The cover letter tips worth your time are few: write to one listing, put your strongest relevant result in the first sentence, use the listing's own words where they are true of you, replace adjectives with things you did, connect one fact about the company to your work, ask for the conversation, and stay under a page. None takes more than ten minutes.
Below are twelve tips in the order you would use them, then one finished letter and a checklist.
Key points
- Choose three requirements from the listing before you write.
- Put a result in the first sentence and the job title in the second.
- Use the listing's words for what you have really done, and swap each adjective about yourself for a fact.
- Connect one fact about the company to your own work.
- End with what you would discuss and when you are free.
- Before you send: under a page, read aloud, three names checked.
In this guide
Before you write: tips 1 to 3
1. Choose three requirements from the listing
Read the listing first. Mark what it repeats and what it calls essential, pick the three requirements you can answer with something you did, and write your evidence beside each. That list is the plan for the letter, and it is what customising one means. How to write a cover letter takes this step slowly.
The examples here follow one application: Emre Demir, a senior receptionist at a dental practice, is applying for Practice Manager at a five-surgery practice that has just begun opening on Saturdays.
| The listing asks for | Emre's evidence |
|---|---|
| "Reduce missed appointments" | Down from 46 a month to 19 after he changed the reminders |
| "Run a front-of-house team of six" | Builds the rota for four receptionists; trained two of them |
| "Keep the rota working across six days" | Rebuilt the rota for two new late evenings |
72%
of the hiring managers asked said that customising a cover letter is "important" or "very important".
2. Find the name of the person who will read it
Spend five minutes on the listing, the company's team page and LinkedIn: the listing often says who the role reports to. If no name turns up, "Dear Hiring Manager," is correct.
Weak
Dear Sir or Madam,
Strong
Dear Dilani Perera,
The listing says the role reports to the practice director, and the team page gives her name but not her title. Emre does not guess between "Ms" and "Dr": the full name is always safe. More cases are in Who to address a cover letter to.
3. Find one fact about the company and connect it to your work
Ten minutes with the listing's first paragraph and the company's news page is enough. Look for one thing the company has done or is doing: a launch, a new site, longer hours. Then say what it has to do with you.
Weak
I have long admired Brindlemoor Dental's excellent reputation and its commitment to patient care.
Strong
Brindlemoor began opening on Saturdays in September. A sixth day changes every rota, and I rebuilt ours when Oakenby added two late evenings in 2025 without cancelling a clinic for lack of cover.
The weak sentence fits any practice in the country. The strong one fits only this one, and turns its news into evidence about the writer.
The opening: tips 4 and 5
4. Lead with a specific achievement
Give the first sentence to the most relevant thing you have done, with a number if you have one. The reader already knows which job this is and that you are applying for it.
Weak
I am writing to express my interest in the Practice Manager vacancy advertised on your website.
Strong
Missed appointments at Oakenby Family Dental fell from 46 a month to 19 after I changed when and how we remind patients.
The strong sentence answers the listing's first requirement before the letter has asked for anything, and both numbers show the size of the change. How to start a cover letter sorts forty first lines by what they prove.
5. Name the role in the second sentence
The second sentence ties the opening to the job. Name the role and the requirement your result answers, then stop.
Weak
I have worked in dental reception for six years and have gained a wide range of valuable skills.
Strong
Your listing for a Practice Manager puts reducing missed appointments first, and that is the work I would like to do across your five surgeries.
The weak version changes the subject to the writer's history. The strong one says why the first sentence was chosen.
If you cannot decide which result to lead with, write a letter in Cover Letter Guru and press Regenerate: it gives you a different version with a new opening.
Write my first letter freeThe body: tips 6 to 8
6. Use the listing's own words where they are true of you
The listing is written in the employer's own words, so use those words for anything you have really done. It saves the reader translating, and it shows you read what they wrote. Never borrow a phrase for something you have not done.
Weak
I brought down our DNA rate and I do the rota for reception.
Strong
I reduced missed appointments and I build the weekly rota for the front-of-house team.
Emre's practice says "DNAs" (did not attend) and "reception". The listing says "missed appointments" and "front-of-house team". Same facts, in the reader's words.
7. Replace each adjective about yourself with something you did
Underline every word in the draft that describes you: organised, motivated, passionate, reliable. For each, ask what you did that would make someone say it, and write that. Advice to "show enthusiasm" comes to the same thing: give the detail of the work.
Weak
I am a highly organised and proactive team player with excellent people skills.
Strong
I build the weekly rota for our four receptionists, and I trained the two who joined us last year.
Four claims with nothing behind them, against two facts. The reader can decide for themselves that the second writer is organised.
8. Add what your resume has no room for
Take one line from your resume and give the two things a bullet point leaves out: how you did it, and what came of it. A paragraph that only lists duties repeats the resume.
Weak
As Senior Receptionist I am responsible for appointment booking, patient reminders, recalls and reception cover.
Strong
We used to send one text the evening before. I moved it to two days before, when a patient can still rearrange, and added a phone call for any appointment longer than 45 minutes.
The weak sentence is the resume again with "I am" in front. The strong one explains how the number in the opening came about.
The close: tip 9
9. End with a confident next step
Say what you would like to talk about and when you are free, so the reader has something specific to say yes to. Sign off with "Yours sincerely," or "Kind regards," and your full name.
