Knowing how to write a cover letter comes down to one job: proving, in under a page, that you read this specific job posting and have what it asks for. Most letters fail because they summarise the CV instead of answering the posting.
This guide walks you through the whole letter in order: the five parts every cover letter has, the seven steps to write one, how to open and close it, how long it should be, and a complete example you can adapt. It works whether you are applying for your first job or your fifth.
The Five Parts of a Cover Letter
Every effective cover letter has the same five parts. The order rarely changes; what changes is how much space each one gets.
| Part | What it contains | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Header | Your name, phone, email and LinkedIn; the date and the company's details if you send a formal letter | 3-5 lines |
| Greeting | The name of the person who will read it, or the team if you cannot find it | 1 line |
| Opening | The role you are applying for and the single strongest reason you fit it | 2-3 sentences |
| Body | Two or three proofs that match the main requirements of the posting | 1-2 paragraphs |
| Closing | A clear request for an interview, a thank-you and your sign-off | 2-3 sentences |
The greeting causes more hesitation than it deserves. If no name appears in the posting, check LinkedIn or the company website first; if you still cannot find one, here is how to address a cover letter without a name without sounding generic.
How to Write a Cover Letter in 7 Steps
Writing the letter in this order saves time, because each step feeds the next. The first two steps happen before you type a single sentence of the letter itself.
- 1
Read the posting
Underline the requirements that appear more than once or sit at the top of the list.
10 min
- 2
Pick 2-3 proofs
For each key requirement, find one concrete result from your experience that shows it.
10 min
- 3
Header and greeting
Your contact details and the name of the person who will read the letter.
- 4
Opening
Name the role and give your strongest reason to be considered, in two or three sentences.
- 5
Body
One short paragraph per proof: the situation, what you did and the result.
- 6
Closing
Ask for the interview directly, thank the reader and sign off.
- 7
Review and send
Check the company name, cut anything that repeats your CV and read it aloud once.
5 min
Steps one and two are where most of the quality comes from. A posting usually lists eight or ten requirements, but only three or four really decide who gets an interview: the ones repeated in the title, the first bullets and the summary. Those are the ones your letter must answer.
For each of those requirements, write down one result you can prove: a number, a project, a problem you solved. If you cannot find a proof for a requirement, leave it out of the letter rather than claiming it in general terms.
How Do You Start a Cover Letter?
Start with the role and your strongest argument, in that order. The reader decides in the first two sentences whether the rest deserves attention, so "I am writing to apply for…" on its own wastes the most valuable line of the letter.
The opening is the part people rewrite most, so it has its own guides. If you need ready-made starting points, browse these cover letter opening lines for real situations. If you want the first sentence to do more than introduce you, learn how to build a cover letter hook around a result or a fact about the company.
What Goes in the Body Paragraphs?
The body is where you prove the fit you claimed in the opening. Each paragraph takes one key requirement from the posting and answers it with a specific example, ideally with a number or a visible outcome.
MIT's career office puts the rule clearly in its guide to writing an effective cover letter: cite a couple of examples that support your ability to succeed in the role and try not to simply repeat your resume in paragraph form. The letter adds context the CV cannot: why that result matters for this job.
| The posting asks for… | Weak answer | Strong answer |
|---|---|---|
| Stakeholder management | "I have strong interpersonal skills." | "I coordinated sales, legal and IT to launch a new contract process in six weeks." |
| Data analysis | "I am comfortable with Excel." | "I built the monthly dashboard my team used to cut stock errors by a third." |
| Customer focus | "I am passionate about customers." | "I handled about 60 support tickets a day while keeping a 4.8/5 satisfaction score." |
Two body paragraphs are usually enough. Add a third only if the posting has a requirement your first two proofs do not touch, such as a language, a licence or relocation.
Show why this company
One or two sentences somewhere in the body should explain why this employer and not any other. Mention something specific: a product, a market they are entering, a value from their careers page that matches how you work. A sentence that would fit any company adds nothing.
How Do You End a Cover Letter?
