How to Tailor a Cover Letter to Every Job Without Rewriting It
If you're sending dozens of applications, rewriting a letter from scratch every time isn't realistic. Write one strong letter, then change the few parts that should be different for each employer.
A four-paragraph structure
- Opening: the position and the company by name, and one sentence about who you are.
- Proof: your best two or three results, with numbers, that match what the posting asks for.
- Why this team: one or two sentences written only for this employer.
- Closing: thank them and ask for the conversation.
That's about 250 to 400 words, and it fits on one page.
What changes for each job
- The company and position: write your letter with placeholders like
{Company}and{Position}and fill them in for each application. - The greeting: use the hiring manager's name if the posting or a quick search gives it. "Dear Hiring Manager" is fine when it doesn't.
- One line just for them: a detail from the posting or the company that genuinely fits you.
- Keywords: make sure the two or three skills the posting stresses appear in your proof paragraph, if they're true for you.
Everything else stays the same, which is how you keep quality high on the fiftieth application.
Example
An example with made-up details.
Dear Ms. Moreno,
I'm writing to apply for the {Position} position at {Company}. I'm a project coordinator with six years of experience keeping cross-functional teams on schedule and on budget.
At Northline Logistics, I coordinate schedules and deliverables for 12 concurrent projects worth $3M, and I introduced weekly status reporting that helped us deliver more than 40 projects on time. I also renegotiated three vendor contracts, cutting annual costs by 15%.
Your focus on clear reporting to stakeholders is exactly how I like to work, and I'd bring the same habits to your team.
Thank you for your consideration. I would welcome the chance to talk about how I can contribute.
Sincerely,
Jordan Hayes
Don't forget
- Match the design of your resume, so the two look like a set
- Save each letter with the company name in the file name
- Proofread the company name twice: sending one company's name to another is the most common mistake
- Send a short thank-you note within a day of any interview