Role 1
0 bulletsAdd metricsMissing dates
Quick add a bullet
Each starter has [brackets] to replace with your own details. Only keep what is true for you.
Results
Leadership
Process
Customers
Cover Letter Builder
Cover letter builder
Create your document, review the preview, and export it.
Import a resume and analysis settings
Resume Import
Optional. Use PDF, DOC, or DOCX to prefill the builder.
Your document
Start blank or import a PDF/DOC/DOCX resume to autofill the fields. The builder saves locally as you edit.
Export document
Text PDF has selectable text. Visual PDF preserves appearance; DOC remains editable.
Document settings
All changes saved
ATS Keyword Match
Paste the job description to compare important terms against this resume. Missing keywords indicate absent text evidence. Add them manually only when they accurately describe your experience.
Writing the letter
Cover letter templates, and what to put in them
A cover letter template solves the layout, which is the smaller half of the problem. These sections cover the other half: what belongs in each paragraph, how long it should run, and the openings that waste the only paragraph anyone reliably reads.
What a cover letter is actually for
A cover letter explains the thing your resume cannot: why this role, why you, and why now. The resume lists what happened; the covering letter argues what it means. That is why a letter which restates your resume in paragraph form adds nothing, and why the strongest ones pick two or three specific points and connect them to what the posting says it needs. If you are wondering what are cover letters for when the application already includes a resume, that connective work is the answer.
Cover letter format that holds up
The format of a cover letter has been stable for a long time because it works. Your contact details, the date, the employer details, a greeting to a named person where you can find one, three or four short paragraphs, and a sign-off. The first paragraph says what you are applying for and gives one concrete reason you are worth reading. The middle cites evidence. The last states what you want to happen next. A cover letter template handles the spacing so you can spend your attention on those three jobs.
How long should a cover letter be
One page, and usually well under it. Somewhere between 250 and 400 words is the range that gets read. The instinct to fill the page is worth resisting: a short letter making two specific points beats a full one making six vague ones, and the reader is often skimming for a reason to keep going rather than reading top to bottom. If a paragraph does not name something you did or something the role needs, it can go.
Matching your letter to your resume
Each resume template here pairs with a cover letter style that shares its typography and margins, so the two documents arrive looking like one application rather than two files from different decades. Consistency matters more than people expect. A mismatched pair reads as assembled at the last minute, which is the impression the letter exists to counter.
A Word cover letter template when the portal insists
Export produces both PDF and DOC, so you have a Microsoft Word cover letter template ready when an application portal will not take a PDF. As with the resume, PDF is the better default because it fixes the layout, and the DOC version is the one you reach for when a form leaves you no choice.
Addressing a letter when you have no name
Look for the hiring manager on the company site or LinkedIn first, because a named greeting is noticeably better than a generic one. When you genuinely cannot find a name, address the team or the role: Dear Hiring Team, or Dear Engineering Hiring Manager. To Whom It May Concern still appears in templates but reads as dated and as though you did not look, so it is worth the two minutes to avoid it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cover letter, and do I still need one?
It is a short letter accompanying your resume that argues why you fit this particular role. Whether you need one depends on the employer: some applications never open it, and some hiring managers read it before the resume. Since you cannot tell which from the outside, and a good one takes fifteen minutes once your resume exists, the arithmetic usually favours writing it.
Can I see cover letter examples before I start?
Yes. The cover letter examples page carries two full letters with the reasoning behind each paragraph, and the builder itself opens with a structured draft rather than a blank page. Generic examples are a trap in practice: the sentences that look most quotable are the ones every reader has already seen many times.
What does a cover letter for a resume look like?
On the page it looks like a business letter: your details at the top, the employer below, a greeting, three or four short paragraphs, and a sign-off. The resume cover page examples people search for are mostly showing this same skeleton with different typography. What separates a strong one is entirely in the paragraphs, not the layout.
Is there a cover letter template for Microsoft Word?
Yes. Any letter you build here exports as a DOC file that opens in Word, LibreOffice, or Pages with the formatting intact, alongside the PDF version.
Should the cover letter repeat what is on my resume?
No, and this is the most common way a letter wastes its page. Pick two or three things from your resume that matter most for this role and explain the context a bullet cannot carry: what the constraint was, what you decided, what changed as a result. If a reader learns nothing from the letter that the resume did not already say, it was not worth attaching.