tips for writing a cover letter 2022

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How to write a great cover letter in 2024: tips and structure

A cover letter is a personalized letter that introduces you to a potential employer, highlights your qualifications, and explains why you're a strong fit for a specific job.

Hate or love them, these brief documents allow job seekers to make an impression and stand out from the pile of other applications. Penning a thoughtful cover letter shows the hiring team you care about earning the position.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to write a cover letter — and a great one, at that.

What is a cover letter and why does it matter?

A professional cover letter is a one-page document you submit alongside your CV or resume as part of a job application. Typically, they’re about half a page or around 150–300 words.

An effective cover letter doesn’t just rehash your CV; it’s your chance to highlight your proudest moments, explain why you want the job, and state plainly what you bring to the table.

Show the reviewer you’re likable, talented, and will add to the company’s culture . You can refer to previous jobs and other information from your CV, but only if it helps tell a story about you and your career choices .

What 3 things should you include in a cover letter?

A well-crafted cover letter can help you stand out to potential employers. To make your cover letter shine, here are three key elements to include:

1. Personalization

Address the hiring manager or recruiter by name whenever possible. If the job posting doesn't include a name, research to find out who will be reviewing applications. Personalizing your cover letter shows that you've taken the time to tailor your application to the specific company and role.

2. Highlight relevant achievements and skills

Emphasize your most relevant skills , experiences, and accomplishments that directly relate to the job you're applying for. Provide specific examples of how your skills have benefited previous employers and how they can contribute to the prospective employer's success. Use quantifiable achievements , such as improved efficiency, cost savings, or project success, to demonstrate your impact.

3. Show enthusiasm and fit

Express your enthusiasm for the company and the position you're applying for. Explain why you are interested in this role and believe you are a good fit for the organization. Mention how your values, goals, and skills align with the company's mission and culture. Demonstrating that you've done your research can make a significant impression.

What do hiring managers look for in a cover letter?

Employers look for several key elements in a cover letter. These include:

Employers want to see that your cover letter is specifically tailored to the position you are applying for. It should demonstrate how your skills, experiences, and qualifications align with the job requirements.

Clear and concise writing

A well-written cover letter is concise, easy to read, and error-free. Employers appreciate clear and effective communication skills , so make sure your cover letter showcases your ability to express yourself effectively.

Demonstrated knowledge of the company

Employers want to see that you are genuinely interested in their organization. Mention specific details about the company, such as recent achievements or projects, to show that you are enthusiastic about joining their team.

Achievements and accomplishments

Highlight your relevant achievements and accomplishments that demonstrate your qualifications for the position. Use specific examples to showcase your skills and show how they can benefit the employer.

Enthusiasm and motivation

Employers want to hire candidates who are excited about the opportunity and motivated to contribute to the company's success. Express your enthusiasm and passion for the role and explain why you are interested in working for the company.

Professionalism

A cover letter should be professional in tone and presentation. Use formal language, address the hiring manager appropriately, and follow standard business letter formatting.

How do you structure a cover letter?

A well-structured cover letter follows a specific format that makes it easy for the reader to understand your qualifications and enthusiasm for the position. Here's a typical structure for a cover letter:

Contact information

Include your name, address, phone number, and email address at the top of the letter. Place your contact information at the beginning so that it's easy for the employer to reach you.

Employer's contact information

Opening paragraph, middle paragraph(s), closing paragraph, complimentary close, additional contact information.

Repeat your contact information (name, phone number, and email) at the end of the letter, just in case the employer needs it for quick reference.

Remember to keep your cover letter concise and focused. It should typically be no more than one page in length. Proofread your letter carefully to ensure it is free from spelling and grammatical errors. Tailor each cover letter to the specific job application to make it as relevant and impactful as possible.

How to write a good cover letter (with examples)

The best letters are unique, tailored to the job description, and written in your voice — but that doesn’t mean you can’t use a job cover letter template.

Great cover letters contain the same basic elements and flow a certain way. Take a look at this cover letter structure for ref erence while you construct your own.

1. Add a header and contact information

While reading your cover letter, the recruiter shouldn’t have to look far to find who wrote it. Your document should include a basic heading with the following information:

• Pronouns (optional)
• Location (optional)
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• Relevant links, such as your LinkedIn profile , portfolio, or personal website (optional)

You can pull this information directly from your CV. Put it together, and it will look something like this:

Christopher Pike

San Francisco, California

[email protected]

Alternatively, if the posting asks you to submit your cover letter in the body of an email, you can include this information in your signature. For example:

Warm regards,

Catherine Janeway

Bloomington, Indiana

[email protected]

(555) 999 - 2222

2. Include a personal greeting

Always begin your cover letter by addressing the hiring manager — preferably by name. You can use the person’s first and last name. Make sure to include a relevant title, like Dr., Mr., or Ms. For example, “Dear Mr. John Doe.”

Avoid generic openings like “To whom it may concern,” “Dear sir or madam,” or “Dear hiring manager.” These introductions sound impersonal — like you’re copy-pasting cover letters — and can work against you in the hiring process.

Be careful, though. When using someone’s name, you don’t want to use the wrong title or accidentally misgender someone. If in doubt, using only their name is enough. You could also opt for a gender-neutral title, like Mx.

Make sure you’re addressing the right person in your letter — ideally, the person who’s making the final hiring decision. This isn’t always specified in the job posting, so you may have to do some research to learn the name of the hiring manager.

3. Draw them in with an opening story

The opening paragraph of your cover letter should hook the reader. You want it to be memorable, conversational, and extremely relevant to the job you’re pursuing. 

There’s no need for a personal introduction — you’ve already included your name in the heading. But you should make reference to the job you’re applying for. A simple “Thank you for considering my application for the role of [job title] at [company],” will suffice.

Then you can get into the “Why” of your job application. Drive home what makes this specific job and this company so appealing to you. Perhaps you’re a fan of their products, you’re passionate about their mission, or you love their brand voice. Whatever the case, this section is where you share your enthusiasm for the role.

Here’s an example opening paragraph. In this scenario, you’re applying for a digital marketing role at a bicycle company:

“Dear Mr. John Doe,

Thank you for considering my application for the role of Marketing Coordinator at Bits n’ Bikes.

My parents bought my first bike at one of your stores. I’ll never forget the freedom I felt when I learned to ride it. My father removed my training wheels, and my mom sent me barrelling down the street. You provide joy to families across the country — and I want to be part of that.”

4. Emphasize why you’re best for the job

Your next paragraphs should be focused on the role you’re applying to. Highlight your skill set and why you’re a good fit for the needs and expectations associated with the position. Hiring managers want to know what you’ll bring to the job, not just any role.

Start by studying the job description for hints. What problem are they trying to solve with this hire? What skills and qualifications do they mention first or more than once? These are indicators of what’s important to the hiring manager.

Search for details that match your experience and interests. For example, if you’re excited about a fast-paced job in public relations, you might look for these elements in a posting:

• They want someone who can write social media posts and blog content on tight deadlines
• They value collaboration and input from every team member
• They need a planner who can come up with strong PR strategies

Highlight how you fulfill these requirements:

“I’ve always been a strong writer. From blog posts to social media, my content pulls in readers and drives traffic to product pages. For example, when I worked at Bits n’ Bikes, I developed a strategic blog series about bike maintenance that increased our sales of spare parts and tools by 50% — we could see it in our web metrics.

Thanks to the input of all of our team members, including our bike mechanics, my content delivered results.”

5. End with a strong closing paragraph and sign off gracefully

Your closing paragraph is your final chance to hammer home your enthusiasm about the role and your unique ability to fill it. Reiterate the main points you explained in the body paragraphs and remind the reader of what you bring to the table.

You can also use the end of your letter to relay other important details, like whether you’re willing to relocate for the job.

When choosing a sign-off, opt for a phrase that sounds professional and genuine. Reliable options include “Sincerely” and “Kind regards.”

Here’s a strong closing statement for you to consider:

“I believe my enthusiasm, skills, and work experience as a PR professional will serve Bits n’ Bikes very well. I would love to meet to further discuss my value-add as your next Director of Public Relations. Thank you for your consideration. I hope we speak soon.

Tips to write a great cover letter that compliments your resume

When writing your own letter, try not to copy the example excerpts word-for-word. Instead, use this cover letter structure as a baseline to organize your ideas. Then, as you’re writing, use these extra cover letter tips to add your personal touch:

• Keep your cover letter different from your resume : Your cover letter should not duplicate the information on your resume. Instead, it should provide context and explanations for key points in your resume, emphasizing how your qualifications match the specific job you're applying for.
• Customize your cover letter . Tailor your cover letter for each job application. Address the specific needs of the company and the job posting, demonstrating that you've done your homework and understand their requirements.
• Show enthusiasm and fit . Express your enthusiasm for the company and position in the cover letter. Explain why you are interested in working for this company and how your values, goals, and skills align with their mission and culture.
• Use keywords . Incorporate keywords from the job description and industry terms in your cover letter. This can help your application pass through applicant tracking systems (ATS) and demonstrate that you're well-versed in the field.
• Keep it concise . Your cover letter should be succinct and to the point, typically no more than one page. Focus on the most compelling qualifications and experiences that directly support your application.
• Be professional . Maintain a professional tone and structure in your cover letter. Proofread it carefully to ensure there are no errors.
• Address any gaps or concerns . If there are gaps or concerns in your resume, such as employment gaps or a change in career direction, briefly address them in your cover letter. Explain any relevant circumstances and how they have shaped your qualifications and determination.
• Provide a call to action . Conclude your cover letter with a call to action, inviting the employer to contact you for further discussion. Mention that you've attached your resume for their reference.
• Follow the correct format . Use a standard cover letter format like the one above, including your contact information, a formal salutation, introductory and closing paragraphs, and your signature. Ensure that it complements your resume without redundancy.
• Pick the right voice and tone . Try to write like yourself, but adapt to the tone and voice of the company. Look at the job listing, company website, and social media posts. Do they sound fun and quirky, stoic and professional, or somewhere in-between? This guides your writing style.
• Tell your story . You’re an individual with unique expertise, motivators, and years of experience. Tie the pieces together with a great story. Introduce how you arrived at this point in your career, where you hope to go , and how this prospective company fits in your journey. You can also explain any career changes in your resume.
• Show, don’t tell . Anyone can say they’re a problem solver. Why should a recruiter take their word for it if they don’t back it up with examples? Instead of naming your skills, show them in action. Describe situations where you rose to the task, and quantify your success when you can.
• Be honest . Avoid highlighting skills you don’t have. This will backfire if they ask you about them in an interview. Instead, shift focus to the ways in which you stand out.
• Avoid clichés and bullet points . These are signs of lazy writing. Do your best to be original from the first paragraph to the final one. This highlights your individuality and demonstrates the care you put into the letter.
• Proofread . Always spellcheck your cover letter. Look for typos, grammatical errors, and proper flow. We suggest reading it out loud. If it sounds natural rolling off the tongue, it will read naturally as well.

Common cover letter writing FAQs

How long should a cover letter be.

A cover letter should generally be concise and to the point. It is recommended to keep it to one page or less, focusing on the most relevant information that highlights your qualifications and fits the job requirements.

Should I include personal information in a cover letter?

While it's important to introduce yourself and provide your contact information, avoid including personal details such as your age, marital status, or unrelated hobbies. Instead, focus on presenting your professional qualifications and aligning them with the job requirements.

Can I use the same cover letter for multiple job applications?

While it may be tempting to reuse a cover letter, it is best to tailor each cover letter to the specific job you are applying for. This allows you to highlight why you are a good fit for that particular role and show genuine interest in the company.

Do I need to address my cover letter to a specific person?

Whenever possible, it is advisable to address your cover letter to a specific person, such as the hiring manager or recruiter. If the job posting does not provide this information, try to research and find the appropriate contact. If all else fails, you can use a generic salutation such as "Dear Hiring Manager."

Should I include references in my cover letter?

It is generally not necessary to include references in your cover letter. Save this information for when the employer explicitly requests it. Instead, focus on showcasing your qualifications and achievements that make you a strong candidate for the position.

It’s time to start writing your stand-out cover letter

The hardest part of writing is getting started. 

Hopefully, our tips gave you some jumping-off points and confidence . But if you’re really stuck, looking at cover letter examples and resume templates will help you decide where to get started. 

There are numerous sample cover letters available online. Just remember that you’re a unique, well-rounded person, and your cover letter should reflect that. Using our structure, you can tell your story while highlighting your passion for the role. 

Doing your research, including strong examples of your skills, and being courteous is how to write a strong cover letter. Take a breath , flex your fingers, and get typing. Before you know it, your job search will lead to a job interview.

If you want more personalized guidance, a specialized career coach can help review, edit, and guide you through creating a great cover letter that sticks.

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Explore effective job search techniques, interview strategies, and ways to overcome job-related challenges. Our coaches specialize in helping you land your dream job.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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Cover Letters

Crafting a great cover letter can set your application apart and help you get your foot in the door. But where to start? We've got tips, templates, and examples to get you going—from great opening lines to real samples that actually worked.

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22 Cover Letter Tips for Job Seekers in 2022

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Ready to write a cover letter that lands you the job you want? We’ve organized the 22 best cover letter tips for job seekers in 2022 all on this page. If you follow the cover letter advice in this article, your chances of getting interviews (and a job) immediately improve.

