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how to write a cover letter — the short answer
a cover letter is a short note, usually 250–400 words, that tells a hiring manager why you're applying, what you've done that fits the role, and why this company. your resume lists your experience. the cover letter connects it to their job.
a good one has four parts:
1. the opening — the role you're applying for and one line that makes them want to keep reading.
2. the proof — one or two things you've done that match what the job needs, with numbers if you have them.
3. the "why you" — something specific about the company that made you apply.
4. the close — a clear, polite ask for a conversation.
that's it. everything below shows you how to write each part, gives you three examples you can adapt, and covers the questions people actually get stuck on — like whether anyone reads these, and whether you can just use ChatGPT.
do recruiters even read cover letters?
some do, some don't — and the honest answer depends on how you're applying.
in a 2022 resume genius survey of 625 US hiring managers, 83% said they always or frequently read cover letters, and 49% said a strong cover letter had convinced them to interview a candidate whose resume alone wasn't enough. but ask on any engineering forum and you'll find just as many managers who say they skip straight to the resume.
in india, a lot of applications never ask for one. naukri profiles and one-click "easy apply" buttons mostly run on your resume. so here's where a cover letter actually earns its place:
when you apply by email. if you're writing directly to a founder, hiring manager or recruiter, your email is the cover letter. it decides whether the attachment gets opened.
when you're applying to a startup or small team. the person reading it is often the person you'd work with. they want to know why you picked them.
when your resume needs context. a career switch, a gap year, a relocation, or moving from services to product — a resume can't explain any of these. a cover letter can.
when the form has a "why do you want to work here?" box. that box is a cover letter in disguise. treat it like one.
if a portal marks it optional and you have nothing specific to say, skip it. a generic cover letter does more harm than no cover letter.
cover letter format
keep it to one page. 250–400 words. a clean, readable font. save it as a PDF unless the application asks otherwise.
| section | what goes in it | length |
|---|---|---|
| header | your name, phone, email, LinkedIn or GitHub/portfolio link, city. then the date | 4–5 lines |
| greeting | "dear [name]," if you can find it. "dear hiring team," if you can't. avoid "to whom it may concern" | 1 line |
| opening paragraph | the role, and one specific reason you're a fit or interested | 2–3 sentences |
| proof paragraph | one or two achievements that map to the job description, with numbers | 3–5 sentences |
| "why this company" paragraph | something specific — their product, a recent launch, a problem they're solving | 2–3 sentences |
| closing | a thank-you and a clear ask for a conversation | 1–2 sentences |
| sign-off | "regards," or "thanks," and your full name | 2 lines |
if you're applying through an online form or by email, drop the header and date. start straight from the greeting.
how to write a cover letter, step by step
step 1: spend 15 minutes on research first
read the job description twice. underline the 3–4 things they keep repeating — those are what they actually care about. then look at the company's website, recent news, and the LinkedIn profile of the person who'd likely be your manager. you're looking for one specific thing you can mention later.
step 2: write an opening that isn't a template
the first two lines decide whether the rest gets read. most cover letters waste them.
what most people write:
I am writing to express my interest in the software engineer position at your esteemed organisation. I am a hardworking and passionate individual.
what gets read:
I'm applying for the backend engineer role on your payments team. For the last two years I've been building payment reconciliation services that process around 2 lakh transactions a day, and your job description reads like a list of problems I've already solved.
the second version names the role, shows relevant experience, and gives a reason to keep reading. no "esteemed organisation." no adjectives about yourself.
step 3: prove it with one or two real examples
pick the one or two things from your experience that best match what the job description repeats. say what you did and what changed because of it.
At my current company, I rewrote our order-sync service in Go and cut p95 latency from 900ms to 180ms. I also set up the alerting that took our on-call pages from about 40 a month to under 10.
don't repeat your whole resume. one strong example beats five weak ones. if you're a fresher, use a college project, internship, hackathon or open-source contribution — the same rule applies: what you built, and what it did.
step 4: say why this company, specifically
this is the paragraph that shows you didn't send the same letter to 50 companies.
I've used your app to split rent with flatmates for a year, and the new recurring-payments feature is the reason I started following your engineering blog. Your post on moving to event-driven settlement is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing next.
if you can't find anything specific to say about a company, that's a useful signal about whether you really want the job.
step 5: close with a clear ask
I'd love to talk about how I could help the payments team. Thank you for your time — I've attached my resume, and I'm available for a call any day this week.
keep it short. don't beg, don't repeat everything, and don't end with "hoping for a favourable reply."
cover letter examples you can adapt
swap in your own details. the structure matters more than the exact words.
example 1: fresher applying for a software engineer role
Dear Hiring Team,
I'm applying for the graduate software engineer role at [company]. I graduated in computer science from [college] this year, and over the last 18 months I've built and shipped three full-stack projects, one of which is used by around 400 students in my college to find study groups.
That project taught me most of what I know about building for real users: I built the backend in Node.js with Postgres, set up a CI pipeline on GitHub Actions, and rewrote the search after users told me it was too slow — taking it from about 3 seconds to under 300ms. I also completed a two-month internship at [internship company], where I wrote API tests that caught two bugs before a release.
I'm applying to [company] because [one specific reason — a product you use, a tech choice they've written about, a problem they're solving]. I'd like to start my career on a team that ships often and reviews code carefully, and that's how your engineering team describes itself.