Weak
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Strong
I would be glad to show you the reminder schedule and the rota I built around the late evenings. I am free for a call any weekday after 2 pm.
The strong close offers something to look at and settles the timing. It reads as confident because it is specific. More endings are in How to end a cover letter.
Before you send: tips 10 to 12
10. Keep it under one page
We suggest four or five short paragraphs and 250 to 400 words. To get there, cut any sentence that most applicants could write, then shorten the rest. "I was given the opportunity to", "I believe that" and "in order to" can nearly always go.
Weak
During my time in this role I was also given the opportunity to take on responsibility for training new members of the reception team.
Strong
I trained the two receptionists who joined us last year.
The same fact in ten words where there were twenty-four.
49%
of recruiters said the perfect length for a cover letter is half a page.
In the same survey, 26% said one page and 25% said a few sentences. How long should a cover letter be? shows one letter at three lengths.
11. Read it aloud, then check three names
Read the letter out loud: you will hear the missing word and the sentence that runs on. Then check three names against the listing, letter by letter: the company, the role and the person. Wrong names come from reused letters.
68%
of recruiters said they may reject a qualified candidate for a typo in the application materials.
12. Send exactly what the listing asks for
If the listing names a file type, a subject line or a reference number, use it. If it names none, send a PDF that shares a header and font with your resume, named with your name and the role. In an email or a form box, leave the header out. Margins, fonts and spacing are in Cover letter format.
Weak
coverletter_final_v3.docx
Strong
Emre-Demir-Practice-Manager-cover-letter.pdf
The second file name says whose letter it is and for which job.
All twelve tips in one letter
Here is Emre's finished letter, built from the strong sentences above, with a note where each tip was used.
Emre's letter to Brindlemoor Dental
Senior dental receptionist applying for Practice Manager Β· Professional tone Β· 269 words
Dear Dilani Perera,
Missed appointments at Oakenby Family Dental fell from 46 a month to 191 after I changed when and how we remind patients. Your listing for a Practice Manager puts reducing missed appointments first2, and that is the work I would like to do across your five surgeries.
We used to send one text the evening before. I moved it to two days before, when a patient can still rearrange3, and added a phone call for any appointment longer than 45 minutes. Slots that are given up early now go to patients on our waiting list. Every Friday I go through the week's missed appointments, and a patient who misses two in a row gets a call from me before their next booking.
You also ask for someone to run a front-of-house team of six. I have been senior receptionist for three of my six years at Oakenby. I build the weekly rota for our four receptionists, and I trained the two who joined us last year. Each of them shadowed me on the front desk for a week before taking calls alone.
Brindlemoor began opening on Saturdays in September.4 A sixth day changes every rota, and I rebuilt ours when Oakenby added two late evenings in 2025 without cancelling a clinic for lack of cover. For those evenings I moved two receptionists onto split shifts and named a cover for every clinic.
I would be glad to show you the reminder schedule and the rota I built around the late evenings. I am free for a call any weekday after 2 pm5.
Yours sincerely, Emre Demir
Why this works
- 1Tips 1 and 4. Evidence for the listing's first requirement, in the first sentence, with both numbers.
- 2Tips 5 and 6. The role is named in the second sentence, in the listing's words and not the practice's "DNAs".
- 3Tip 8. The how behind the opening number, which a resume bullet has no room for.
- 4Tip 3. One fact about the company, followed at once by what it has to do with the writer.
- 5Tip 9. What Emre would bring to the conversation, and when he can have it.
Three more are unmarked: the greeting uses a name (tip 2), the paragraph about the team describes Emre only by what he does (tip 7), and the letter is between 250 and 400 words (tip 10). Tips 11 and 12 happen off the page. For other jobs, see Twelve cover letters that work, annotated.
Checklist before you send
- Three requirements from the listing, each answered with something you did.
- A named reader, or "Dear Hiring Manager,".
- One fact about the company, tied to your work.
- A result in the first sentence.
- The role and its main requirement in the second.
- The listing's words for what you have really done.
- No adjective about yourself without a fact behind it.
- One "how" and one outcome that your resume does not give.
- A close that says what you would discuss and when you are free.
- 250 to 400 words, on one page.
- Read aloud once; company, role and person checked against the listing.
- The file type the listing asked for, named with your name and the role.
Cover Letter Guru writes a draft from your resume and the job listing, using only what is in the resume. Edit it in place, then run this checklist.
Write from my resumeCommon questions
- What is the most important cover letter tip?
- Write to one listing. Choose its three main requirements and answer each with something you did. Every other tip here is a way of doing that more clearly.
- Which tips matter most if I only have fifteen minutes?
- Do three: put a result in the first sentence (tip 4), answer the listing's main requirement with how you did it (tip 8), and check the three names (tip 11). Leave the rest for a letter you have more time for.
- Should I use bullet points in a cover letter?
- Two or three bullets are fine in the body when your results are separate and each has a number. Keep the opening and the close as sentences, and do not paste in bullets from your resume.
- Do these tips work if I have no work experience?
- Yes. The evidence comes from coursework, projects, volunteering or part-time work, and the method stays the same. There are four full letters in Cover letter with no experience.
Sources
- Resume Genius, 2022. Survey of 625 US hiring managers.
- Zety, 2024. Survey of 753 recruiters, June 2024.
- Zety, 2024. Survey of recruiters; the page does not state how many.
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