Go here to read the full article and learn more!

Top 21 Cover Letter Tips [to Land the Job!]

You’ve narrowed in on the perfect job and you’ve got your resume down.

There’s one more step before you send out that application: the cover letter.

The cover letter is ESSENTIAL in the job application process. It complements your resume by giving the hiring manager a taste of your personality and enthusiasm for the position.

If you’re wondering whether you’re doing it right, stop worrying. We’ve got you covered!

In this article, we’ll give you all the cover letter tips you’ll ever need!

We’ve divided  our cover letter tips into three main parts, in order of importance:

• Essential Tips - These tips are fundamental to writing a killer cover letter.
• Important Tips - These cover letter tips are also important, but not as essential.
• Nice-to-have Tips - Not super important, but these tips can still be a nice addition to your cover letter.

9 Essential Cover Letter Tips

Tip #1 - get the basics right.

Before we get into any of the other tips, we want to make sure you know what a great cover letter looks like .

In a nutshell, a cover letter consists of six main parts:

• A header , which contains your contact information
• A greeting for the hiring manager
• The opening paragraph , where you open with an attention grabber and list your top achievements
• The second paragraph , where you explain why you’re the perfect candidate for the job
• The third paragraph , where you explain why you’re compatible with the company, its work culture, and its goals
• The closing remarks

Tip #2 - Tailor your cover letter to the position

You might be tempted to write one awesome cover letter and use it for every position you apply to.

After all, if it’s so good, it should work everywhere, right?

The thing is, the whole point of a cover letter is to show your achievements and enthusiasm about the particular company and position you are applying to.

Different positions have different requirements and responsibilities. You can convince a recruiter to hire you if you make a case for why you’re great for that particular position , not why you’re great in general. 

This is why a one-letter-fits-all approach does not work.

To personalize your cover letter to the exact position you are applying for, you should:

• Identify the position’s key responsibilities and get a sense of what kind of person they are looking for.
• Write a cover letter that demonstrates how you can handle those responsibilities and how you’re the right person for the job.

Both candidates are applying for the position of brand development manager in company XYZ.

I am responsible and creative. I have also done well in all my previous positions. I enjoy the work culture in your company and I believe I would be a great fit here.

A brand development management position in XYZ is key to successfully launching XYZ’s brands into e-commerce. In my previous positions, I have led 14 projects and have developed four separate brand launch plans, all of which have raised awareness of the brands within 6 months of the launch plan application.

Rose obviously sends the same cover letter to all job applications because there is nothing position-specific about the way she describes her skills. 

Candance, on the other hand, has identified the position’s requirements and key roles and demonstrates how she’s a great fit for it.

Now, which one would you hire based on what you read?

Tip #3 - Use your professional email

This might sound obvious, but it’s something important that might easily slip your attention.

If you use that [email protected] email you made in the fourth grade in your cover letter, the hiring manager immediately X-s you out.

No silly puns and no pop culture references: use a professional email that has your first name and last name.

Tip #4 - Don’t repeat your resume

The hiring manager already has your resume. If you simply repeat the information you’ve provided there, what’s the point in writing a cover letter at all?

So what exactly can you say besides what they already know?

Think of the cover letter as the “story” behind your resume. Write about what makes you passionate to do what you do and why you’re a good fit for the position.

Let’s say that in your resume you mention that you worked as a tech assistant and highlighted your key responsibilities. 

In your cover letter, you want to highlight how working as a tech assistant prepared you for the position you are applying for and why you’re passionate about joining the team. 

This way, the hiring manager can also see part of your personality and motivation.

Tip #5 - Make it easy to read

You might be tempted to use long, convoluted sentences and SAT words to show how you’re a professional, sophisticated person.

You don’t want the hiring manager to spend five minutes on one sentence wondering just what the heck you are trying to say.

Keep your language simple and your sentences short and straightforward.

Tip #6 - Keep it short

This one’s pretty simple: don’t drag out your cover letter. One page is more than enough.

The golden rule is to keep it between 250-400 words long in 3-6 paragraphs .

You don’t want to risk the hiring manager getting tired and stopping halfway through reading it.

Tip #7 - Follow submission instructions

The company usually specifies the format you should use when submitting your application.

Look out for specifications about:

• File format (Word, PDF)
• Font & margins
• Content specifics, like which sections or contact information to include

Follow those instructions to a T or the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) might end up not reading your file at all .

If there is nothing specific in the job posting, your best bet is to submit your cover letter in PDF format . Use the same font and design as your resume to enhance your personal brand .

You can pick one of our custom Novorésumé cover letter templates and start writing. 

Once you’re done creating your resume, it automatically downloads as a PDF.

Tip #8 - Proofread your cover letter

Once you’re done writing, make sure your cover letter doesn’t have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. They’re absolute turn-offs for recruiters.

Use a spelling checker or the online writing app Grammarly to make sure your letter is flawless.

Tip #9 - Match your cover letter with your resume

Want your application to stand out from the rest?

Match your cover letter style & formatting to your resume.

CIt will make you more memorable as a candidate and show that you care to put in the extra effort by presenting a unified application package.

And you know what's the best part? Creating a matching resume and cover letter doesn’t have to be hard!

At Novorésumé, each of our resume templates comes with a matching cover letter design, so all you have to do is pick a style you like, and half the work is already done for you. 

9 Important Cover Letter Tips

Tip #1 - address the letter to the hiring manager.

The days when you used “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam” to address your cover letter are long gone.

The best practice is to address your cover letter directly to the hiring manager , as “Dear Mr. Doe”.

That’s usually the head of the department you are applying for or the HR manager.

How can you find his or her name??

• Check the job posting for any contact details.
• Check the company’s LinkedIn and website for the job title.
• Ask any contacts you might know inside the company.

If you still don’t have any clue who to address your cover letter to, here’s what you can use:

• Dear [Department] Team,
• Dear [Department] Hiring Manager,
• Dear Hiring Manager

Tip #2 - Open up with your achievements

The first impression you make is vital because you only get one chance, and it can make or break your application.

The opening paragraph of your cover letter serves as the first impression to the hiring manager. He or she has countless cover letters to read so yours should pop out from the start.

Thus, you must start outlining why you’re a great candidate for the position in the introduction .

Let’s demonstrate how to do it correctly by looking at the two examples below.

What’s the difference between these two cover letter introductions :

“My name is Justin Brown and I would like to contribute towards ABC’s goal to create an outstanding visual experience for end customers throughout the world. Previously, I’ve worked for XYZ, a renowned graphic design company, for 5 years, where I helped create high-quality visual designs from concept to specs to final product. I believe my updated industry experience, along with my ability to adjust between the bigger picture and concrete problems, as well as my attention to detail, makes me the right candidate for the position.”

“Hi, my name is Josh and I really want to work for your company. I heard about the job opening from LinkedIn and decided to apply. I used to work as a graphic designer for XYZ for 5 years, and this is the perfect opportunity for me.”

If there’s one obvious thing, it is that the second one is a WINNING introduction. 

Why? Well, unlike Josh, Justin’s introduction:

• Opens with an attention-grabbing sentence , highlighting how Justin can contribute directly towards the company’s goals.
• Outlines his responsibilities and achievements in his previous position.
• Describes what makes him the perfect candidate .

Meanwhile, Josh’s introduction doesn’t say much about him as a candidate except that he used to be employed for five years. 

Granted, Josh could be better qualified than Justin, but you could never tell from his cover letter. The hiring manager probably stopped reading and added Josh to the “Rejected” pile.

That’s why you should go beyond the basics in your cover letter’s introduction. Make your intent, contribution, and skills known upfront.

Tip #3 - Use bullet points for your qualifications

There’s a good reason why we use bullet points so much:

• They help us list things effectively 
• They get the point across
• They break up the paragraphs into smaller chunks and overall makes the cover letter easier to skim or read
• They summarize a lot of information in a digestible manner

See what we did there?

That’s what you should do when you list your qualifications in your cover letter as well. 

Instead of writing everything out, use bullet points to sum up all your successes. The hiring manager will be immediately drawn to them and WON’T just skim through your cover letter mindlessly. 

Tip #4 - Use numbers and facts

Whenever you describe your successful experiences, you want to enrich them with actual percentages, numbers, and tangible facts.

When achievements are backed up by real performance metrics, they boost your credibility.

So, instead of simply describing your achievements:

“I have previous experience with transfusion therapies and taking care of people with rare diseases. I also speak three languages, which can come in handy with patients from different nationalities.”

Use the power of numbers (and bullet points) to convince the hiring manager.

My 10 years of experience in the medical field have contributed towards my excellence in:

• Managing the medical care of 75+ patients with rare diseases.
• Assisting 25+ patients attending transfusion therapy. 
• Taking care of 50+ patients from different nationalities, made easy by my fluency in English, German, and Spanish.

Tip #5 - Avoid cliches

Cliches are so overused, they risk making you look as if you have no original thoughts.

Any of the following can be a cliche (but not only):

• I am a great team player.
• I am a multi-tasker.
• I have great attention to detail.
• I am a good communicator.

After all the insights we’ve shared with you so  far, you might guess why cliches are a NO:

They add nothing of substance to your content. And you want to use the valuable space in your cover letter to showcase why you’re a great fit for the job. 

Whenever you are tempted to write a cliche, twist it by providing facts to back up your experience.

So, instead of saying : 

“I am a great team player”.

Show them why you are one by describing your experience: 

“In my previous position, I worked with five other colleagues from three different departments to arrive at a marketable digital solution for our customers. Working with individuals with diverse opinions taught me the value of effective teamwork, a lesson I am happy to utilize in this position.”

Tip #6 - Use acronyms correctly

Acronyms are great. They save up space and show the hiring manager that you speak the industry lingo, especially if you’re applying for a technical position.

And yes, chances are the recruiter understands all the acronyms you might use in your cover letter. 

Nonetheless, you should never use acronyms thinking the recruiter understands them. Instead,  write the word the first time around and put the acronym into brackets, and then you can go ahead and use just the acronym if it repeats throughout the text. 

Here’s what we mean:

I have two years of experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS). I have specifically worked with Amazon Elasticsearch (AES) in my previous position. I believe the cloud computing service model provided by AWS can be successfully applied to your business model. 

I have two years of experience with AWS. I have specifically worked with AES and AMI in my previous positions.

Tip #7- Don’t include your address

By all means, you should include your contact information in your cover letter.

However, your address or area of work goes into your resume , not the cover letter.

Tip #8 - Don’t apologize

There comes a time when you have to account for possible red flags in your work experience.

These can include:

• Getting fired or being laid off
• Having too many short-lived jobs
• A gap in your resume
• Lack of experience

You might want to rush and explain these red flags in your cover letter, just to let the hiring manager know there’s nothing to worry about.

We’re here to say NO.

Do not apologize or explain anything you think is “negative”. The hiring manager will bring up any concerns he or she might have in your interview. You’ll have an opportunity to answer there.

Tip #9 - Don’t be arrogant

Just as being apologetic is not a good look, being over-confident is equally damning.

Nobody likes someone cocky, so avoid talking in superlatives or praising your abilities. 

Let your work experience and achievements speak on your behalf.

In my previous position, I surpassed my yearly conversion targets by 34%.

I am a great employee. All my previous managers loved having me around because I was the best at my job.

4 Nice-to-Have Cover Letter Tips

Tip #1 - insert your social media and personal website.

Including your professional social media or personal website adds an extra touch to your cover letter.

Hint: We’re not talking about your Facebook or VSCO. You probably take great pictures of your food, but that will not get you hired.

If you have a LinkedIn, Github, Behance, or Dribble account, however, it can give the hiring manager something extra to look at.

If you have a personal website with your showcased work or portfolio, even better!

Make sure to add a link to those under your contact information

Tip #2 - End with a call to action

Ending a cover letter is usually the hardest part. You’ve described all your achievements, thanked the manager for their time, now what?

We recommend concluding your letter with a “call to action”, inviting your hiring manager to take further steps.

For example, you could write something like: 

“I look forward to further discussing how my legal skills and experience can help ABC with corporate and commercial transactions for its international operations.”

Tip #3 - Use power words and action verbs

Power words and action verbs are selected words you can use throughout your cover letter to make your achievements *pop* more .

So, instead of saying “I was responsible for” fifteen different times, you can use some action verbs to make your language more diverse, like:

• I managed a team of five people.
• I facilitated the communication and task allocation of five people.
• I coordinated a team of five people.

They make your text flow smoothly, enhance the power of your actions, AND make your language more versatile.

If you want to sprinkle some of these magical words in your resume, check out our complete list of 340+ action verbs and power words .

Tip #4 - Get a second opinion

Sometimes when we’re writing we get so lost trying to put our thoughts into words, we lose sight of the bigger picture.

If you have a capable friend, recruiter, or career advisor, it doesn’t hurt to ask them to take a look at your cover letter. 

Have them check it for spelling and grammatical mistakes (just in case you missed any) and whether they think your cover letter does your skills and qualifications justice.

Got the green light?

Ready to go!

And that’s it!

The road to writing your cover letter is filled with Dos, Don’ts, and lots of caffeine. 

We hope you enjoyed the guide and have a good sense of what’s expected of you.

Now stop procrastinating and get to writing!