Thank you for considering my application. My resume and GitHub are attached, and I'd be glad to walk you through any of my projects.
Regards,
[your name]
example 2: experienced professional switching jobs
Dear [hiring manager's name],
I'm applying for the senior backend engineer role at [company]. I have four years of experience building high-traffic APIs, most recently at [current company], where I lead a team of three on the services behind our checkout flow.
Two things from my current role map closely to what you're hiring for. First, I led our move from a monolith to six services without downtime, which cut deployment time from 45 minutes to 8. Second, I built the rate-limiting layer that kept checkout stable through our biggest sale, at roughly 5x normal traffic.
I'm looking to move to a product company where engineers own problems end to end, and [company]'s work on [specific product or problem] is exactly the kind of scale I want to work at next.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for your time.
Thanks,
[your name]
example 3: career switch or gap in your resume
Dear Hiring Team,
I'm applying for the data analyst role at [company]. For the past three years I worked in operations at [previous company], and over the last year I've moved into analytics — first by building the reports my team relied on, and then through a structured course in SQL, Python and Power BI.
In my operations role, I built a weekly dashboard that tracked delivery delays across 12 cities. It helped my manager spot two underperforming hubs, and fixing them brought average delays down by about 20%. That project is why I want to do this work full time.
You'll notice a six-month gap on my resume. I took that time to care for a family member, and I used the evenings to finish my analytics course and build two portfolio projects, both linked in my resume.
I'd be glad to talk about how my operations background could help your team ask better questions of its data. Thank you for considering my application.
Regards,
[your name]
notice what the third example does with the gap: one line of explanation, then straight back to what you did with the time. you don't owe a long justification.
how to send a cover letter by email
if you're emailing a recruiter or founder directly, don't attach a cover letter and write a separate email. the email is the cover letter. keep it even shorter — around 150 words.
Subject: Backend engineer application — 4 yrs in payments infra
Hi [name],
I saw the backend engineer opening on your payments team and wanted to reach out directly.
I've spent the last four years building payment services at [company] — most recently, I cut settlement failures by about 60% by redesigning our retry logic.
Your recent launch of [feature] is the kind of problem I'd love to work on. I've attached my resume. Would you be open to a 15-minute call this week?
Thanks,
[your name]
[phone] | [LinkedIn]a specific subject line gets more opens than "job application." for more on emailing people you don't know, read our guide on how to get a job with cold emailing.
can you use ChatGPT to write a cover letter?
yes — as a first draft, not a final one. hiring managers read a lot of these, and AI-written cover letters tend to sound the same: "I am thrilled to apply," "I am confident that my skills make me an ideal fit," "passionate," "dynamic," "leverage." if your letter could be sent to any company by any candidate, it won't stand out.
here's how to use it well:
give it real material. paste in the job description, your resume, and two or three specific achievements with numbers. a vague prompt gets a vague letter.
ask for structure, not polish. something like: "using my resume and this job description, draft a 250-word cover letter with one opening line, one proof paragraph, and one paragraph on why this company. use plain language. no adjectives about me."
rewrite the opening and the "why this company" paragraph yourself. these are the two parts AI is worst at, because they need things only you know.
read it out loud. if a sentence sounds like something you'd never say to a person, change it.
we've written more about this in our guide on how to use ChatGPT for your job search.
common cover letter mistakes
repeating your resume. the cover letter should add context the resume can't — not list the same jobs again.
writing about what you want, not what they need. "this role will help me grow my skills" is about you. "I've already solved the problem your team is hiring for" is about them.
using the same letter for every company. recruiters can tell. if only the company name changes, it's not a cover letter, it's a form.
getting the company name or role wrong. it happens more than you'd think when you're copy-pasting. it's an instant rejection.
going too long. if it runs past one page, cut the weakest paragraph.
old-fashioned phrases. "respected sir/madam," "esteemed organisation," "kindly find attached," "hoping for a favourable reply." they make you sound like a template.
frequently asked questions
is a cover letter the same as a CV or resume?
no. your resume or CV is a structured summary of your education, experience and skills. a cover letter is a short letter that explains why you're applying for one specific role and how your experience fits it. they're sent together, but they do different jobs.
what 5 things should a cover letter include?
the role you're applying for, one or two relevant achievements, a specific reason you want to work at that company, a clear closing ask, and your contact details.
how long should a cover letter be?
250–400 words, and never more than one page. if you're sending it as an email, aim for around 150 words.
do freshers need a cover letter?
often, yes. with little work experience, your resume can't tell the whole story. a cover letter lets you explain a project, an internship, or why you're interested in the field — which can be the difference between two similar fresher resumes.
should I write a cover letter if it's optional?
only if you have something specific to say. a tailored cover letter can help. a generic one won't, and a careless one can hurt.
get the resume right, then start applying
a great cover letter won't save a resume that doesn't get past the first screen. before you send anything, run your resume through weekday's free ATS resume checker to see how it scores against the role. if you're starting from scratch, the free AI resume builder gets you a clean, ATS-friendly draft in minutes. no experience yet? read how to write a resume with no experience.
then browse open roles on weekday and pick the ones you'd actually be excited to write a cover letter for. when the interview call comes, use the interview question predictor to prepare for what that company is likely to ask.
the best cover letters aren't the most polished. they're the ones that could only have been written by you, for that job.
