How to Write the Perfect Cover Letter (And Get

Hired!)
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, we’re going to guide you through the
process of writing a cover letter step by step. 

Step #1 - Pick the Right Cover Letter Template

A good cover letter is all about leaving the right first impression.

So, what’s a better way to leave a good impression than a well-formatted, visual
template?
Step #2 - Start the Cover Letter with a Header

As with a resume, it’s important to start your cover letter with a Contact Information
section:

Here, you want to include all essential information, including:

 Full Name
 Phone Number
 Email
 Date
 Name of the hiring manager / their professional title
 Name of the company you’re applying to

In certain cases, you might also consider adding:

 Social Media Profiles - Any type of profile that’s relevant to your field. Social
Profiles on websites like LinkedIn, GitHub (for developers), Medium (for
writers), etc.
 Personal Website - If you have a personal website that somehow adds value
to your application, you can mention it. Let’s say you’re a professional writer.
In that case, you’d want to link to your blog.

And here’s what you shouldn’t mention in your header:

 Your Address / City of Residence - This is something you include in your

resume, not the cover letter.
 Unprofessional Email - Make sure your email is presentable. It’s pretty hard
for a hiring manager to take you seriously if your email address is
“[email protected].” Whenever applying for jobs, stick to the “[first
name] + [last name] @ email provider.com” format.
Step #3 - Greet the Hiring Manager

Once you’ve properly listed your contact information, you need to start writing the
cover letter contents.

The first thing to do here is to address the cover letter to the hiring manager.

That’s right, the hiring manager! Not the overly popular “Dear Sir or Madam.” You
want to show your future boss that you did your research and are really passionate
about working with their team.

No one wants to hire a job seeker who just spams 20+ companies and hopes to get
hired in any of them.

So, how do you find out who’s the hiring manager? There are several ways to do
this. 

The simplest option is to look up the head of the relevant department on LinkedIn.
Let’s say you’re applying for the position of a Communication Specialist at
Novoresume. The hiring manager is probably Head of Communications or Chief
Communications Office.

So, you do a quick lookup on LinkedIn:

And voila! You have your hiring manager.

Or let’s say you’re applying for the position of a server. In that case, you’d be looking
for the “restaurant manager.”

If this doesn’t work, you can also check out the “Team” page on the company
website; there’s a good chance you’ll at least find the right person there.
Still can’t seem to find the right person?

Here are several other greetings you could use:

 Dear [Department] Hiring Manager

 Dear Hiring Manager
 To whom it may concern
 Dear [Department] Team

Step #4 - Write an Attention-Grabbing Introduction

First impressions matter, especially when it comes to your job search.

Recruiters get hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of applications. Chances are,

they’re not going to be reading every single cover letter end-to-end.

So, it’s essential to catch their attention from the very first paragraph.

The #1 problem we see with most cover letter opening paragraphs is that they’re
usually extremely generic. Most of them look something like this..

Wrong Example

 Hey, my name is Jonathan and I’d like to work as a Sales Manager at XYZ
Inc. I’ve worked as a sales manager at MadeUpCompany Inc. for 5+ years, so
I believe that I’d be a good fit for the position.

See the issue here? This opening paragraph doesn’t say pretty
much anything except the fact that you’ve worked the job before.

Do you know who else has similar work experience? All the other applicants you’re
competing with.

Instead, you want to start off with 2-3 of your top achievements to really grab the
reader’s attention. Preferably, the achievements should be as relevant as possible to
the position.
So now, let’s make our previous example shine:

Correct Example

Dear Josh,

My name’s Michael and I’d like to help XYZ Inc. hit and exceed their sales
goals as a Sales Manager. I’ve worked with Company X, a fin-tech company, for 3+
years. As a Sales Representative, I generated an average of $30,000+ in sales
per month (beating the KPIs by around 40%). I believe that my previous industry
experience, as well as excellence in sales, makes me the right candidate for the job.

See the difference between the two examples? If you were the hiring manager,
which

sales manager would you hire, Jonathan or Michael?

Exactly!

Now that we’ve covered the introduction, let’s talk about the body of your cover
letter. This part is split into two paragraphs: the first is for explaining why you’re the
perfect person for the job, and the latter is for proving that you’re a good fit for the
company.

So, let’s get started...

Step #5 - Explain why you’re the perfect person for the job

This is where you show off your professional skills and convince the HR manager
that you’re a better fit for the job than all the other applicants.

But first things first - before you even write anything, you need to learn what the most
important requirements for the role are. So, open up the job ad and identify which of
the responsibilities are the most critical.

For the sake of the example, let’s say you’re applying for the position of a Facebook
Advertiser. You scan the job ad and see that the top requirements are:

1. Experience managing a Facebook ad budget of $10,000+ / month

2. Some skills in advertising on other platforms (Google Search + Twitter)
3. Excellent copywriting skills

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

In my previous role as a Facebook Marketing Expert at XYZ Inc. I handled customer

acquisition through ads, managing a monthly Facebook ad budget of $20,000+. As
the sole digital marketer at the company, I managed the ad creation & management
process end-to-end. Meaning, I created the ad copy, images, picked the targeting,
ran optimization trials, and so on.