Or, check out some of our other top articles:

• How to Write a Resume | Professional Guide w/ 41+ Examples
• Top Cover Letter Examples in 2024 [For All Professions]
• How to Write a Motivational Letter (and Get Accepted Anywhere in 2024)

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How to Write an Effective Cover Letter in 2023 | Beginner’s Guide

how to do a cover letter? or how to begin a cover letter? this is a query. Many people look for it Job hunting sucks. Perusing through online job listings, refining your…

Cover Letter Help - How to Write an Effective Cover Letter in 2023 | Beginner’s Guide

• Cover Letter Help

how to do a cover letter? or how to begin a cover letter? this is a query. Many people look for it Job hunting sucks. Perusing through online job listings, refining your resume, as well as preparing for grueling interviews—none of it is fun. For many, the most daunting part of the process is crafting…

Sarah Reynolds

Content specialist.

how to do a cover le t ter? or how to begin a cover letter? this is a query. Many people look for it

Job hunting sucks. Perusing through online job listings, refining your resume , as well as preparing for grueling interviews—none of it is fun. For many, the most daunting part of the process is crafting a cover letter. There’s so much conflicting advice out there; it’s difficult to know where to start.

Don’t fret, though. We’ve got your back. Writing a cover letter is not as hard as it sounds.

In this blog, we’re going to teach you how to write a cover letter that will land you the job of your dreams .

But first, the basics…

What Exactly is a Cover Letter? (and Why is it Important?)

A cover letter, or a covering letter as some might call it, is a one-page document that you send as part of your job application (alongside your CV or Resume).

Its core purpose is to expound on the information highlighted in your resume while infusing your personality. On average, your cover letter should be no more than 400 words .

A cover letter takes the reader on a guided journey of some of your greatest career and life achievements. But it doesn’t stop there. It also explains why you’d be a good fit for the company.

A well-written cover letter ignites the interest of the HR manager and gets them to read your resume.

On the other hand, a poorly crafted cover letter leaves the potential employer shaking their head in irk, cursing out loud for wasting their time, and eventually binning the resume that you poured your heart out to write.

You don’t want that happening, or do you? That’s why it’s important to learn how to write a cover letter—a convincing one.

If it’s your first time writing a covering letter, the whole thing can seem even more daunting. No need to freak out, though. Writing a good cover letter is as easy as spelling out A, B, C.

All you have to do is adopt the following proven format:

• Header – Provide contact details.
• Greetings – Exchange pleasantries with the hiring manager.
• Introduction – Pique the interest of the reader straight away with 2-3 of your top achievements.
• Middle paragraphs/Body – Explain why you’re the ideal candidate and the perfect fit.
• Concluding paragraph – Recap everything. Restate why you feel you deserve a shot at the company.
• Final formal salutations – End with a formal sign-off.

We’ll explain these in detail below (along with some cover letter examples). So keep reading.

How to Write a Convincing Cover Letter that Gets You the Job: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that the basics are out of the way, we’re going to guide you through the process of writing the perfect cover letter, step by step.

There’re some cover letter examples in there too, so read on.

Step 1: Do Your Research First

Before you begin writing, find out more about the organization and the specific job you want.

Of course, you should carefully read the job description, but also scour through the firm’s website, employee LinkedIn profiles, as well as its executives’ Twitter feeds.

Why is this research important? You ask. Well, it helps you customize your cover letter since sending a generic one is a no-no.

The research will also help you decide on the tone. If it’s a conservative organization, like an insurance company, you might want to keep your covering letter’s tone formal. But if it’s a creative agency, like an art studio, you might take more risks.

Step 2: Begin Your Cover Letter with a Header

Once you’re done with the research, go ahead and craft your covering letter.

As with the resume, start by writing out your contact information. Ideally, this section should be left-aligned or centered.

Here, you want to include all the important personal information, including:

• Your full name
• Phone number
• Email address
• LinkedIn profile link (optional)
• Portfolio or website (optional)

Below your contact information and left-aligned, include the date as well as the company contact details, such as:

• Name of the hiring manager
• Company address
• Company phone number
• Hiring manager’s email address

And here’s what you shouldn’t include in this section:

• Your city of residence/ address: These details should appear in your resume, not the covering letter.
• Unpresentable email: Ensure your email is professional enough. An email address that reads something like “[email protected]” will get your cover letter (and resume) dumped straight away. To avoid such a scenario, stick to the “[first name] + [last name] @email provider.com format.”

Step 3: Greet the Recruiter/ HR Manager (By their Name)

Remember the research you did in Step 1? It’ll come in handy here.

It’s 2021. Greetings like “Dear Sir or Madam” and “To Whom It May Concern” no longer apply. Besides, you want to show your future boss that you did your research and are really looking forward to joining the company.

So, use greetings like Dear (Name of the Hiring Manager) .

If you can’t figure out who the hiring manager is, take a guess—a good guess. For instance, if you’re applying for a sales position, address the head of the sales department by name instead.

If you’ve scoured all over the internet and can’t find anyone’s name, address your cover letter to the department. For example, “Dear Sales Department” would be fine.

Here are more specific examples of Opening Salutations:

• Dear John Wick
• Dear Mr. Wick
• Dear Sales Department
• Dear [Department] Hiring Manager

Step 4: Open With an Eye-Catching Introduction

Job seekers typically write themselves into the covering letter with “I am applying for job Y that I saw in Z place.” That’s not the way to go.

Instead, start with an attention-grabbing introduction. Open with a punchline—why this job is exciting to you as well as what you bring to the table.

Chances are, the recruiter or hiring manager is reading hundreds, perhaps thousands of applications. So, you want to capture their attention from the word go.

That said, don’t try to be funny. Humor can often fall flat. Stay away from clichés, too. Once you state your name, say something direct as well as dynamic. Then complement it with 2-3 of your top achievements.

Here’s how a good introduction should look like:

“My name is John and I’d like to help Company Z hit and supersede their digital marketing goals. I’ve worked for Company X, a soft drinks company, for over 5 years. As the lead digital marketing specialist, I generated a 200% uplift in organic traffic to the website (beating the projections by 150%). I believe the combination of my experience, skillset, as well as industrious personality, make me the ideal candidate for the job.”

See the difference between this example and all the generic introductions you’ve written in the past?

Now that you know what to include in the introductory paragraph, let’s dive into the body. This part is divided into two sections: the first is for explaining why you’re the ideal candidate for the job, and the next is for proving that you’ve got what it takes to work for the company.

So, let’s do this thing…

Step 5: Prove That You’re the Right Person for the Job

Do you know who else has similar skills and work experience? All the other applicants you’re competing with. That’s why you need to set yourself apart.

Setting yourself (and your cover letter) apart doesn’t necessarily mean showing off more of your top achievements. Rather, it means explaining how you’ll fulfill the exact responsibilities posted in the job ad.

So, open up the ad as well as identify which of the requirements are the most important.

Assuming that you skim through the job ad and see that the top requirements for the digital marketing specialist position are:

• Experience in boosting conversion rates for social media ad campaigns
• Some skills in redesigning landing pages
• Excellent lead generation skills

Now, in this section, you need to discuss how you fulfill these requirements. So, here’s how that would look for our previous example:

“In my previous role as a lead digital marketing specialist at Company X, I created an effective paid Facebook advertising campaign which generated 2,000 website visits. In addition, I increased e-commerce sales by 20% in 3 months by redesigning all landing pages.

Other than social media advertising, I’ve also seen tremendous success in other aspects of digital marketing:

• Customer experience
• Lead generation
• Online spending
• Web traffic

Step 6: Explain Why You’re the Perfect Piece for the Company’s Jigsaw

Once you’re done with Step 5, you might be thinking—I’m the hot favorite for the job. I don’t really need to write anything else since I’ve already shown that I’m competent , skilled, as well as experienced. Now all that’s remaining is to wrap it all up and hit that SEND button.

Hold your horses, buddy. You’re not quite there yet.

The recruiter needs more than just job experience to draft you in. They’re also looking for an applicant who blends well with their corporate culture .

After all, someone who’s unhappy at their job is bound to quit sooner or later. This ends up costing the firm big time, especially in terms of recruitment as well as training. Some studies also estimate the average replacement cost of a salaried employee to be six to nine months’ salary . It’s a bullet most employers would want to avoid at all costs.

So, in short, convey enthusiasm. Enthusiasm brings out personality. Convince the hiring manager that you’re really passionate about working for them, and you can’t wait to get started.

How do you achieve this? Again, the research you did in Step 1 comes in handy. If you did your job well, this section should be a walk in the park.

But if you didn’t, here’s what you’d want to include:

• What’s the company vision and mission?
• What’s the business model?
• What do they sell? Have you bought it?
• What’s the corporate culture like?

Ultimately, you also need to find out what it is about the company that sets your heart on fire . Then put it down in words.

The end result should read something like:

“I’d love to work for your company. Who wouldn’t? You’re the industry leader, setting standards that others only follow. As a visionary, self-driven, industrious individual who likes to lead from the front, I truly believe I and Company Z will be a perfect match.”

One more thing…

Avoid sounding too generic. Do away with the fluff, as it’ll be a huge turn-off for the hiring manager.

Step 7: Wrap it All Up With a Short, Punchy Closing Paragraph

When crafting your cover letter closing, be courteous, confident, as well as continue to vouch for yourself.

It’s also important to finish up your cover letter in a strategic and thoughtful fashion, so be sure to:

• Thank the hiring manager for their time.
• Summarize why you’d be a good hire
• Reiterate your excitement about the job opportunity
• Finish with a CTA (call-to-action)

Here’s an excellent cover letter closing example:

“Thank you for spending time reviewing my application. I strongly believe that my skills, qualifications, as well as sheer zeal, make me an ideal candidate for the position of digital marketing specialist at Company Z. I’m extremely excited to join your vibrant team and look forward to discussing how I can help you achieve your digital marketing goals.”

Step 8: Sign-Off Formally

Once you’re done with the call to action, all you have to do is write down a formal “goodbye,’ and you’re all set.

You can use one of the many known formal salutations:

• Best regards,
• Respectfully,
• Kind regards,

You’ve done it! Against all odds, you’ve learned how to make a cover letter for a resume—so, congrats. But before hitting that SEND button, proofread with a tool like Grammarly just in case some errors slipped your eyes. Better yet, get a friend to read the letter out loud as you listen keenly for any blips, errors, as well as awkward phrases.

Principles to Remember: The Do’s and Don’ts When Writing a Cover Letter

Here’s a quick recap of things to remember when writing a cover letter.

• Be succinct – A hiring manager should be able to read your covering letter at a glance.
• Have a strong introduction that piques the reader’s attention straight away.
• Only share accomplishments that relate to the job ad. Anything else is fluff.

Don’t:

• Go overboard with the tone – Be mature and professional
• Try to be funny – too often, it comes back to bite you in the face
• Send a generic cover letter – make sure each section is customized to the core

1- how to address cover letter without name

For many hiring professionals, using the salutation “Dear Hiring Manager” is the best option when a name is not available. It is preferable to use this generic greeting rather than none at all, as it demonstrates adherence to cultural customs and professionalism.

2- should you introduce yourself in a cover letter

Yes, you should include a cover letter with your introduction. Declare your name, the position you’re looking for, and how you found out about it. For instance: In order to be considered for the open Account Manager position posted on LinkedIn, my name is Henry Applicant.

3- difference between cover letter and resume

The facts—who, what, when, and how—are stated in a resume. In contrast, a cover letter gives you the chance to discuss your qualifications for the position. To convince employers that you’re a good fit for the job at hand, this paper offers some color and personality.

So, What’s Next in Your Job Hunt? (Hint: It’s time to Craft a Killer Resume!)

You might know how to write a cover letter, but if your resume is whack, you might as well forget about ever landing a job—let alone your dream job.

Don’t let a mediocre resume shutter your dreams. Create a killer resume to accompany that excellent cover letter. If that sounds like a hard thing to do, we can help.

At StylingCV, we’re committed to helping you land the job of your dreams. Our cutting-edge resume builder works as smart as you do. What are you waiting for? Create your free resume now!

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How to Write a Cover Letter in 2022 (With 6 Cover Letter Examples)

Posted by CV Nation on Dec 11, 2021

The ultimate guide to writing a cover letter to land jobs in 2022, with 6 cover letter examples and everything you need to know to impress recruiters.

When applying for jobs, you will usually be required to submit a cover letter. Recruiters use cover letters to assess your suitability for jobs and learn about your experiences, skills and achievements.

An effective cover letter can help you stand out from the crowd and make a positive impression on recruiters.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to prepare a cover letter for any job that does exactly that. We’ll also show you six great cover letter examples.

What is a Cover Letter?

Cover letters, often referred to as motivation letters, are introductory letters that usually accompany your CV when applying for jobs.

Cover letter are usually one-page in length, expressing why you’re applying for the job and highlighting your skills, experiences and achievements.

How to Structure Your Cover Letter

When writing your cover letter, follow our six-step process to ensure you cover all the key points and sell yourself as effectively as possible.

Take a look at the cover letter examples in this guide to see how we have used this formula to create engaging, effective cover letters.

Here is our six-step cover letter writing process:

1. Introduction

2. overview of knowledge and expertise, 3. unique value proposition (uvp), 4. why you want to work for the company, 5. key skills, 6. polite ending and call to action.

