How to Write a Cover Letter: Template, Examples and AI Prompts

To write a cover letter, open with the exact job title and your strongest reason for fitting it, prove that fit with one or two specific results, explain why you want this employer, and close by asking for a conversation. Keep it to one page, roughly 250 to 400 words, and tailor it to every job.

This guide walks through each paragraph in order, gives you a cover letter template to copy, shows three short examples, and ends with AI prompts that help you edit without sounding like a chatbot. For the wider strategy, see our guide to using AI across your job search.

Do you still need a cover letter in 2026?

Not every application asks for one, but many still do. When a form marks the cover letter as optional and two candidates look equal on paper, the one who wrote a sharp, specific letter usually has the edge.

A cover letter explains what a resume cannot: a career change, a gap, a missing degree, or why you want this team in particular. And because hiring teams now see a steady stream of AI-written letters, one with real numbers, real names and a human voice stands out more, not less. Skip it only when the posting clearly says not to send one.

What do you need before you start writing?

Gather five things first. This prep takes about 15 minutes and makes the writing itself much faster.

• The job posting, with its top three requirements highlighted.
• Your resume, already tailored to this role.
• Two proof points: results with a number, a scale or a clear outcome, such as “cut invoice errors by a third” or “trained six new hires.”
• A name to address, if you can find the hiring manager on the company site, the posting or LinkedIn.
• One real reason you want this company: a product you use, a recent launch, or the customers it serves.

Expected result: three requirements from the posting, each matched to something you have actually done. That short list becomes the middle of your letter.

If your resume is not ready, fix it first with these resume format rules for ATS (applicant tracking systems, the software many employers use to sort applications). The letter should support your resume, not repeat it.

How to write a cover letter, paragraph by paragraph

Most strong cover letters follow the same five-part shape. Here is what each part does and how long it should be.

Step 1: Set up the header and greeting

Put your name, phone number, email and city at the top, followed by the date and the employer's name. If you are pasting the letter into an email or an online form, your contact details can sit under your signature instead.

Address a real person whenever you can, such as “Dear Ms. Patel” or “Dear Jordan Lee.” If no name turns up, “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Customer Success Hiring Team” works. Avoid “To Whom It May Concern,” which reads as dated.

Step 2: Open with the role and your strongest match

Your first paragraph is two or three sentences. Name the exact job title, then lead with the single thing that makes you a fit. Skip “I am writing to apply for” and get to the point.

I'm applying for the Operations Coordinator role at Brightline Logistics. I run scheduling for a 40-person warehouse team, and last year I cut missed shipments by a quarter by rebuilding our pick lists.

Step 3: Prove it in the middle paragraph

This is the heart of the letter. Pick the one or two requirements the posting stresses most and give a short story for each: the situation, what you did, and the result. Use numbers only where you honestly have them.

One strong example beats five vague claims. “Detail-oriented team player” proves nothing. “I caught a billing error that saved a client $8,000” proves both qualities at once.

Step 4: Show why this company

Add two or three sentences that could only be written to this employer. Mention something concrete, like a product, a value they publish, a new location, or a customer group you understand. Then connect it to how you would help them.

Step 5: Close with a clear next step

End with confidence, not pleading. Thank them, restate your fit in a line, and ask for a conversation. In the US, sign off with “Sincerely” or “Best regards” and your full name.

I'd welcome the chance to talk about how I can help your team hit its delivery targets this quarter. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Step 6: Format, proofread and send

• Keep it to one page and 3 to 5 short paragraphs.
• Use the same font and header as your resume, at 10.5 to 12 point.
• Save it as a PDF named something like Maria-Santos-Cover-Letter.pdf, unless the employer asks for a Word file.
• Read it aloud once, then check the company name and job title twice. A wrong company name is one of the fastest routes to rejection.

A cover letter template you can copy

Paste this cover letter template into your editor and replace every line in capital letters with your own details. Delete any line that does not apply to you.

YOUR FULL NAME
City, State | Phone | Email | LinkedIn URL

DATE

Dear HIRING MANAGER NAME,

I'm applying for the JOB TITLE role at COMPANY. In my current role as YOUR TITLE, I ONE-LINE RESULT THAT MATCHES THEIR TOP REQUIREMENT.

