What Is a Cover Letter? Definition, Parts and Example

A cover letter is a short business letter that goes with your resume when you apply for a job. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) defines it as the document that introduces you and your resume to an employer, and notes that it is often the first thing the employer reads. The name comes from paper applications, where the letter sat on top of the resume and "covered" it.

Unlike a resume, which you adapt from one master version, a cover letter is written for one job at one organization. It names the role, picks two or three things from your background that match what the employer asked for, and explains them in full sentences. You will also hear it called an application letter or a letter of application.

The idea still applies when nothing is printed. Georgia Southern University's career office points out that when you email your resume, the email message itself can serve as the cover letter, and many online applications have an upload slot or a text box for one. The table below sets the two documents side by side.

A resume shows what you have done. A cover letter tells the employer why that matters for this job. Purdue OWL lists what a good letter does: it tells your experience in a more story-like way, goes into depth on the skills that match the job's requirements, shows that you tailored the application, and gives the reader a sample of your writing.

It is also the one place in an application where you can give context. Purdue's business school career office describes the letter as a way to add context beyond what you can show in a resume, such as why you want this industry, organization or role. That makes it the natural home for anything a resume cannot explain on its own:

• A career change, and why your past work transfers to the new field
• A gap in your work history, in one or two sentences
• A move to the employer's city, with your available start date
• A referral, by naming the person who suggested you apply
• Why you want this employer, not just any job in the field

The resume is a structured record: headings, dates, short bullets and no "I". It is built to be skimmed and searched, including by applicant tracking systems. The cover letter is a letter in the first person, written in paragraphs and addressed to a person, that makes the case for one job.

The two should never say the same thing twice. Georgia Southern's advice is to point to your resume and highlight specific examples without repeating it, and repeating the resume is one of the ten common blunders on Purdue's business school list. A quick test: if a sentence in your letter could be pasted into your resume as a bullet without changes, rewrite it to explain why that result matters to this employer.

Business cover letters follow the same order almost everywhere. Purdue OWL's formatting guide gives the shape of the body: one introductory paragraph, one to three paragraphs that highlight your skills and one concluding paragraph, single-spaced and kept to one page. Purdue's business career office adds that the opening should name the exact job title and the position number if there is one.

1. Header: your name, phone, email, city and LinkedIn URL, styled exactly like your resume header.
2. Date: the day you send it.
3. Employer details: the hiring manager's name and title, the organization and its address. For an email or an upload, the name and organization are enough.
4. Greeting: "Dear Ms. Alvarez:" when you know the name, "Dear Hiring Manager:" when you cannot find it.
5. Opening paragraph: the job title, where you found the opening or who referred you, and one sentence on why you fit.
6. Body, one or two paragraphs: two or three examples from your experience, each tied to a requirement in the posting and ending in a result.
7. Closing paragraph: restate your interest, thank the reader and say what you would like to happen next.
8. Sign-off: "Sincerely," and your typed name, with a handwritten signature above it on a printed letter.

Send one whenever the posting asks for it, because an application missing a required document may not be reviewed. When the upload is marked optional, a short tailored letter is usually worth the half hour it takes, especially for small employers, nonprofits, roles where writing matters, and any application where you need to explain a change, a gap or a move.

You can skip it when the application says not to include one, or when a quick-apply form for an hourly job has no place for it. Do not paste a letter onto the first page of your resume file to get around a missing field. For federal jobs, follow the announcement on USAJOBS, which lists exactly which documents to submit; a cover letter is often optional there.

A generic letter is worse than none. A letter addressed to the wrong company, or one that could be sent to any employer, tells the reader you did not read their posting.

Employers read the two documents together, so build them as a set. Monroe Community College's career center tells applicants to use the same font as the resume, and the simplest way to match everything is to copy your resume header to the top of the letter. Keep the same margins and the same version of your name on both.

Write the resume first. Then choose the two or three bullets that best match the posting and expand them in the letter: what the situation was, what you did and why it is relevant to this employer. Save both as PDFs unless the posting asks for Word files, and name them clearly, such as "Jordan-Ellis-Resume.pdf" and "Jordan-Ellis-Cover-Letter.pdf".

If you use a resume and cover letter template or builder, choose one where the letter takes its header and fonts from the resume, so a later change to your phone number or job title updates both documents.

Most weak letters fail in predictable ways. Purdue's business school lists ten common blunders, led by showing no knowledge of the company, addressing the wrong person or company, and spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. Leave these out as well:

• A tour of every job on your resume
• What you want from the job (salary, title, growth) instead of what you offer; Purdue warns against emphasizing what you will get from the position
• Salary history or expectations, unless the posting asks for them
• Criticism of a current or former employer
• Private details such as health, family plans or religion
• A string of sentences that all start with "I", a habit Monroe Community College specifically flags

1. 1

   Mark three requirements

   Read the posting and underline the three qualifications that appear first or most often. Your body paragraphs must prove those three.

2. 2

   Find a name

   Check the posting, the company website and LinkedIn for the hiring manager or department head. Use "Dear Hiring Manager" only if you cannot find one.

3. 3

   Write the opening

   Name the job title, where you saw it or who referred you, and the single strongest reason you fit.

4. 4

   Prove the requirements

   In one or two body paragraphs, give an example with a result for each requirement you marked. Use numbers from your resume, but explain them instead of repeating them.

5. 5

   Close with a next step

   Thank the reader, restate your interest in one sentence and say you would welcome an interview.

6. 6

   Match and proofread

   Copy your resume header, keep the letter to one page, read it aloud, and check the company name and the reader's name twice.

A complete letter for a fictional applicant. The people, employers and numbers are illustrations.

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• AI cover letter generator from your resume
• What is a resume?
• References on a Resume: Where They Go and How to List Them

We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.

1. Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL): What Is a Cover Letter? (definition, first document an employer sees, what a letter can do)
2. Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL): Quick Formatting Tips for Cover Letters (one page, paragraph structure, single spacing, margins)
3. Purdue University Mitch Daniels School of Business, Business Career Services: Elements of a Cover Letter (paragraph roles, position number, focus on the employer, top 10 blunders)
4. Georgia Southern University Office of Career and Professional Development: Cover Letters (one page, three to four paragraphs, do not repeat the resume, email as the cover letter)
5. Monroe Community College Career Center: Writing a Cover Letter (same font as the resume, half to three-quarters of a page, an original letter for each employer)
6. UCLA Extension: Cover Letter Resources (body of 250 to 400 words, one page, three to four paragraphs)