Let’s take a look at these steps in detail:

Start your cover letter with a concise introduction that explains who you are and why you’re applying for the job.

Provide a brief overview of your knowledge, experience and expertise. Use this paragraph to draw attention to what you bring to the table.

Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is what makes you unique. Demonstrating your UVP can set you apart from other candidates and convince recruiters you’re the right person for the job.

Identify your UVP by thinking about what makes you unique, then convey this in your cover letter.

Convey why you want to work for the company. This is where you can use your research to show how you are aligned with the company’s values and culture.

Showcase a few of your key skills to show what you can bring to the table.

Bring your cover letter to a close by thanking the reader for their time and including a concise call to action. This will usually be for the recruiter to get in touch with you to discuss your application in more detail.

Cover Letter Example

One of the keys to writing a great cover letter is research. By researching the company you’re applying to work for, you’ll be able to tailor your cover letter and show how you’re aligned with the company’s culture and values.

How do you conduct research into companies?

To conduct research into the company you’re applying to work for, examine the company’s website. You may want to take a look at their ‘About Us’ or ‘Careers’ pages. This will help you learn about their culture and what it’s like to work for them.

Additionally, you could view the company’s social media accounts and the job description to learn more about their culture and values.

Email Cover Letters

If you’re submitting a cover letter in the body of an email, you will need to format it slightly different to cover letters that are attached to emails or submitted as a document.

Email cover letters do not need to include the address of the company you’re applying to work for. You also do not need to include your name at the top of the cover letter, as is demonstrated in some of the cover letter examples in this guide.

Here is an example of an email cover letter:

Email Cover Letter Example

How to Write a Cover Letter with No Experience

If you’ve got no experience in the profession that you’re pursuing a job in, focus on your transferable skills and experiences.

For example, if you’re applying for a customer service job but have no customer service experience, you could focus on your communication skills and your experiences working with customers.

Here is an example cover letter for someone with no experience:

Cover Letter Example - No Experience

How to Professionally Format Your Cover Letter

Line spacing.

Using appropriate line spacing between paragraphs ensures your cover letter is professional in appearance and easy to read.

Letters that don’t use line spacing often appear as one huge block of text. Most recruiters won’t even read these letters, so make sure to utilise your word processor’s line spacing feature.

To add spacing to your cover letter in Microsoft Word, highlight the text, click ‘Layout’, then add 8 pt. spacing in the ‘After’ section.

This will ensure your paragraphs are easily distinguished from each other. It will also optimise your recruiter’s reading experience, which can only be a positive thing!

Margins are the blank spaces at the edges of your cover letter. The size of your margins will depend on the amount of content in your cover letter.

If you have a lot of content to include, your margins should be narrower, which would give you more space. If you have a shorter cover letter, your margins should be wider.

Ideally, you should be aiming for margin sizes of between 1.7 cm (0.66”) and 2.5 cm (0.98”).

3. Fonts & Fonts Sizes

Select a common, easy to read font, such as Calibri, Times New Roman and Arial. Avoid using overly creative fonts. Such fonts will make your cover letter look unprofessional and difficult to read.

For most fonts, including Times New Roman, Calibri and Arial, you should choose a font size of between 10.5 pt. and 12 pt.

Further Cover Letter Tips

Don't exceed one page.

Unless you’ve been specifically asked to submit a longer cover letter, don’t exceed one page in length. Long cover letters make for a poorer reading experience and recruiters may not read your cover letter if it’s too long.

Proofread your cover letter

Ensure to proofread your cover letter to iron out any spelling and grammatical errors. Errors in your cover letter can make you look unprofessional and have a negative impact on your job applications.

Give your document a professional title

When saving your cover letter, make sure to give it a simple, professional title. Examples of professional titles for your cover letter include ‘Cover Letter’ or ‘My Cover Letter’.

Avoid unprofessional titles such as ‘coverletter023432’. When recruiters see such titles on documents, they may instantly see you as unprofessional.

State that your CV is attached/enclosed

If you’re submitting your CV along with your cover letter, state that you’ve enclosed the CV. To do this, include the abbreviation ‘Enc.: CV’ at the bottom of your cover letter, as demonstrated in the cover letter samples in this guide.

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A resume without a cover letter is like Lennon without McCartney - It just feels incomplete.

Don't know how to write a cover letter? There's no point in spending days and weeks on perfecting the resume if all you'll do with it is just mindlessly send it on any and every job profile that you come across without writing a cover letter to go with it.

Have a thorough look at this sample to understand how to write a cover letter for a job in 2022:

Let me guess, you first heard of cover letters in a conversation but felt too embarassed to ask further questions about it, lest you'd be labeled as someone who doesn't know what a cover letter is?

You only have a vague idea but don't know what it is, and what it's not, and how to make a cover letter?

Fret not. There are thousands like you who are in a similar conundrum who don't know how to write a cover letter.

This is why the cover letter examples that we have outlined in our 2022 guide to writing a cover letter will take care of all your problems.

The guide will broadly tackle the following areas:

• What is a cover letter?
• Why do you need a cover letter?
• How is a cover letter different form a resume?
• How to write a cover letter?
• Cover letter tips and hacks.

What is a Cover Letter?

The most underrated component of the job-hunting process, it's apalling how little attention is paid to the humble cover letter.

Simply put, a cover letter is a document that you send along with your resume to provide additional information around your skills and experience.

When a recruiter is flooded with thousands of applications for a single vacancy, how do you expect him/her to peruse through them all and select the winner?

That's where the cover letter comes in handy. Right out of the way, more than half of the applicants won't bother to send a cover letter along with their resume. They belong to the category of those exasperated souls who select multiple job listings and hit 'send resume'.

You can imagine what happens to them. They spend their days and nights dazed and confused, wondering what they're doing wrong.

'I applied to like a 100 different vacancies man. I don't know what's going on.' If this sounds like you or someone you know, read on.

Also read : How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?

Why do you Need a Cover Letter?

As you now know, since you are competing with thousands of other equally accomplished (if not more) professionals for a single job, one thing is absolutely clear -

You get only a single chance to make it.

So ask yourself: 'Do you want to waste that chance by endlessly sending your resume to 100+ recruiters and then wonder what went wrong, or do you want to play it smart by applying to just 10 but simultaneously increase the probability of getting that coveted shortlist?

That's right. The second option.

I bet some of you are still wondering that the math doesn't quite makes sense: How is applying to 10 places better than applying to a 100?

To which, we ask: Would you rather eat 5 average burgers that make you go 'meh', or would you rather eat a single kickass burger that will make you want to kiss the hand that delivered it from heaven?

We thought so too. Cover letters are that missing piece of the equation which makes applying to a few targeted vacancies better than applying for dozens of random ones.

Contrary to popular belief, HRs are smart people. Well, let's rephrase that. If you encounter hundreds of resumes on a daily basis for years, you do get to know a little something about them.

You figure out how to spot a mildly bad resume from a terribly bad one.

Similarly, you can figure out if the candidate actually went through the job vacancy and gave it a thought before sending in their application, or whether your job listing was just one of a few dozen which they checked at once before hitting 'send'.

And if you belong to the second category, all the HRs in the world will band together and hit you with bulky binders till you rush back and fix your job-hunting process.

Additionally, you can also opt for Hiration's Resume Review Service to get your resume professionally reviewed before you apply to your target job.

How is a Cover Letter Different from a Resume?

Isn't your resume enough, you ask? If you spent hours and days working on it, what's so special about that additional piece of document which will increase your chances of getting a shortlist?

A resume is a statement of all your work profiles till date. You can rephrase or tailor your professional experience along the lines of a few profiles or industries which you are targeting, but other than that, there's very little that you can do when it comes to customizing your application.

That's where the humble cover letter comes in.

The format or structure of a resume is pretty standard (for more, you can check out our detailed guide on resume layout and resume format ). Most applicants who are up-to-date with resume trends will send in their resumes along those lines itself.

A cover letter is where you can break free from the rest and showcase how you and you alone can kill it, how you are meant for that particular job role, how you were born to be an Associate at XYZ, for instance.

Trust us, we aren't being dramatic when we say it. Unless you are able to prove to the recruiter that everything you've ever done till date was only leading to that particular vacancy, everything else is hogwash.

And that's where a cover letter breaks away from a resume.

Cover letters are written for a particular vacancy and addressed to a specific Hiring Manager/Recruiter. You can scan your entire professional career and cherry pick only those instances and achievements which will present you as a perfect response to the job listing.

And there's more. You can do the same for every job that you are applying for. This is how you reduce the number of places where you apply while streamlining your job-hunting process and making your applications more targeted and concise.

A cover letter also gives you a chance to explain your case or justify your shortcomings in a way which is not always possible in a resume.

For instance, in cases where you were off the job market for a particular time period (owing to any reason whatsoever), you can justify the same in your cover letter.

In case you are changing industries or starting in another industry from scratch after a significant experience in another wildly divergent segment, you can dispel the ambiguity surrounding your application so as to leave little room for doubt.

You can be outrightly honest in your application and explain your motivation so that the recruiter at least has adequate information and has a chance to factor in your perspective before coming to a decision.

Also read : What All Goes in a Cover Letter Heading?

How to Write a Cover Letter - A Crisp 5-step Guide

Since you now know what a cover letter is and why you need one, let's get down to the nuts and bolt of making one.

Within 10 minutes, the secret to writing a killer cover letter will be revealed to you in a simple step-by-step guide.

How to Begin - Addressing the Cover Letter

A) Your name and job title comes on top. The job title is not a sacrosanct rank assigned to you from the heavens above. You have a certain level of flexibility wherein you can tailor the same as per the requirements of the job.

For instance, if you are a Sales Executive in your present profile and come across a Sales Associate vacancy, you can go ahead and modify the same to make your application a better fit for the job.

B) Unless you are living in Dickensian England, avoid 'Dear Sir/Madam'. Depending on the culture which is prevalent in your targeted company (casual vs. corporate), you can go take a call on whether to use the first name or last, followed by the profile held by that person aligned to the left.

Mr. John Buchanan Hiring Manager, XYZ Ltd.

(In case you can't find the name of the Hiring Manager, you can simply proceed with Human Resources, XYZ Ltd.)

This goes a long way in making a huge impact than using a generic 'Sir/madam'. This tells the recruiter that what they are about to read is written specifically for them. This will help your cover letter feel like a breath of fresh air for someone who is so used to seeing general cover letters thrown around by the dozen.

C) Start off with your contact details aligned to the right, which would typically include your phone number, email and location (no need for the complete address, just the location will do).

While we are at it, you wouldn't want to break your chances of getting a shortlist if, for instance, your email ID is [email protected] or [email protected] . . . you catch the drift, right? So let's avoid that as well. Ideally your email ID should only consist of your first and last name.

Additionally, avoid using email ID of your current organization. That's just disrespecting not only your present employer but also the recruiter who's seeing your cover letter for the first time.

D) You can add your digital profiles here as well (only LinkedIn and blog, not your Facebook or Twitter), but only if you think they'll add value to your application. If your blog is flooded with posts on Kim Kardashian and UFO sightings since 1970, keep that miles away from your cover letter.

Finally, make sure that the contact information is consistent across your resume, cover letter and digital space in general.

Also read : Whom to Address the Cover Letter when Name's Not Available?

The First Paragraph: Hook, Line & Sinker

The first paragraph of the cover letter is the hook which is supposed to catch the recruiter and draw them in. The first paragraph will contain within its lines a reason for the recruiter to continue reading.

So how do you do that? What's the secret?

Want the Hiring Manager to read your cover letter in its entirety? Give him/her a reason to. The first paragraph is your chance to showcase how the skills and experience that you possess stand to benefit the organization.

Try to identify a need which you can fulfill. That's the basic premise for any transaction since the dawn of mankind. If you can't fulfill a pressing need of the organization, your cover letter will end up in a big ol' steaming pile of Nope.

Identify something which the organization is looking for, scan your previous achievements and demonstrate how you can leverage that to solve critical organizational issues. Unless you can generate that need, you'll always be at the periphery of getting shortlisted but won't ever make the cut.

The first line itself can be your gateway to accomplish just that. There won't ever be a single sure-shot way to guarantee a shortlist. You can either highlight your achievements or demonstrate your interest in the organization by researching their requirements and showing how you can fulfill the same.

Try to talk less about yourself and more about how your track record will help the organization. Let us make the point even clearer with a few examples:

"An 11-year track record of leading teams in Sales and generating multi-million dollar revenues on an annual basis. Played a key role in partnering with MNCs and other conglomerates. Highly interested in the profile of Sales Manager at XYZ Ltd."

Now let's take a look at another one:

"As a keen follower of XYZ Ltd. and its initiatives, I was thrilled to find a vacancy of Sales Manager. With my track record of generating USD 8.2m in sales and forging strategic alliances with Fortune 500 companies, I think I'd be a significant value add to your organization so I can play an instrumental role in achieving your target of 20% YOY growth."

Notice the difference between the two? In the second one, not only is the candidate talking about his achievements, he's also mentioning how his previous work experience can help the organization achieve their goals.

This is a significant departure from those candidates who select multiple job listings and send their resumes everywhere.

This shows that the candidate shortlisted this particular vacancy from several others and conducted research to find the targets which the company is trying to achieve, and how he can play a role in fulfilling those targets.

The Second Paragraph - You & The Company

Continue in the same vein while making sure that the second paragraph is not you just bragging endlessly with your achievements.

