How to make a cover letter
Most cover letters are read for eight seconds or not at all. The ones that work make one argument: here's what you need, here's proof I've done it. Everything else is cuttable.
1Decide if this application deserves one
For high-volume corporate pipelines, letters often go unread — spend the time tailoring your resume instead. For startups and any role where a founder or hiring manager reads applications directly, a specific letter is one of the few levers you control.
2Open with them, not you
Never 'I am writing to apply for'. Name something real about the role or company — the product, the problem in the posting, the team it sits in — and connect yourself to it in the same sentence. That one move separates you from most of the pile.
3Make the middle an argument, not a biography
Pick the two or three requirements that matter most in the posting and answer each with evidence: a project, a number, an outcome. Don't retell your resume chronologically — they have it.
4Keep it to 250 words
Three or four short paragraphs. A full page signals you didn't know what to cut. If a sentence doesn't advance the argument that you match this role, it goes.
5Close with a next step, not gratitude
One plain sentence: you'd welcome the conversation, here's how to reach you. Skip 'thank you for considering my application' — it spends your last line on nothing.
6Match it to the posting, every time
A generic letter hurts more than no letter — it proves you didn't look. If you won't tailor it, don't attach one. A generator grounded in the actual posting gets you a specific draft in seconds; edit it until you'd stand behind every line.
Generate yours from the posting
Paste the job posting, add your background, get a letter with its reasoning shown.
Frequently asked questions
Do cover letters still matter in 2026?
Where a human reads applications directly — startups, small teams, agencies — yes, disproportionately. Where an ATS feeds a recruiter working at volume, rarely. Judge by who's likely to read it.
How long should a cover letter be?
150–250 words. Nobody reads more from a stranger, and constraint forces the argument sharp.
Should I use AI to write my cover letter?
As a drafting tool, yes — as a sending tool, no. Generate a draft grounded in the posting and your real background, then edit until it sounds like you. Sending unedited output is how you end up with someone else's clichés under your name.
Do I address it to a person?
If findable in two minutes, yes. Otherwise 'Hi [Company] team' beats 'Dear Sir/Madam', which reads as a mail merge from 1995.
Cover letter or email body?
For direct applications, the email body is usually stronger — nobody opens two attachments from a stranger. Same argument, same length; skip the address block.