How to Format a Cover Letter - Outlines & Examples

Typically, your cover letter should only be a few paragraphs long filled with details your resume didn’t cover, arranged like this:

• Your information, including contact information like a phone number
• The recipient’s information
• Salutation to the recipient
• Explanation of why you’re interested in the position
• A rundown of the skills and experience you have that are relevant to this position
• A request for an interview and closing statement

Usually, people include their full name, address, email and phone number in the header and links to any job networking profiles, such as LinkedIn or a portfolio.

One of the best ways that a hiring manager can tell when a cover letter is “copied-and-pasted” is when the letter isn’t actually personalized to the job. Starting a letter with “To whom it may concern,” “Dear sir” or “Dear hiring manager” isn’t a good move, and using generated phrasing without proofreading creates an impersonal letter. You should make your cover letter unique for every single job application as the cover letter is what gives potential employers an idea of who you are. You need to tailor your cover letter to every workplace, every job and every hiring manager or you’ll find that the number of callbacks you get goes down dramatically.

However, personalizing a cover letter for every job you apply for doesn’t mean you need to start completely from scratch on each one. Start with a cover letter template and fill out the key points for each specific job. This will be your guideline for how to write the letter, making it much easier for you to adapt and update every time you need to create another cover letter.

A cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and show off who you really are to your potential employer. While the resume lists all of your important skills and achievements, cover letters provide more detail about how you could benefit a company. Too many people don’t submit their resumes with a cover letter because they don’t feel like it’s really necessary. But in the current job market, a good cover letter can set you apart from the competition and get you a response from a potential employer.

This is true even if the job listing doesn’t state that you need a cover letter. Plus, it’s your opportunity to forge a connection with an employer and make a formal request for an interview. You should expect to write a cover letter, especially if you’re going through a career change, have employment gaps or don’t have a lot of work experience under your belt.

Yes! Cover letter samples are a great way to make your cover letter look better and be more effective in your given industry. A cover letter sample will typically either be from a professional writer who has experience in the field of writing cover letters or will be an actual cover letter that someone has used to get a job.

Remember, even the most simple cover letter samples aren’t just letters that you take and reuse wholesale, same with using a cover letter builder, you should use these tools as a guide for making your letter more professional while remaining personalized to your career needs.

There are very few situations where you may be able to utilize a cover letter that’s longer than a single page. Employers usually want a cover letter as a companion to your resume so it should be as easy to read and scannable as your other documents. Your hiring manager doesn’t want to read a significant amount of content, all they need is to get a good picture of your top talents and why they should choose you.

When crafting your letter you should work from a standard three-sectioned format, with a single opening paragraph introducing yourself and indicating why you’re writing to this particular company. Body paragraphs give information about your history and skills. Your closing paragraph should request an interview and express your excitement to work with the employer.

The best practice for writing a cover letter is understanding that your letter needs to reflect your best, most professional self. That means emphasizing skills and experiences that apply to the job and giving employers an understanding of why you’re interested in the position by using relevant metrics and giving narrative examples of real-world challenges you overcame.

If you’re looking for an easier way to write your cover letter, ResumeHelp has your back. Find out more about formatting your cover letter, look through our cover letter tips and utilize our variety of cover letter templates to get a feel for how to do so.

A strong, well-written cover letter is composed of these five key sections:

• The header: This section contains your most recent contact information. Include your telephone number, professional email address and links to your LinkedIn profile, personal website or online portfolio, if applicable.
• Professional greeting: Research to find the hiring manager or recruiter’s name and address your cover letter to that person. If it is not listed in the job ad, look at LinkedIn or the company website to identify the right person or department. Avoid generic greetings, such as “To Whom It May Concern.”
• Opening paragraph: The opening paragraph of your letter should mention the name of the company and the job title to which you are applying. It should also briefly mention why you are interested in the role.
• Body paragraph(s): The body of your cover letter is the longest section. Expand on the most relevant parts of your experience, skills or education in one or two paragraphs. If you have relevant work experience, use data and metrics in this section to show recruiters the impact your work has had and what you will bring to the table if hired.
• Closing paragraph: Your closing paragraph should briefly summarize the contents of your letter and reiterate your enthusiasm for the role. In this section before the sign-off, you should have a compelling call to action that reiterates why you’re a good fit and invites the hiring manager to schedule an interview with you.

Much like a resume, a curriculum vitae or CV, provides an overview of your skills and work history. Unlike a resume or cover letter, a CV goes more in-depth with sections like publications and affiliations to give employers the full scope of your career history and not just a standard snapshot. In contrast, a cover letter has a narrative structure and is customized around the details in your resume and the company’s specific needs.

Most cover letters follow the same business formatting standards falling between 250 and 400 words, point size of 12, easy-to-read font and margins of about one inch all the way around. A standard CV is a minimum of two pages and a maximum of 10, with its use not being standardized in the US. Be sure to read the job description carefully to see if you need to submit a CV over a resume and what sections are required.

Your cover letter is formatted correctly if you have crafted it following the standard business letter formatting of readable font size, one-inch margins all the way around and one double-spaced page. Keep in mind that your resume and cover letter should work together without repeating information so make your fonts and margins the same in both documents.

Formatting and readability have become even more important now as employers want more background information to help them decide between qualified candidates. They use ATS software on resumes and cover letters to ensure that a candidate meets the qualifications of the job description.