All your achievements are detailed in your resume - don't worry about that. Here, your goal is to showcase only those achievements which the recruiter or organization can deem to be useful.

Another component which we only implied till now but are explicitly mentioning only here is RESEARCH. That can be a huge deal-breaker or a life-saver, depending on which camp you fall under.

You can't fulfill the needs of the recruiter if you don't know what it is.

For instance, if you are a Software Developer who has overseen several dozen projects across your tenure, you'll only highlight those projects - more specifically achievements of those projects - which the organization can find useful.

For example, if one of your project was around developing a portal, and as part of your research, you find that the organization you're targeting is somehow targeting just that, you can go ahead and mention the same in glowing letters.

Staying relevant is the key. Otherwise you'll just look like a braggart who's full of himself.

The Third Paragraph - The Company & You

Your goal is to convince the recruiter why you want that particular job and how it's not just any generic job you are applying for - what is it about that company which makes it a perfect fit for you?

The research component that we talked about in the earlier point will reap more dividends here as well. Scan the company's website and make a list of everything which you think might be relevant.

The points here will range from the organization's interest in non-core activities (sports, environment, etc.) to strategies around its core initiatives.

The idea is to make the recruiter believe that you know everything there is to know about the company and can't wait to be a part of it.

You can research and identify any particular project which the company is targeting, or any component of its long-term plan which you think might be relevant for you. Mention that project or component and explain how with a track record like yours, you will be a killer addition to the same.

If you genuinely think that you'd be a perfect fit for the organization, it's only a matter of phrasing it correctly. Believe it or not, even the recruiter is desperately looking for people like you.

If the company is actually going to benefit from having you on-board, why won't they? An example will clear that right up:

"It is difficult to come away un-awed by the passion for excellence that XYZ has displayed in its meteoric rise to become a dominant player in this field. It's remarkable that despite a presence in x states/countries, it values its employees & ensures a continuous learning environment. I am inspired by its collaborative working style that emphasizes upon teamwork, trust & tolerance. Hence, I consider XYZ to be my most preferred employer."

Also read : Top Four Tips to Ace Your Cover Letter

Ending the Cover Letter - Seal the Deal

Instead of having a generic last paragraph, you can utilize the space to include additional details which you think will further seal the deal.

The idea is to close the cover letter on such a note that the recruiter is left with no option but to contact you and schedule an interview.

You can take our advice and avoid using cliche phrases like 'thank you for your time' or 'looking forward to hearing from you'. Even if you are desperate for that job, try to not reflect the same in your cover letter.

Don't focus on your requirements. Instead, focus on how you can fulfill theirs .

"Please find enclosed my resume. Looking forward to hearing from you."

"Enclosed for your consideration is my resume. I'd appreciate the opportunity to further discuss my suitability and qualifications with you on call or in person so I can share my roadmap for reducing your costs by 20%."

Opt for Hiration's Resume Review Service to get your resume reviewed by select industry experts.

Cover Letter Tips & Hacks

Every time you intend to write a cover letter, you probably browse cover letter examples online, get overwhelmed, and think to yourself: Does recruiters really read these? Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just let my resume speak for itself?

Hold up! Before you tire yourself and give up on the idea of cover letters, follow these steps:

We cannot over-stress the importance of research in drafting the perfect cover letter.

There's little sense in spending time writing a cover letter and trying to customize it without making sure that you are indeed hitting the mark. Research is how you truly tailor the cover letter in line with a particular profile and organization.

Your cover letter should ideally be a response to the Job Description. You should present yourself as someone who can single-handedly resolve all the issues which are outlined in the JD.

Look up the Hiring Manager if possible instead of addressing the cover letter to Human Resources. Researching on the specific issues and challenges which the company is facing will help if you want to scan your own achievements and assess how you can truly resolve them.

Cover Letter Format

A precise cover letter format will undoubtedly be a game-changer for getting those shortlists. The cover letter format includes the structure and design in which you present the document, in addition to the basic information which goes in the same, including your contact details and job title.

In most cases, you need not experiment too much with design and structure. In top-end MNCs and official vacancies, the recruiter specifies the exact format in which to deliver the resume and cover letter. Here, be cautious.

If the recruiter has asked for a particular format, submitting your application in any other format most often means immediate rejection.

Customization

Customization is the key to the perfect cover letter. There are no two ways to that.

Right from the greeting on the top to the closing paragraph, the cover letter should feel like a response to that particular job vacancy. The research part may seem grueling to most, but believe us, it's worth it. Always.

Finding out intricate details of the company and incorporating the same in your cover letter speaks volumes. Even before you appear for the interview, the recruiter will think of you as someone who knows what s/he's doing, someone who has spent time on their application and meticulously tailored it to the job vacancy.

Going easy with customization and sending generic cover letters is a sure short recipe for disaster. You'd rather not send a cover letter at all than send a general one.

Know What to Include, and What Not to Include

The cover letter is not a register of all your achievements till date. That's your resume. Make sure you are not coming across as someone who can't perceive anything outside their own achievements.

It doesn't matter to the company if you've been a hero in your last organization. That only says that you did well at your last job. It's your task to convince the recruiter that you have the capability to replicate your successes in their organization as well.

Don't include elaborate project details and administrative responsibilities. While there's no universal consensus on the word limit, general wisdom suggests you keep it limited to 350-400 words.

Filling Resume Gaps

In most cases, you'll follow a standard format for your resume. There's little room in there for justifying any shortcomings. That's where the cover letter comes in.

Ranging from employment gaps to too many work profiles in a short span of time, you can use the cover letter to remove ambiguities and ensure that the recruiter does not jump to any conclusion.

A resume is your personal statement. It's filled with your details and your achievements. But the same is not the case with a cover letter. It's more about the organization which you are targeting than anything else.

Don't Lie or Go Overboard

We felt it was important to state this despite it being something too obvious. Any decent organization knows the value of a good recruit and the cost of a bad one. They'll go at great lengths to validate each and every little thing you've mentioned in your resume and cover letter.

Which is why, don't lie.

Not only will it ruin your chances of bagging that particular role, if a company finds out you blatantly lied on your resume/cover letter, they'll spread the same in their network which might include other significant companies and recruitment agencies.

In other words, you are a goner.

All recruiters know that anyone they go on to recruit will spend 8-10 hours in their environment, interact with their teams, coordinate with their clients and what not. In other words, they aren't looking for a machine. They are looking for a living and breathing individual who'll be a team player.

Gone are the days when you had to be uptight in your tone and language. Don't confuse it with being not professional though. You can be professional without sounding like a robot.

Give a snapshot of the individual that breathes beneath the surface. It helps if the recruiter knows that you have a healthy sense of humour or are a perfect fit for the team.

And again, remember you can always make your resume and cover letter at Hiration's AI Powered Personalized Career Assistant as it comes with 200+ ready to use content templates.

You can look into Hiration’s all-encompassing career service platform with 24/7 chat support for all your professional needs - from building a shortlist-worthy resume and cover letter to optimizing your LinkedIn profile, preparing for interviews, and more!

For any concerns or queries, reach out to us at [email protected] .

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Cover Letter Format Guide For The Year 2022

In the year 2022, evolution has touched everything, including the cover letter formats. The fact that cover letters are not what they used to be is both alarming and satisfying.

Alarming because the need to write a good cover letter keeps changing and it is hard to keep up. And satisfying because it is good to see that the same thing does not repeat.

However, cover letter writing is far from being predictable even now. One has to do a lot to come out on top.

Let us talk about what kind of cover letter formats will work better in 2022.

As mentioned earlier, standards are continually changing where the cover letter format is concerned.

Hiring managers no longer want to see boring content in long paragraphs. On the other hand, they prefer short and clear sentences in simple language.

Where the cover letter format is concerned, the usual beginning, middle, and end remain the same. However, the way to write has changed somewhat.

Cover Letter Format Guide 2022

Start your cover letter in 2022 by including the date followed by your contact info at the top left of your cover letter.

Address the letter to the hiring manager by name such as “Mr. John Doe.”

Begin your cover letter with a standard salutation, such as “Dear Mr. Doe.”

First Paragraph

The beginning of the cover letter no longer requires one to write clichéd sentences such as “This is with reference to your ad in the newspaper” .

Even typical information such as how you heard about the opening, not necessarily in the conventional way.

Instead, you may begin with a story or an event. Introduce your skills and qualifications. Show how the role aligns with your career goals.

Divide the main body of the cover letter into 2 to 3 paragraphs.

Writing short sentences in the cover letter body will help a hiring manager hold on to the information that you provide.

Of course, being specific will also help tremendously. Talking about your skills and accomplishments at this point will work in your favor.

Consequently, you will be considered as an excellent person to hire, and obviously, the hiring manager will give your resume a viewing.

Last Paragraph

The closing is as important as the beginning and the main body.

That is because you need to say goodbye proactively, making the hiring manager think that he will hear from you again. Leave a number.

Besides, tell him that you will call them to set up an interview date and time.

The year 2022 is expected to be full of opportunities – you have to take advantage. The first thing to remember is that a good cover letter format in 2022 will help you obtain your dream job.

Short sentences, as well as short paragraphs, will go a long way in making the best cover letter. 

Equally important is including only relevant information. Similarly, avoid duplication of your resume.

Once you have all these covered, you are good to write a cover letter that is sure to make a positive impact.

• How to Write the Best Cover Letter in 2022? Complete Guidance
• Best Cover Letter Example for a 16-Year-Old [+6 Tips]
• Beginner Cover Letter Format
• 2 Lube Technician Cover Letter Samples [+Format]

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• Careers & Jobs

10 Best Cover Letter Tips & Tricks Sure to Score Job Interviews in 2022

Writing a cover letter with our cover letter tips and writing hacks, you’re sure to write one that impresses and lands you an interview.

Ready to get started writing your cover letter?

A cover letter, at first glance, may seem like a daunting task, harder to complete than the responsibilities at the job you’re applying for.

However, with our cover letter tips, tricks, and writing hacks, you’re sure to find it’s way easier than you’d thought.

So, let’s get to it!

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Here are our top cover letter tips to help you score an interview:

1. Tailor Each Cover Letter for One Particular Job

This is one of our most important resume tips , but it’s also one of the most crucial cover letter tips, as well.

What does tailoring a cover letter mean, exactly?

To tailor a cover letter means that you write one cover letter specifically for each job you apply to. It mentions the company and job position by name, and it covers exactly why you are a great fit for this organization, job title, department, and the company culture overall.

Hiring managers look at dozens, if not hundreds, of cover letters every day; to get invited to the interview, you need to stand out from the crowd. Writing a generic cover letter does the exact opposite while also showing the recruiter or HR representative that you couldn’t care less about actually getting a response.

While it may sound time-consuming, it pays off in the long run. Actually, not tailoring your cover letter is the actual waste of time, because you’ll just be applying to more and more jobs without getting that phone call back.

2. Research the Company Before You Begin

Before you start writing your cover letter, it’s important to research the company. Not only will this help you write a tailored cover letter, but it will advise you on what to write in the body to tickle their fancy.

Begin first by researching the position you’re applying for at your company so you’ll be able to understand and speak to exactly what they’re looking for as an employee. A graphic designer or administrative assistant or junior accountant at Company A will have different job responsibilities, necessary skills, and cultural fit than the same exact position at Company B.

Next, research the team you’re applying to be a part of. This may be easier for larger companies, but it can definitely prepare you for success. Are you applying to join their marketing team? Learn about their past campaigns, their marketing “voice,” and any other information so you can detail how you envision yourself helping the team grow and accomplish their goals.

Finally, research the company itself. From their founders and history to the company culture and future plans, knowing the company on a more intimate level will help you write a can’t-be-beat cover letter, as well as impress them at the interview to follow!

Related Read : 10+ Job Search Tips & Tricks to Up Your Chances of Landing an Interview

3. Find the Hiring Manager’s Name

This probably belongs with researching the company, but I figured I’d give it its own entry because it’s important.

If you can avoid it—and you usually can—you don’t want to start your cover letter with “To whom it may concern” or “Dear sir or madam.” 

Do you know that famous quote by Dale Carnegie, author of How To Win Friends and Influence People , one of the best business books to read ? He says, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

So, open your cover letter with a salutation that uses this sweet, most important sound! Search on LinkedIn, the company’s website, or even call up the receptionist to learn what the name of the hiring manager, recruiter, HR representative, or department manager is, and you’ll go a long way towards winning them over before you even get to the content of your cover letter!

4. Don’t Repeat Your Resume

Some people just use their cover letter to basically repeat everything they already mentioned on their cover letter, perhaps just in more complete sentences.

Don’t do this.

A cover letter should be complementary to your resume. Use it to go more in-depth on certain skills you have and how they relate to the job you’re applying for. Or, explain why there’s an employment gap on your resume, for instance, as that’s usually something they’ll want to clear up.

Reiterating your resume on your cover letter only gives them the same document twice, only in different formats; it’s like sending them your resume as a PDF and also as a Word document. Instead, your cover letter should add value to your resume if you want it to add value to your chances as a prospective job candidate!

Related Read : What to Bring to an Interview? 10+ Things to Take for Your Big Meeting

5. Always Send a Cover Letter When Applying for a Job

These are all great cover letter tips and all, but do you even need a cover letter in the first place?

