your qualifications, a catchy call to action and a professional sign off. Remember, a great cover letter is like a great resume — they should both be appropriate to the job application they are intended to support. Make sure your cover letter format is organized and in line with your other documents. If you want assistance building a great cover letter, you can use ResumeHelp’s cover letter builder.