Your posting asks for REQUIREMENT ONE. At EMPLOYER OR PROJECT, I WHAT YOU DID, which led to RESULT WITH A NUMBER. You also need REQUIREMENT TWO, and I SHORT SECOND EXAMPLE.

I'm drawn to COMPANY because SPECIFIC REASON. I'd bring HOW YOUR SKILLS HELP THEM to the team.

I'd welcome the chance to talk about how I can help with GOAL FROM THE POSTING. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
YOUR FULL NAME

Expected result: a one-page draft of about 250 to 350 words. After the first one, tailoring it to a new job should take 15 to 20 minutes, mostly spent on the proof and company paragraphs.

Cover letter examples for three common situations

Each of these cover letter examples is the middle section, the part most people get stuck on. Use them for structure and tone, not word for word.

Career changer: teacher to customer success

After eight years teaching middle school, I'm moving into customer success because the skills I use every day are the ones your team relies on: explaining complex ideas simply, calming frustrated people, and tracking progress over months. This year I managed regular updates for 120 families and ran our grade-level parent conferences. I've since completed a customer success course and built a sample onboarding plan for a software product, which I'd be glad to share.

Name the switch in your first lines and translate your old skills into the new field's language. If you are weighing a bigger move, read about changing careers without going back to school.

No degree: IT support technician

Your posting lists a degree as preferred, so I want to be direct about what I bring instead. I hold the CompTIA A+ certification and have spent two years handling hardware, software and account issues for a 60-person accounting firm, resolving most tickets the same day. I also wrote the firm's password reset guide, which noticeably cut repeat requests.

Do not apologize for the missing degree. Mention it once if the posting does, then move straight to proof: certifications, hands-on work and results.

Entry level: marketing assistant

My most relevant experience comes from running social media for my university's film society. Over two semesters I grew our Instagram following from about 400 to 1,500 and filled every screening, mostly by testing short behind-the-scenes clips against poster-style posts and doubling down on what worked. I'd bring that same test-and-learn habit to your marketing team.

School projects, part-time jobs, volunteering and side projects all count as experience. Specifics matter more than job titles. If you are still looking for openings, start with these entry-level remote jobs that hire.

How do you use ChatGPT cover letter prompts without losing your voice?

AI is good at structure and editing. It is bad at knowing what you actually did, and it will happily invent results if you let it. The safest workflow is simple: you write a rough draft with your real facts, then use AI to sharpen it.

These three prompts work in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Paste them in order.

Prompt 1: Match the job to your experience

Here is a job posting and my resume. List the three requirements that matter most for this role. For each one, quote the line from my resume that best proves it. If I have no good proof for a requirement, say so. Do not write a cover letter yet.

JOB POSTING: paste here
RESUME: paste here

Prompt 2: Edit my draft but keep my voice

Below is my cover letter draft. Edit it for clarity and cut it to under 350 words. Keep my word choices, sentence rhythm and examples wherever possible. Do not add any skills, numbers or achievements I did not mention. Remove cliches such as "passionate," "dynamic" and "I am writing to apply." Show the edited letter, then list every change you made and why.

DRAFT: paste here

Prompt 3: Critique it like a hiring manager

Act as the hiring manager for this role. Read my cover letter and give me five bullet points on what feels generic, unconvincing or missing. Do not rewrite the letter.

JOB POSTING: paste here
COVER LETTER: paste here

After any AI pass, read the letter out loud. If a sentence sounds like something you would never say in an interview, put it back in your own words. To see how well your resume lines up with the posting itself, try our free AI resume checker.

One privacy habit: remove your phone number and home address before pasting your resume into any chatbot. If you use ChatGPT, you can stop your conversations from being used to train its models in ChatGPT's data controls settings. Other assistants have similar options, so check their settings pages too.

What are the most common cover letter mistakes?

Keep a copy of every letter you send. Interviewers often ask about something you wrote, so review it alongside these common interview questions and answers before the call.

Do cover letters differ in the US and the UK?

The structure is the same, but a few conventions change. In the UK, people often say “covering letter,” and it usually goes with a CV rather than a resume. If those terms are new to you, here is the difference between a CV and resume.

The UK government's National Careers Service cover letter advice suggests 3 to 5 paragraphs and matching your sign-off to your greeting. Wherever you apply, mirror the employer's spelling and tone.