Absolutely!

Cover letters are just as important—if not more—as the resume it accompanies. Worse case scenario is they don’t read it at all and focus on your resume, but this is highly unlikely. And, as they say, it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it .  

However, read the job description just to be sure. If it specifically demands you not to apply with a cover letter, then don’t, of course. Also, if you’re applying through a proprietary application system, you might fill out all your information there and have no place to upload or paste your cover letter, and that’s fine—unfortunate, but fine.

But, in every other case, include a cover letter! 

6. Format Your Cover Letter Right

As we discussed earlier, a cover letter should follow formal letter protocol and rules, even if the content you write in the body is more on the informal side.

Here’s how a cover letter should be formatted:

Your First & Last Name Your Address Date of Writing Name of Company Representative Their Department Company Name Company Address Salutation Opening Paragraph to Introduce Yourself Cover Letter Body Paragraphs Ending Paragraph Closing Sentiment Your Name

If you follow this cover letter format, you’ll at least have the structure right. Feel free to copy and paste this onto your blank cover letter document and use it as a guide when writing yours!

Related Read : Internships 101: Everything You Should Know About Internship Programs

7. Don’t Mention the EXACT Role You’re Applying For

This is one of the very specific cover letter tips, but it can be quite handy and only for the best.

In your cover letter opening statement, when you mention your formal application for such-and-such position, leave off any qualifying seniority levels if they’re on the low end.

For example, say you’re applying for the junior sales representative opening Company A has. On your cover letter, write that you’re applying for the open sales representative position (leaving off the “junior”). 

If the company only has the junior position to fill, then fine, they’ll know you meant that. But, if they also had a mid-level sales rep role to hire for, they could weigh your experience and fitfulness for that higher-level position, as well. You never know—you could have earned yourself a promotion before you even arrived at the interview!

8. Stay Professional While Also Showing Your Personality

Cover letters are business documents, so you should keep them formally formatted (which we’ll talk about shortly). However, let your personality shine through, as well.

When you hand in the job application package consisting of your resume and cover letter, your resume is the all-business document. It’s monotonous in nature, with curt sentences, bullet points, and lists of skills.

With that being the case, use your job cover letter to show some personality. Like I mentioned earlier, you shouldn’t write “Dear sir or madam,” because it’s not personal and seems rather generic. The same goes with the actual content within the cover letter body. Let your excitement for the opportunity of being hired to work for this company shine through. Show your enthusiasm for the role you’re asking to take on. Display passion for your past work, and they’ll easily imagine you working for them, soon enough!

Related Read : How to Use Goodwall’s Web Profile to Land a Job or Internship Opportunity

9. Proofread Your Cover Letter Thoroughly

Before you even think about sending your cover letter, proofread!

One of the biggest cover letter mistakes, and one of the biggest turn-offs for hiring managers, is to receive a resume or cover letter with a misspelled word or a grammatical error. Most typos are easily announced by your word processor software, whether it’s Google Docs, Microsoft Office, or another program, but they can make mistakes, too, particularly when a word you misspelled is a correctly-spelled different word. 

Also, beware of cover letter errors involving dates you worked, goals you achieved, or responsibilities you had. To make sure everything reads correctly and well, hand your cover letter (and job resume) to a friend, relative, or, better yet, the career counselor at your high school or college, if you’re lucky enough to have one. They may just spot something you had missed, even after several reads!

10. Don’t Lie in Your Cover Letter

Lying on a cover letter is a sure way to get your application tossed out. And, if for some reason you lie and make it all the way to getting hired, you’ll just have a longer way to fall when they do finally learn the truth—and they almost always do!

Be humbly honest in your cover letter when talking about an employment gap or other incident you may be embarrassed about. Recruiters and HR managers know that candidates will have patches of time without work—it would be almost a miracle if you didn’t have a career gap sooner or later! So, stay truthful on your cover letter, and you’ll be just fine. 

Better yet, don’t lie at any point in your employment process!

Related Read : Work From Home Jobs: 13 Best Remote & Online Jobs for 2021 & Beyond

Well, that’s all our cover letter tips for now, but we’ll keep it updated by adding more. We hope you found this guide helpful! If you have any questions, feedback, or other tips for writing cover letters to add to our list, let us know below in the comments, and thanks for reading!

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Top 10 Cover Letter Tips (+ Mistakes To Avoid)

Mike Simpson 0 Comments

By Mike Simpson

Ah, the cover letter. While it seems like writing a cover letter would be so incredibly simple, it’s often one of the most intimidating parts of the application process. Why? Well, there are quite a few reasons.

With a cover letter, you have to showcase your capabilities differently than you would in a resume. If you’re new to cover letters, that alone could be enough to set you on edge.

Plus, cover letters can feel a lot like bragging. It’s a one-sided conversation, where you tout your abilities to an audience that isn’t answering. That, too, can be a bit uncomfortable.

But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from creating one. With the right cover letter tips, you can create an effective cover letter that boosts your job search prospect. Ready to make the most of this little document? Then, come with us as we explore how to do just that.

What Is a Cover Letter? What Are They Used For?

Before we dig into any cover letter tips, let’s take a step back and answer a couple of basic questions.

First, what is a cover letter?

Well, a cover letter is a critical document that takes the form of a traditional letter. It lets you introduce yourself to the hiring manager in a way that isn’t possible with a resume alone. In many ways, it allows you to extend a more meaningful digital handshake.

Generally speaking, resumes are fact-based documents. You list your achievements, using a bullet point approach. It’s succinct, targeted, and straightforward.

Cover letters have more flow. You can use “I” statements and describe yourself. You can showcase your personality, both in the way you write and the points you choose to cover. While it needs to be relevant to the position you want to land, a cover letter is more conversational.

A second question that frequently crosses job seekers’ minds is, what are cover letters used for? After all, your resume highlights your skills, traits, and achievements. Do you really need anything more than that? Well, yes, you do.

Your resume has to be incredibly focused and concise , and the presentation of your abilities often feels a bit rigid. It’s hard to showcase your personality in a resume. Plus, you don’t have a lot of room to explain various details. Sometimes, that works against you.

With a cover letter, you give yourself that room. You can cultivate a narrative, sharing aspects of your story that have no place on a resume. Got a gap in your work history? You can discuss why in your cover letter. Switching careers? You can explain your choice and tap on how your skills are transferable in a cover letter.

Now, that doesn’t mean you want to get too personal – we’ll dig into that more in a bit – a cover letter does give you some freedom of expression. When used well, it can make a world of difference, helping you stand out from the pack and land an interview.

Characteristics of a Good Cover Letter

What to put in a cover letter? That’s likely a question running through your mind. Luckily, the answer isn’t challenging.

Now, we’ve covered the various structural aspects of an effective cover letter before, so we’ll just tap on them briefly here.

Just like resumes, cover letters need the right components and structure. You want to address a cover letter the right way and choose the correct cover letter format .

If you aren’t sure where to begin, your best bet is to start with a cover letter template . You can also review some cover letter examples to get moving in the right direction.

Just remember, if you’re using examples, don’t copy them verbatim even if they are a good match for your capabilities. There’s always a chance that a hiring manager is going to check your cover letter for plagiarism and, if they discover you pulled yours straight from another website, you can kiss that job goodbye.

At the opening of your cover letter – after you’ve covered your and the hiring manager’s contact information along with a greeting – you need to introduce yourself. Also, in the first paragraph, mention the job title and department of the position you’re going after. If you’re applying to a recruiter that fills openings at multiple businesses, list the company name, too. That way, there’s no doubt as to why you’re writing.

After that, when you are deciding what to put in a cover letter, drawing the hiring manager in needs to be your goal. How do you do that? By targeting the content.

You already know that tailoring your resume is important; the same is true of your cover letter. You don’t want to send out a generic form letter. That won’t pack a punch.

Instead, you want your cover letter to showcase why you’re the best fit for this specific job. When you’re writing a cover letter, it’s all about creating a standout value proposition. You need to highlight how your capabilities will help the company thrive. You can’t do that without tailoring the content.

Luckily, the process isn’t unlike targeting a resume. If you get to know the STAR Method and the Tailoring Method , you can use many of those techniques in your cover letter, too.

Awesome, right?

Usually, you’ll extol your virtues and present a standout value proposition in two or three body paragraphs. Then, it’s time for an amazing closing.

Express your appreciation. Reaffirm your interest. Say, “thank you.” Let them know you’re looking forward to hearing back and how you intend to follow up. Then, sign off, listing your LinkedIn page or personal branding website after your signature.

Keep the overall length of your cover letter reasonable. Usually, you are aiming for about one page, with one opening paragraph, two or three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph.

Common Cover Letter Mistakes

Alright, we are getting closer to the amazing cover letter tips that will help you stand out from the masses. But before we start on those, let’s take a minute to cover something else important: what not to do.

Cover letter mistakes can turn a great cover letter into a terrible one. That’s why avoiding missteps is essential. So, without further ado, here are three things you don’t want to do.

1. Not Writing a Cover Letter

In reality, the biggest cover letter mistake you can make is not writing one. Even if the application doesn’t make one mandatory, skipping it will usually hurt you.

After all, 26 percent of recruiters view cover letters as important when they are trying to make hiring decisions. Why? Think about it. Cover letters help them learn more about candidates. If they really want to find the cream of the crop, reviewing job seeker cover letters can help them do it.

Plus, 52 percent of hiring managers would give more attention to a resume with a cover letter. When you add a good cover letter to your resume, you’re going the extra mile. It takes effort to create one of the best cover letters around, and hiring managers will notice that you gave it your all.

In nearly all cases, creating an effective cover letter works in your favor. That’s why skipping it is generally a bad move.

There is one situation where you don’t want to submit a cover letter: when the instructions specifically say not to. If you send one in anyway, you’re not following the directions. Even if you literally wrote the most spectacular cover letter ever created, you failed to do what the instructions said, and that usually means a one-way trip to the discard pile.

2. Making It All About You

Alright, we admit this mistake is a bit counter intuitive. After all, aren’t you supposed to tell the hiring manager why you’re amazing? Well, yeah, you are.

The trick is how you approach it. It shouldn’t be “me, me, me.” Instead, it needs to explore what you can do for the company.

You’re creating a value proposition. You need to position yourself as a solution to specific company challenges. How do you do that? Start by scouring the job description .

As you look at the vacancy announcement, look for insights about how this role functions based on the bigger picture. What critical duties will the new hire handle? How does this employee push the company towards its goals and broader success?

Once you figure that out, showcase how you can do that for the company.

Now, this doesn’t mean you rehash what’s on your resume. No, no, no. Redundancy is never good. Instead, you want to cover points that don’t work in your application elsewhere, or add context about your capabilities that didn’t fit on your resume. That’s how you make your value proposition stronger.

3. Being Too Personal

Showcasing your personality is a good idea, but that doesn’t mean you need to give the hiring manager intimate details about your life. The focus needs to be on your professional capabilities, not your strange hobby, your recent back surgery, or that you’re relocating because your ex was a nightmare.

If you cross the line, there’s a good chance that the hiring manager is going to have immediate doubts about you as a candidate. They may figure that you don’t know what is or isn’t appropriate to discuss in a professional environment, at a minimum.

Oversharing doesn’t help you stand out, at least, not in a good way. So, resist the urge to tell them about any aspect of your life that isn’t highly relevant to the job.

Remember, cover letters are short. Don’t waste real estate on something that isn’t making your value proposition stronger.

Top 10 Cover Letter Tips

Now it’s time for what you’ve been waiting for. Here are 10 cover letter tips that can help you make yours as awesome as possible.

1. Make It a Document, Not Just an Email

Alright, this piece of cover letter advice might seem a bit weird in the digital age. After all, if you’re applying via email, why shouldn’t you just put your cover letter in the body of the message?

Well, the thing is, many hiring managers still print out the attachments. A surprising number of companies rely heavily on paper files. If your cover letter isn’t in a separate document, it might not get printed. That means it gets detached from the rest of your application.

Make sure your cover letter is printable, and not just as an email. That way, if this hiring manager prefers to review paper documents, you’re covered.

2. Use Keywords

If the company you want to work for uses an ATS, there’s a chance your cover letter and resume will go through a keyword screening. That can work in your favor, giving you another place to get some valuable keywords in.

Now, you don’t want to just regurgitate what’s in your resume. Instead, if you didn’t get a chance to tap on a keyword in your resume (or could only fit it in once), you can use your cover letter to cover it.

3. Watch Your Sentence Structure

Since you’re writing about yourself, you may have a tendency to start every sentence with “I.” While you can do that on occasion, if every sentence starts “I,” one after another, the tone of your cover letter is going to be a miss.

Similarly, if every sentence is the same length, you’ll run into trouble. It makes your cover letter sound monotonous and, monotonous often equals boring. You’re trying to catch the hiring manager’s attention, so mix things up a bit.

Make sure you use different starting words and vary your sentence length. It’ll make your cover letter more interesting, and that’s ridiculously important.

4. Talk About Them

Creating a value proposition means showing how your skills will make life easier for them. Discuss yourself but only in the context of applying your capabilities to solve their problems. That makes you look like a solution, and that’s what you really want.

One of the simplest ways to pull this off is to identify a pain point. Then, you can mention it briefly and follow that up with how you can make it easier to overcome. Easy peasy.