Other than Facebook advertising, I’ve also delved into other online PPC channels,
including:

 Google Search
 Twitter
 Reddit
 Quora
Are you a student applying for your first internship? You probably don’t have a lot of
work experience to show off in this section. Learn how to write an internship cover
letter here.

Step #6 - Explain why you’re a good fit for the company

Once you’ve written the last paragraph, you might be thinking - I’m a shoo-in for the
job! What else do I need to write? I’ll just wrap up the cover letter and hit that
sweet SEND button.

Well, no. You’re not quite there yet.

The HR manager doesn’t only look at whether you’ll be good at the job or not.
They’re looking for someone that’s also a good fit for the company culture.

After all, employees that don’t fit in are bound to quit, sooner or later. This ends up
costing the company a ton of money, up to 50% of the employee’s annual salary. 

Meaning, you also need to convince the HR manager that you’re really passionate
about working with them.

How do you do this? Well, as a start, you want to do some research about the
company. You want to know things like:

 What’s the company’s business model?

 What’s the company product or service? Have you used it?
 What’s the culture like? Will someone micro-manage your work, or will you
have autonomy on how you get things done?
So, get to Googling. Chances are, you’ll find all the information you need either on
the company website or somewhere around the web.

Then, you need to figure out what you like about the company and turn that into text.

Let’s say, for example, you’re passionate about their product and you like the culture
of innovation / independent work in the organization.

You’d write something like:

Correct Example

I’ve personally used the XYZ Smartphone, and I believe that it’s the most innovative
tech I’ve used in years. The features such as Made-Up-Feature #1 and Made-Up-
Feature #2 were real game changers for the device. 

I really admire how Company XYZ thrives for excellence for all its product lines,
creating market-leading tech. As someone that thrives in a self-driven environment, I
truly believe that I and Company XYZ will be a great match.

What you don’t want to do here is be super generic for the sake of having something
to write. Most job seekers tend to mess this one up. Let’s take a look at a very
common example we tend to see (way too often):

Incorrect Example

I’d love to work for Company XYZ because of its culture of innovation. I believe that
since I’m super creative, I’d be a good fit for the company. The company values of
integrity and transparency really vibe with me.

See what’s wrong here? The example doesn’t really say anything about the
company. “Culture of Innovation” is something most companies claim to have. 

The same goes for “values of integrity and transparency” - the writer just googled
what the values for the organization are, and said that they like them.

Any hiring manager that reads this will see through the fluff.

So, make sure to do a lot of research and come up with good reasons why you're
applying.
Step #7 - Wrap up with a call to action

Finally, it’s time to finish up your cover letter and write the conclusion.

In the final paragraph, you want to:

 Wrap up any points you couldn't in the previous paragraphs. Do you

have anything left to say? Any other information that could help the hiring
manager make their decision? Mention it here.
 Thank the hiring manager for their time. It never hurts to be courteous, as
long as you don’t come off as too needy.
 Finish the cover letter with a call to action. The very last sentence in your
cover letter should be a call to action. You should ask the hiring manager to
take some sort of action.
And now, let’s turn this into a practical example:

Good Example:

So to wrap it all up, thanks for looking into my application. I hope I can help
Company X make the most out of their Facebook marketing initiatives. I'd love to
further discuss how my previous success at XYZ Inc. can help you achieve your
Facebook marketing goals.

Step #8 - Use the right formal closing

Once you’re done with the final paragraph, all you have to do is write down a formal
“goodbye” and you’re good to go.

Feel free to use one of the most popular conclusions to a cover letter:

 Best Regards,
 Kind Regards,
 Sincerely,
 Thank you,

And we’re finally done! Before sending off the cover letter, make sure to proofread it
with software like Grammarly, or maybe even get a friend to review it for you.
Cover Letter Writing Checklist

Does your cover letter heading include all essential information?

 Full Name
 Professional email
 Phone Number
 Date
 Relevant Social Media Profiles

Do you address the right person? I.e. hiring manager in the company / your
future direct supervisor

Does your introductory paragraph grab the reader's attention?

 Did you mention 2-3 of your top achievements?

 Did you use numbers and facts to back up your experience?

Do you successfully convey that you’re the right pro for the job?

 Did you identify the core requirements?

 Did you successfully convey how your experiences help you fit the
requirements perfectly?

Do you convince the hiring manager that you’re passionate about the
company you’re applying to?

 Did you identify the top 3 things that you like about the company?
 Did you avoid generic reasons for explaining your interest in the company?

Did you finalize the conclusion with a call to action?

Did you use the right formal closure for the cover letter?