Resumes · 3 min read
The cover letter worth writing
Cover letters get a bad name, and most of them deserve it. They are too long, too generic, and clearly written for no one in particular. A good cover letter is none of those things. When it has a real job to do, a short, specific letter can be the thing that tips a close decision your way. The trick is knowing when to write one, and what to put in it.
Decide whether you need one at all
A cover letter earns its place when you have something the resume cannot say: why you are changing direction, why this specific role over the dozen like it, or context for a gap or an unusual path.
If you have nothing to add beyond what your resume already shows, a forced, padded letter is worse than none. It reads as a box ticked, and a busy reader can tell. Put the effort into the application instead.
Open with them, not you
The weakest letters begin with a life story. The strongest begin with the reader and what they need. Lead with what the role requires and why you are a strong answer to it, in the first two sentences.
Your reader is scanning for relevance. Give it to them at once, before they decide the letter is not worth finishing.
Keep it to three short paragraphs
Length is what kills cover letters. Almost everything you need to say fits in three tight paragraphs.
- Why this role and this company, specifically
- Why you, with one or two concrete proofs
- A short close that points to your resume for the detail
If it runs longer than that, you are probably repeating your resume, which no one wants to read twice.
Be specific, or say nothing
Generic praise is invisible. "I admire your commitment to excellence" could be sent to any company on earth, so it lands on none. Name the actual work, a real reason you are interested, and a genuine example of what you can do.
Specifics are what make a letter feel written for them, and not pasted in from the last application with the company name swapped.
Read it as the hiring manager
Before you send it, read it back as the person doing the hiring, on their tenth letter of the day. Does it tell them something useful in under a minute? Does it sound like a real person? Cut anything that fails that test, starting with the phrases everyone uses.
The short version
Write the cover letter only when it adds something, then keep it short, specific, and clearly about this role and no other.