5. Match Tone

Hiring managers need to find candidates that are also great culture fits. If you want to highlight yourself as a potential match, use the company’s tone as a guide.

See what language they use in social media posts, mission and values statements, website, and job ad. Then, convey a similar tone, while keeping things professional. It’ll make you seem like a better fit, and that’s a great thing.

6. Use Numbers

Quantifying your cover letter is just as important as quantifying your resume. Numbers stand out visually and provide valuable context. So add in some digits whenever it’s appropriate.

7. Make the Most of Your Opening Line

While your first paragraph needs to serve as an introduction, that doesn’t mean you have to start with, “My name is…” In fact, you shouldn’t. Your name is at the top of the page, so you don’t need to repeat yourself.

Similarly, starting with, “I’m applying to [position]…” won’t help you stand out. While you do need to cover that information, consider making your first sentence something different.

Use a relevant quote. Highlight your professional motto. Lead with a brief anecdote. Any of those options are fairly unique, and may increase your odds of standing out.

8. Go Image-Free

Pictures, graphics, emojis… they don’t usually have a place in a cover letter. Plus, if your cover letter is screened by an ATS, anything other than text can confuse the system, and that could hurt you. So, leave the images out.

9. Skip Cliches

If you want to be unmemorable, rely on cliches. Phrases like “go-getter” and “team player” won’t help you. You’re better off using your achievements to showcase those traits than telling the hiring manager you have them.

10. Follow the Directions

If there are any directions regarding the cover letter, follow them to the letter, period. Failing to follow the instructions won’t result in anything but a rejection.

Putting It All Together

Ultimately, all of the cover letter tips above can help you stand out from the crowd. Make use of every single one. That way, you can stand out from the crowd for all of the right reasons.

Remember, you’re an exceptional candidate. Let that shine through in your cover letter.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com.

His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Mike simpson.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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Top 5 Tips For Creating a Winning Cover Letter

Mastering the art of cover letters: expert tips to elevate your job application.

Cover letters can be a powerful way to add a compelling narrative about your skills to your job application, but like all things career-related, they need to be done effectively.

A cover letter should never be an afterthought. The goal is for your cover letter to enhance your chances of getting an interview, but when done incorrectly, they have the exact opposite effect! 

Here are the top 5 tips for creating a winning cover letter.

1) Tell Me Why You Are The Best Candidate: Cover Letters are written in 1st person, which provides the opportunity to really sell yourself to that company. Hiring managers want to hear that you are the best candidate and the perfect fit for that Company and position, so focus your cover letter on making that specific case, i.e. find the match between your education and past experience and the employer’s specific needs. I advise students to target their cover letters based on what the reader wants to hear. Dedicate a paragraph to a description of what makes that company unique or special, followed immediately by a paragraph that demonstrates that your interests, skills and abilities (just so) happen to be a perfect match for that environment! You can even paraphrase some of the language in the job description to highlight your own skills and experience.

2) Generic Templates: I cannot tell you how many times I have seen generic cover letters sent to multiple companies, where the writer has changed only the relevant contact information. Again, the goal of your cover letter is to describe why you are perfect fit for the specific position and that company. There is no way a generic format can accomplish that. Write an individually tailored cover letter for each job application that describes your qualifications and fit for that position.

3) To Whom It May Concern: One of the quickest ways to ensure that your cover letter and resume are ignored is by including the generic and impersonal “To Whom It May Concern” line. If you can, try to find the name of the hiring manager so you can address him or her specifically. Most companies are very good at hiding that information, so instead of “To Whom It May Concern (or its close cousin, “Dear Sir or Madam”) try to target your cover letter with something more specific and personable like “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Human Resources Professional.” 

4) A Warm Lead: If you know someone at that company, reach out to him or her and ask if he would submit your resume and cover letter on your behalf, or at the very least, if you can use his or her name on your cover letter. Companies love internal referrals, so nothing beats a current employee submitting on your behalf. When that is not possible, being able to add a line (with permission) like “Chaim Shapiro, Assistant Director of Career Services at Touro recommended that I apply for this position,” lends credibility and can be a powerful way to get your application noticed and moved to the next level of review. 

5) Should I even bother? This may be a bit controversial, but I usually advise students to only include a cover letter when the application requires it specifically. Why? Cover Letters are a powerful tool that can enhance your chances at landing the job but, I have found that most applicants do not take their Cover Letters seriously. Most students do not have 2-3 hours to invest in a targeted cover letter for each of their applications, so they revert to a generic format that ends up doing a lot more harm than good. Do not make that mistake. Write a targeted cover letter for each job, or just let your resume do your talking!

By Chaim Shapiro, Touro's Director of the Office for Student Success

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Legal Templates

Home Business Letter of Intent Job

Job Letter of Intent Templates

Published July 16, 2024 Written by Josh Sainsbury | Reviewed by Brooke Davis

A job letter of intent , complementing a resume, is crucial for showcasing an applicant’s interest and fit for a position. It’s a platform to articulate how one’s work and academic background align with the company’s mission and values.

Effective letters of intent delve into specific experiences that demonstrate a candidate’s readiness and enthusiasm for the role. It’s not just about highlighting skills but also showing an understanding of the company’s culture and objectives.

Letter of Intent vs Cover Letter

While similar to a cover letter, a letter of intent has its unique purpose—it showcases your interest to potential employers, encouraging them to consider you during recruitment. 

Download: PDF or MS Word .

Job Letter of Intents – By Type

Use to emphasize how an applicant's background and specific experiences showcase their alignment with a company's culture and objectives, demonstrating readiness and enthusiasm for the role.

Used to seek advancement to a higher role, detailing the justification and potential operational benefits for the employer.

Use to offer employment, outlining job details, salary, duration, and terms, allowing for acceptance or negotiation.

Transfer Department/Job

Use to request management for relocation within the organization due to dissatisfaction or an impending move, highlighting mutual benefits and personal achievements.

Continue Working

Used to signal an employee's desire to renew their contract by highlighting achievements and starting discussions on extension benefits for the employer.

How To Write a Job Letter of Intent

Step 1: contact information and greeting.

Start your letter by providing your contact details at the top, followed by the date and the employer’s address. Use a professional greeting, targeting a specific individual whenever possible to personalize your letter.

Step 2: Introduction

Introduce yourself succinctly, mentioning your current role, educational background, and the reason you’re applying. State your intention clearly and respectfully, avoiding any negative comments about your current or past employers.

Step 3: Highlighting Your Qualifications

In the main body, focus on your skills and experiences, preferably using the STAR method to tie your capabilities to real-world examples. Ensure you align your strengths with the company’s goals and needs, showcasing how you can contribute.

Step 4: Call to Action and Closing

Propose the next steps, such as a meeting or follow-up email, providing your contact details for ease of communication. Conclude with a polite closing statement, thanking the recipient for their time and consideration, and sign off professionally.

Tips For Writing a Job Letter of Intent

• Key Skills: Highlight broad, transferable skills: leadership, coordination, cash handling, communication, software, and languages.
• Company Interest: Show personal alignment with company mission and values; demonstrate in-depth research.
• Current Events: Reference recent news or initiatives of the company to show engagement.
• Format: Use business letter format; concise subject line for emails; contact info in the email signature.
• Research: Deep dive into company culture and needs.
• Content: Focus on top qualifications, not resume rehash. Use bullet points for clarity.
• Length & Proofreading: Keep to one page. Proofread for errors.

Job Letter of Intent Sample

Eliza Green 456-12th Ave, Portland, OR [email protected] (333) 903-1234

Date: August 25th, 2019 Julian Morales Chief Marketing Officer Green Earth Produce

Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name],

I am writing to express my strong interest in the [Position Name] at [Company Name], as advertised on [where you found the job posting]. With a background in [Your Major/Field] and relevant experience in [Industry/Field], I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to your team and align with your company’s mission and core values.

I am currently working as a [Your Current Job Position] at [Your Current Company], where I have honed my skills in [mention one or two relevant skills or experiences], directly contributing to [a notable outcome of your work]. My educational background in [Your Degree] from [Your University] has solidified my foundational knowledge and ability to thrive in roles that require [mention a broad skill or area, e.g., strategic thinking, project management].

During my tenure at [Your Current or Previous Company], I successfully [describe a specific achievement or project], which resulted in [mention the result]. This experience, among others, underscores my capacity to adapt and excel within dynamic environments and to effectively meet and surpass objectives.

I am drawn to [Company Name] because of its commitment to [mention what you admire about the company—could be its innovation, community involvement, leadership in the industry, etc.]. I am eager to bring my blend of experience, dedication, and passion to [Position Name] and contribute to continued success and growth.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to further discuss how I can contribute to your team. I am available for an interview at your earliest convenience and can be reached at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email]. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the possibility of contributing to your esteemed company.

Warmest regards,

[Your Name]

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He is dangerous in word, deed and action

He puts self over country, he loathes the laws we live by, donald trump is unfit to lead.

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values . It is separate from the newsroom.

Next week, for the third time in eight years, Donald Trump will be nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president of the United States. A once great political party now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the Republic, a man whose values, temperament, ideas and language are directly opposed to so much of what has made this country great.

It is a chilling choice against this national moment. For more than two decades, large majorities of Americans have said they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and the post-Covid era of stubborn inflation, high interest rates, social division and political stagnation has left many voters even more frustrated and despondent.

The Republican Party once pursued electoral power in service to solutions for such problems, to building “the shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan liked to say. Its vision of the United States — embodied in principled public servants like George H.W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — was rooted in the values of freedom, sacrifice, individual responsibility and the common good. The party’s conception of those values was reflected in its longstanding conservative policy agenda, and today many Republicans set aside their concerns about Mr. Trump because of his positions on immigration, trade and taxes. But the stakes of this election are not fundamentally about policy disagreements. The stakes are more foundational: what qualities matter most in America’s president and commander in chief.

Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency. He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people. Instead of a cogent vision for the country’s future, Mr. Trump is animated by a thirst for political power: to use the levers of government to advance his interests, satisfy his impulses and exact retribution against those who he thinks have wronged him.

He is, quite simply, unfit to lead.

The Democrats are rightly engaged in their own debate about whether President Biden is the right person to carry the party’s nomination into the election, given widespread concerns among voters about his age-related fitness. This debate is so intense because of legitimate concerns that Mr. Trump may present a danger to the country, its strength, security and national character — and that a compelling Democratic alternative is the only thing that would prevent his return to power. It is a national tragedy that the Republicans have failed to have a similar debate about the manifest moral and temperamental unfitness of their standard-bearer, instead setting aside their longstanding values, closing ranks and choosing to overlook what those who worked most closely with the former president have described as his systematic dishonesty, corruption, cruelty and incompetence.

That task now falls to the American people. We urge voters to see the dangers of a second Trump term clearly and to reject it. The stakes and significance of the presidency demand a person who has essential qualities and values to earn our trust, and on each one, Donald Trump fails.

Moral Fitness Matters

Presidents are confronted daily with challenges that require not just strength and conviction but also honesty, humility, selflessness, fortitude and the perspective that comes from sound moral judgment.

If Mr. Trump has these qualities, Americans have never seen them in action on behalf of the nation’s interests. His words and actions demonstrate a disregard for basic right and wrong and a clear lack of moral fitness for the responsibilities of the presidency.

He lies blatantly and maliciously, embraces racists , abuses women and has a schoolyard bully’s instinct to target society’s most vulnerable. He has delighted in coarsening and polarizing the town square with ever more divisive and incendiary language. Mr. Trump is a man who craves validation and vindication, so much that he would prefer a hostile leader’s lies to his own intelligence agencies’ truths and would shake down a vulnerable ally for short-term political advantage . His handling of everything from routine affairs to major crises was undermined by his blundering combination of impulsiveness, insecurity and unstudied certainty.

This record shows what can happen to a country led by such a person: America’s image, credibility and cohesion were relentlessly undermined by Mr. Trump during his term.

None of his wrongful actions are so obviously discrediting as his determined and systematic attempts to undermine the integrity of elections — the most basic element of any democracy — an effort that culminated in an insurrection at the Capitol to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump incited a mob to violence with hateful lies, then stood by for hours as hundreds of his supporters took his word and stormed the Capitol with the aim of terrorizing members of Congress into keeping him in office. He praised these insurrectionists and called them patriots; today he gives them a starring role at campaign rallies, playing a rendition of the national anthem sung by inmates involved with Jan. 6., and he has promised to consider pardoning the rioters if re-elected. He continues to wrong the country and its voters by lying about the 2020 election, branding it stolen, despite the courts, the Justice Department and Republican state officials disputing him. No man fit for the presidency would flog such pernicious and destructive lies about democratic norms and values, but the Trumpian hunger for vindication and retribution has no moral center.

To vest such a person with the vast powers of the presidency is to endanger American interests and security at home as well as abroad. The nation’s commander in chief must uphold the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” It is the closest thing that this secular nation has to a sacred trust. The president has several duties and powers that are his alone: He has the sole authority to launch a nuclear weapon. He has the authority to send American troops into harm’s way and to authorize the use of lethal force against individuals and other nations. Americans who serve in the military also take an oath to defend the Constitution, and they rely on their commander in chief to take that oath as seriously as they do.

