Your cover letter should ideally accomplish the following goals in order to:
Our cover letter writing guide can teach you how to successfully convey each of the aforementioned sentiments in your letter, as well as provide tips and examples on how to maximize your use of these templates to successfully share your message with hiring managers.
Although we have hundreds of free templates, we also understand that writing a cover letter can be nerve-wracking. If you find yourself struggling, feel free to try our subscription builder. You get access to exclusive templates, pre-written cover letters, job-specific examples and cover letter writing tips along with matching resume services.
Start your resume without spending a dime with any of the following downloadable templates.
Before your cover letter makes it to a hiring manager, the format will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS). Each of these downloadable templates has purposely designed ATS-optimized layouts with standardized margins and fonts.
See MoreOnce you’ve downloaded a couple of templates that you like, it’s time to personalize the designs with your professional accomplishments. Every cover letter is going to be unique to both your experience and the open job requirements. However, a successful cover letter needs to include the following information and sentiments in order to sway hiring managers to reach out to you.
After you write your initial cover letter draft — you can learn more about how to get started at our cover letter writing guide — compare your letter against this checklist. Once you mark everything off, you’re ready to submit this application.
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Signature
You do need a unique cover letter for every job application. That doesn’t mean that you have to create a new cover letter from scratch. Your introduction and conclusion can be templated paragraphs that you tweak to meet each job opening’s unique requirements.
You should save and submit your cover letter in a PDF file format unless the job application asks for a specific file format. The PDF format is the ideal format choice because it retains your cover letter’s font, size and margins regardless of the operating system or word processing program that the recipient uses. For example, your copy of Microsoft Word may support the font Helvetica, but your recipient’s might not recognize the font and convert your letter to a standard font that changes your file’s formatting and layout.
Your formatting decisions around font type and size, margin widths and paragraph breaks can do as much for your cover letter as the actual messages that you write. A cover letter template helps simplify those decisions with optimal design choices. This gives you the time to focus on the content of your letter, rather than struggle over design elements.