End by asking for the next step. A good closing paragraph does three things in two or three sentences: restates your interest in one line, asks for an interview directly and thanks the reader for their time.
- Direct: "I would welcome the chance to discuss how I could help your team reach its Q3 targets."
- Confident but polite: "I am available for an interview any day next week and can start within a month."
- Avoid: "I hope to hear from you" on its own, or anything that sounds like begging for a reply.
For the sign-off, "Kind regards" or "Best regards" followed by your full name works in almost every context. "Sincerely" is still fine for formal sectors such as law, banking or the public sector.
How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?
A cover letter should fit on one page, which in practice means about 250-400 words split into three or four paragraphs. Spain's public employment service goes further and recommends keeping it under a full sheet in its advice on cover letters (SEPE, in Spanish), along with tailoring the text to each offer.
For the format, the EU's Europass cover letter guidance recommends simple, non-decorative fonts, a size of 11-12 points, line spacing of 1 or 1.5, a formal and polite tone, and no spelling mistakes.
- Sent as an attachment: save it as a PDF named "Name-Surname-Cover-Letter.pdf" so it looks the same on any device.
- Sent in the email body: drop the postal header and the date; start with the greeting and keep the same structure.
- Pasted into a job portal or LinkedIn: shorten it to the opening, one proof and the closing. Long blocks of text in a form box rarely get read.
A Complete Cover Letter Example
This example applies every step above to a customer success role. Notice that each paragraph answers a requirement from the posting rather than listing previous jobs.
Dear Ms. Ortega,
I am applying for the Customer Success Specialist role at Nubex because I have spent three years doing exactly what your posting describes: onboarding B2B clients and keeping them. At my current company I manage 45 accounts with a 94% renewal rate.
Your posting stresses reducing churn in the first 90 days. Last year I redesigned our onboarding calls into a four-week plan with a check-in each week, and early cancellations dropped from 12% to 5%. I also built the help-centre articles our clients now use before opening a ticket.
I am particularly drawn to Nubex's expansion into Latin America. I am a native Spanish speaker and already support clients in Mexico and Colombia, so I could contribute to that market from day one.
I would welcome the chance to discuss how I could help your team improve retention. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
Laura Méndez
The letter is about 150 words across its four core paragraphs, mentions two numbers, names the company twice and never repeats a job title from the CV. That is the balance to aim for.
Adapt it to your situation
The structure stays the same in every case, but the evidence you use changes:
- No work experience yet: replace job results with projects, volunteering or coursework. This guide on how to write a cover letter with no experience shows how.
- An internship: add your availability dates and who signs the training agreement, as explained in this cover letter for an internship guide.
- Changing fields: explain the move in one sentence and lean on transferable skills; see this career change cover letter guide for examples.
Before You Send It
Run one final check: the company name and role are correct, every paragraph answers a requirement of the posting, nothing simply repeats your CV, and the whole letter fits on one page. Then read it aloud once; awkward sentences are easier to hear than to see.
If you apply to many roles, writing a tailored letter for each one is the slow part. The AI cover letter generator drafts a letter from your CV and the job description, following this same structure, so you only need to review and adjust the proofs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 parts of a cover letter?
The five parts are the header with your contact details, the greeting, the opening paragraph, the body and the closing with your sign-off. The body is the longest part and should contain one or two concrete examples that match the job requirements.
How do you start a cover letter?
Start by naming the role and giving your strongest reason to be considered, ideally a concrete result. Avoid opening with a generic sentence like "I am writing to apply for…" on its own, because the first two lines decide whether the rest gets read.
How long should a cover letter be?
A cover letter should be one page at most, about 250-400 words in three or four paragraphs. Senior roles or career changes can justify a little more, but if the letter goes beyond one page it usually needs editing.
Should a cover letter repeat my CV?
No. The cover letter should select two or three achievements from your CV and explain why they matter for this specific job. Repeating your work history in paragraph form wastes the space you have to show fit.
Is a cover letter still necessary?
When the application asks for one, yes, and an optional one still helps if it is tailored. A short, specific letter is often the only place to explain a career change, a gap or your interest in that particular company.