Mr. Trump has shown, repeatedly, that he does not. On numerous occasions, he asked his defense secretary and commanders in the American armed forces to violate that oath. On other occasions, he demanded that members of the military violate norms that preserve the dignity of the armed services and protect the military from being used for political purposes. They largely refused these illegal and immoral orders, as the oath requires.

The lack of moral grounding undermines Mr. Trump even in areas where voters view him as stronger and trust him more than Mr. Biden, like immigration and crime. Veering into a kind of brutal excess that is, at best, immoral and, at worst, unconstitutional, he has said that undocumented immigrants were “ poisoning the blood of our country ,” and his advisers say he would aim to round them up in mass detention camps and end birthright citizenship . He has indicated that, if faced with episodes of rioting or crime surges, he would unilaterally send troops into American cities. He has asked aides if the United States could shoot migrants below the waist to slow them down, and he has said that he would use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against protesters.

During his time in office, none of those things happened because there were enough people in military leadership with the moral fitness to say “no” to such illegal orders. But there are good reasons to worry about whether that would happen again, as Mr. Trump works harder to surround himself with people who enable rather than check his most insidious impulses.

The Supreme Court, with its ruling on July 1 granting presidents “absolute immunity” for official acts, has removed an obstacle to Mr. Trump’s worst impulses: the threat of legal consequences. What remains is his own sense of right and wrong. Our country’s future is too precious to rely on such a broken moral compass.

Principled Leadership Matters

Republican presidents and presidential candidates have used their leadership at critical moments to set a tone for society to live up to. Mr. Reagan faced down totalitarianism in the 1980s, appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court and worked with Democrats on bipartisan tax and immigration reforms. George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act and decisively defended an ally, Kuwait, against Iraqi aggression. George W. Bush, for all his failures after Sept. 11, did not stoke hate against or demonize Muslims or Islam.

As a candidate during the 2008 race, Mr. McCain spoke out when his fellow conservatives spread lies about his opponent, Barack Obama. Mr. Romney was willing to sacrifice his standing and influence in the party he once represented as a presidential nominee, by boldly calling out Mr. Trump’s failings and voting for his removal from office.

These acts of leadership are what it means to put country first, to think beyond oneself.

Mr. Trump has demonstrated contempt for these American ideals. He admires autocrats, from Viktor Orban to Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong-un. He believes in the strongman model of power — a leader who makes things happen by demanding it, compelling agreement through force of will or personality. In reality, a strongman rules through fear and the unprincipled use of political might for self-serving ends, imposing poorly conceived policies that smother innovation, entrepreneurship, ideas and hope.

During his four years in office, Mr. Trump tried to govern the United States as a strongman would, issuing orders or making decrees on Twitter. He announced sudden changes in policy — on who can serve in the military , on trade policy, on how the United States deals with North Korea or Russia — without consulting experts on his staff about how these changes would affect America. Indeed, nowhere did he put his political or personal interests above the national interest more tragically than during the pandemic , when he faked his way through a crisis by touting conspiracy theories and pseudoscience while ignoring the advice of his own experts and resisting basic safety measures that would have saved lives.

He took a similar approach to America’s strategic relationships abroad. Mr. Trump lost the trust of America’s longstanding allies, especially in NATO, leaving Europe less secure and emboldening the far right and authoritarian leaders in Europe, Latin America and Asia. He pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, leaving that country, already a threat to the world, more dangerous, thanks to a revived program that has achieved near-weapons-grade uranium.

In a second term, his willingness to appease Mr. Putin would leave Ukraine’s future as a democratic and independent country in doubt. Mr. Trump implies that he could single-handedly end the catastrophic war in Gaza but has no real plan. He has suggested that in a second term he’d increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 60 percent or higher and that he would put a 10 percent tariff on all imported goods, moves that would raise prices for American consumers and reduce innovation by allowing U.S. industries to rely on protectionism instead.

The worst of the Trump administration’s policies were often blocked by Congress, by court challenges and by the objections of honorable public servants who stepped in to thwart his demands when they were irresponsible or did not follow the law. When Mr. Trump wanted an end to Obamacare, a single Republican senator, Mr. McCain, saved it, preserving health care for millions of Americans. Mr. Trump demanded that James Comey, his F.B.I. director, pledge loyalty to him and end an investigation into a political ally; Mr. Comey refused. Scientists and public health officials called out and corrected his misinformation about climate science and Covid. The Supreme Court sided against the Trump administration more times than any other president since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A second Trump administration would be different. He intends to fill his administration with sycophants, those who have shown themselves willing to obey Mr. Trump’s demands or those who lack the strength to stand up to him. He wants to remove those who would be obstacles to his agenda, by enacting an order to make it easier to fire civil servants and replace them with those more loyal to him.

This means not only that Americans would lose the benefit of their expertise but also that America would be governed in a climate of fear, in which government employees must serve the interests of the president rather than the public. All cabinet secretaries follow a president’s lead, but Mr. Trump envisions a nation in which public service as Americans understand it would cease to exist — where individual civil servants and departments could no longer make independent decisions and where research by scientists and public health experts and investigations by the Justice Department and others in federal law enforcement would be more malleable to the demands of the White House.

Another term under Mr. Trump’s leadership would risk doing permanent damage to our government. As Mr. Comey, a longtime Republican, wrote in a 2019 guest essay for Times Opinion, “Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from.” Very few who serve under him can avoid this fate “because Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites,” Mr. Comey wrote. “Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.” America will get nowhere with a strongman. It needs a strong leader.

Character Matters

Character is the quality that gives a leader credibility, authority and influence. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump’s petty attacks on his opponents and their families led many Republicans to conclude that he lacked such character. Other Republicans, including those who supported the former president’s policies in office, say they can no longer in good conscience back him for the presidency. “It’s a job that requires the kind of character he just doesn’t have,” Paul Ryan, a former Republican House speaker, said of Mr. Trump in May .

Those who know Mr. Trump’s character best — the people he appointed to serve in the most important positions of his White House — have expressed grave doubts about his fitness for office.

His former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, described Mr. Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.” Bill Barr, whom Mr. Trump appointed as attorney general, said of him , “He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.” James Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who served as defense secretary, said , “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”

Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s vice president, has disavowed him. No other vice president in modern American history has done this. “I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Mr. Pence has said . “And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

These are hardly exceptions. In any other American administration, a single cabinet-level defection is rare. But an unprecedented number of Mr. Trump’s appointees have publicly criticized his leadership, opposed his 2024 presidential candidacy or ducked questions about his fitness for a second term. More than a dozen of his most senior appointees — those he chose to work alongside him and who saw his performance most closely — have spoken out against him, serving as witnesses about the kind of leader he is.

There are many ways to judge leaders’ character; one is to see whether they accept responsibility for their actions. As a general rule, Mr. Trump abhors accountability. If he loses, the election is rigged. If he is convicted, it’s because the judges are out to get him. If he doesn’t get his way in a deal, as happened multiple times with Congress in his term, he shuts down the government or threatens to.

Americans do not expect their presidents to be perfect; many of them have exhibited hubris, self-regard, arrogance and other character flaws. But the American system of government is more than just the president: It is a system of checks and balances, and it relies on everyone in government to intervene when a president’s personal failings might threaten the common good.

Mr. Trump tested those limits as president, and little has changed about him in the four years since he lost re-election. He tries to intimidate anyone with the temerity to testify as a witness against him. He attacks the integrity of judges who are doing their duty to hold him accountable to the law. He mocks those he dislikes and lies about those who oppose him and targets Republicans for defeat if they fail to bend the knee.

It may be tempting for Americans to believe that a second Trump presidency would be much like the first, with the rest of government steeled to protect the country and resist his worst impulses. But the strongman needs others to be weak, and Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with yes men.

The American public has a right to demand more from their president and those who would serve under him.

A President’s Words Matter

When America saw white nationalists and neo-Nazis march through the streets of Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 and activists were rallying against racism, Mr. Trump spoke of “very fine people on both sides.” When he was pressed about the white supremacist Proud Boys during a 2020 debate, Mr. Trump told them to “stand back and stand by,” a request that, records show, they took literally in deciding to storm Congress. This winter, the former president urged Iowans to vote for him and score a victory over their fellow Americans — “all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps.” And in a Veterans Day speech in New Hampshire, he used the word “vermin,” a term he has deployed to describe both immigrants and political opponents.

What a president says reflects on the United States and the kind of society we aspire to be.

In 2022 this board raised an urgent alarm about the rising threat of political violence in the United States and what Americans could do to stop it. At the time, Mr. Trump was preparing to declare his intention to run for president again, and the Republican Party was in the middle of a fight for control, between Trumpists and those who were ready to move on from his destructive leadership. This struggle within the party has consequences for all Americans. “A healthy democracy requires both political parties to be fully committed to the rule of law and not to entertain or even tacitly encourage violence or violent speech,” we wrote.

A large faction of one party in our country fails that test, and that faction, Mr. Trump’s MAGA extremists, now control the party and its levers of power. There are many reasons his conquest of the Republican Party is bad for American democracy, but one of the most significant is that those extremists have often embraced violent speech or the belief in using violence to achieve their political goals. This belief led to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and it has resulted in a rising number of threats against judges, elected officials and prosecutors.

This threat cannot be separated from Mr. Trump’s use of language to encourage violence, to dehumanize groups of people and to spread lies. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, released in October 2022, came to the conclusion that MAGA Republicans (as opposed to those who identified themselves as traditional Republicans) “are more likely to hold extreme and racist beliefs, to endorse political violence, to see such violence as likely to occur and to predict that they will be armed under circumstances in which they consider political violence to be justified.”

The Republican Party had an opportunity to renounce Trumpism; it has submitted to it. Republican leaders have had many opportunities to repudiate his violent discourse and make clear that it should have no place in political life; they failed to. Sizable numbers of voters in Republican primaries abandoned Mr. Trump for other candidates, and independent and undecided voters have said that Mr. Trump’s language has alienated them from his candidacy.

But with his nomination by his party all but assured, Mr. Trump has become even more reckless in employing extreme and violent speech, such as his references to executing generals who raise questions about his actions. He has argued, before the Supreme Court, that he should have the right to assassinate a political rival and face no consequences.

The Rule of Law Matters

The danger from these foundational failings — of morals and character, of principled leadership and rhetorical excess — is never clearer than in Mr. Trump’s disregard for rule of law, his willingness to do long-term damage to the integrity of America’s systems for short-term personal gain.

As we’ve noted, Mr. Trump’s disregard for democracy was most evident in his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to encourage violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power. What stood in his way were the many patriotic Americans, at every level of government, who rejected his efforts to bully them into complying with his demands to change election results. Instead, they followed the rules and followed the law. This respect for the rule of law, not the rule of men, is what has allowed American democracy to survive for more than 200 years.

In the four years since losing the election, Mr. Trump has become only more determined to subvert the rule of law, because his whole theory of Trumpism boils down to doing whatever he wants without consequence. Americans are seeing this unfold as Mr. Trump attempts to fight off numerous criminal charges. Not content to work within the law to defend himself, he is instead turning to sympathetic judges — including two Supreme Court justices with apparent conflicts over the 2020 election and Jan. 6-related litigation. The playbook: delay federal prosecution until he can win election and end those legal cases. His vision of government is one that does what he wants, rather than a government that operates according to the rule of law as prescribed by the Constitution, the courts and Congress.

As divided as America is, people across the political spectrum generally recoil from rigged rules, favoritism, self-dealing and abuse of power. Our country has been so stable for so long in part because most Americans and most American leaders follow the rules or face the consequences.

So much in the past two decades has tested these norms in our society — the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, the failures that led to the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed, the pandemic and all the fractures and inequities that it revealed. We need a recommitment to the rule of law and the values of fair play. This election is a moment for Americans to decide whether we will keep striving for those ideals.

Mr. Trump rejects them. If he is re-elected, America will face a new and precarious future, one that it may not be prepared for. It is a future in which intelligence agencies would be judged not according to whether they preserved national security but by whether they served Mr. Trump’s political agenda. It means that prosecutors and law enforcement officials would be judged not according to whether they follow the law to keep Americans safe but by whether they obey his demands to “go after” political enemies. It means that public servants would be judged not according to their dedication or skill but by whether they show sufficient loyalty to him and his MAGA agenda.

Even if Mr. Trump’s vague policy agenda would not be fulfilled, he could rule by fear. The lesson of other countries shows that when a bureaucracy is politicized or pressured, the best public servants will run for the exits.

This is what has already happened in Mr. Trump’s Republican Party, with principled leaders and officials retiring, quitting or facing ouster. In a second term, he intends to do that to the whole of government.

Election Day is less than four months away. The case against Mr. Trump is extensive, and this board urges Americans to perform a simple act of civic duty in an election year: Listen to what Mr. Trump is saying, pay attention to what he did as president and allow yourself to truly inhabit what he has promised to do if returned to office.

Voters frustrated by inflation and immigration or attracted by the force of Mr. Trump’s personality should pause and take note of his words and promises. They have little to do with unity and healing and a lot to do with making the divisions and anger in our society wider and more intense than they already are.

The Republican Party is making its choice next week; soon all Americans will be able to make their own choice. What would Mr. Trump do in a second term? He has told Americans who he is and shown them what kind of leader he would be.

When someone fails so many foundational tests, you don’t give him the most important job in the world.

From top, photographs and video by Damon Winter/The New York Times (2) and Jay Turner Frey Seawell (5).

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