Cover Letters

Cover letters are vital to a CV. Written applications and speculative job applications are often accompanied by a covering letter, which is a letter designed to introduce yourself, advertise your skills and experience and demonstrate to the employer why you are the best candidate for the job.

The main part of the letter should highlight key points of your CV and focus on the parts that are relevant to the vacancy you are applying for.

A cover letter is the first things an employer will see, so it must provide the right information in order to make you stand out and to make the employer aware of the reasons why they should employ you over anyone else.

Example covering letters

Things to remember

  • A cover letter should be no longer than 1 side of A4
  • Keep the amount of writing to 4-5 short and straight to the point paragraphs
  • They should be typed rather than handwritten
  • Keep the layout, font, style and size the same as or similar to your CV, so they are consistent
  • Wherever possible, address the letter to a named person within the organisation. If you don’t have the name of anyone, telephone the company beforehand and find out the name and job title of the person who deals with job applications
  • Make it clear which position you are applying for, include the reference number if there is one and state where you saw the vacancy advertised.
  • If you’re writing a speculative letter, clearly state why you are writing and try and be as specific as possible about the type of job roles you are interested in.
  • If you have started the letter with “Dear Sir/Madam”, finish it with “Yours faithfully”. If you start the covering letter with “Dear Mr/Ms (NAME)”, finish with “Yours sincerely”

Addressing your envelope

The address on an envelope gives the recipient his or her first impression of you. It should be well laid out and clearly written ensuring that the wording is correctly spaced out.

Please see our guide on 'How to Address an Envelope' for more details.