10 cover letter examples and a template that get you more interviews
A cover letter gets read when it is written for one job. Below are 10 that do that, a cover letter template to copy, and the format US recruiters expect. Recruiters skip template letters.Andrey (Founder of AirCareer, ex-DoorDash lead data scientist and hiring manager) saw it in 10,000+ resumes screened, so every letter here is built on the 3 sentences that get read.
Data analyst with 3 years in subscription commerce. Experiment design for 41 A/B tests, stakeholder dashboards in Looker, SQL and Python.
Experience
PlatefulAustin, TX
Data Analyst2023 to present
Ran 41 A/B tests on sign-up and checkout; a new order of the sign-up steps lifted paid conversion by 2.3 points.
Built 12 stakeholder dashboards in Looker that 60 people open every morning.
Present test results to product every Monday.
Skills
SQL, Python, A/B testing, Looker, dbt
Cover letter
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Dear Harborline Analytics team,
I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company, and I'm applying for the Senior Data Analyst role.
Your post puts experiment design first, and that is my work: at Plateful I ran 41 A/B tests in two years. One new order of the sign-up steps lifted paid conversion by 2.3 points.
Harborline shows the farm behind every item, and I like work where the data sits in front of the customer. That is how I build a dashboard too: one number people trust.
I've ordered from Harborline every week since I moved to Seattle, and I have two checkout changes I'd test first. I'd be glad to share them.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Maya Chen
1Written for this post2Each marked sentence answers a line3Copy and send
The letter answers the post, line by line. Three sentences change per job: technical fit, culture fit and where you've met.
Maya ChenAustin, TX · (512) 555-0147 · maya.chen@example.com · linkedin.com/in/mayachen-exampleOctober 24, 2026Dana Alvarez, Head of Growth Analytics Larkspur
Dear Ms. Alvarez,
I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company, and I'm applying for the Data Analyst, Growth role at Larkspur.
Technical fit: Your post puts A/B tests on the onboarding funnel first. At Plateful I ran the test program for sign-up and checkout: 41 tests in two years, and a new order of the sign-up steps that lifted paid conversion by 2.3 points. I write the SQL, size the test and present the result to product on Monday.
Culture fit: I read Larkspur's post on why you show fees before the account is opened. That is how I think about a funnel too: fewer sign-ups, better ones.
Intersection point: I've had a Larkspur account since 2024 and use its export for my own budgeting, so I know the product from the user side.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Maya Chen
Version for Mesa Ridge Health
149 words · 1 page
Maya ChenAustin, TX · (512) 555-0147 · maya.chen@example.com · linkedin.com/in/mayachen-exampleOctober 24, 2026Clinical Operations team Mesa Ridge Health
Dear Clinical Operations team,
I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company, and I'm applying for the Data Analyst, Clinical Operations role at Mesa Ridge Health.
Technical fit: Your post puts patient-flow dashboards for 4 hospitals first. At Plateful I built the Tableau reporting that 60 people open every morning: 12 dashboards on one data model, refreshed hourly, with a change log so nobody argues about a number. I completed HIPAA basics training this year.
Culture fit: Mesa Ridge publishes its ER wait times by hospital. An analyst who sees that page knows the numbers will be used, and that is the work I want.
Intersection point: A nurse on your Tempe unit, a friend from college, told me the team reads the morning flow report before rounds. That is the report I'd want to own.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company, and I'm applying for the first data analyst role at Fernway.
Technical fit: Your post asks for the first analyst to set up reporting in Python and SQL. At Plateful I was analyst number two and built the first reporting layer: dbt models on the order data, a Python job that posts the daily numbers to Slack at 7 am, and one metrics sheet that marketing and ops agreed on. After month 2, nobody asked which number was right.
Culture fit: Fernway sells one product a week and tells the maker's story. I started at a company that sold boxes with a story, and I know where the data on that model breaks: repeat rate, not first order.
Intersection point: I ordered the March ceramics drop and watched your checkout closely, as analysts do. I have two things I'd test first and would be glad to share them.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Maya Chen
Same person, 3 jobs, 3 letters. Only the marked sentences change, and those are the sentences a recruiter reads.
Why you · technical fit
Why them · culture fit
Where you've met · intersection point
The short version
A cover letter answers 2 questions: why you, and why this company.
Keep it to one page: about 150 to 300 words in 3 to 4 paragraphs.
The body is 3 sentences that change for every job: technical fit, culture fit and the intersection point.
Cut the biography, the resume retold and the template phrases.
Skip it when the post doesn't ask for one and your resume still needs work. Fix the resume first.
What a recruiter reads in a cover letter
Most applications arrive with no cover letter at all. Andrey has screened 10,000+ resumes and conducted 1,000+ interviews as a hiring manager. In that pile, a good letter was rare enough to remember.
"Most candidates don't send a cover letter at all. And the really good ones, I could count on my fingers."
Andrey Novikov, from his course on job search
That gap is your chance. A letter written for one job gets read, because it answers the question the recruiter has about you. It also works twice. At the interview, your letter sits next to your resume, and the interviewer reads it again before the first question. Prepare for that moment with these common interview questions.
A good letter answers the same 2 questions as your resume, only in free form. And it has 5 qualities a template letter lacks.
The 2 questions
Why you: you can do this job, and here is the result that proves it.
Why them: you want this company, and here is the true reason.
The 5 qualities
It sells you. Every sentence earns its place.
It's memorable: one fact they'll repeat, like "the analyst who ran 41 tests".
It's short and precise.
It adds what your resume can't say.
It sounds sincere, because it was written for one company.
Now the limit. A letter for every job takes time, and many letters get ignored. If your resume, LinkedIn profile or interview skills need work, fix the resume first. A strong letter adds to a strong resume. It won't rescue a weak one.
Cover letter template to copy and fill
Fill the brackets right here, then copy the result. Or copy it as it is and fill it in your editor. It has the 7 parts of a US business letter, and the 3 colored paragraphs are the ones that change for every job.
I'm a [your title] with [N] years in [your field], and I'm applying for the [Job Title] role at [Company].
Technical fit: The post asks for [the one duty the post cares about most]. At [Current or last employer] I [did that duty] and [result with a number]. I can do the same for [Company's team or product].
Culture fit: [Culture fit: one true sentence about why this company, tied to something you do or did]
Intersection point: [Intersection point: a product you use, a talk you saw, a person who referred you]
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, [Your Name]
How to fill each bracket
GreetingUse the hiring manager's name if the post or the company's team page gives it. Otherwise write "Dear Data Team" or "Dear Hiring Manager". Never "To Whom It May Concern".
IntroYour title, your years and the role. Add your 2 main tools if the post names them.
Technical fitRepeat the post's most important duty in its own words. Then give 1 result of yours with a number.
Culture fitOne sentence about the company that is true for you, tied to something you do. Their About page slogan doesn't count.
Intersection pointWhere you've met them before: their product, a talk, an event, a person who referred you.
CloseOne line. Ask for a call only when the letter goes by email and isn't attached to an application.
Short template for a form text box or an email
Many applications have a text box in place of an upload. Use this version as a cover letter for a job application form or email. Paste it into the text box, or make it the body of an email with your resume attached. It drops the header, the date and the greeting, and stays under 120 words.
Short template · under 120 words
Subject (email only): Application: [Job Title], [req number if any]
I'm a [your title] with [N] years of [2 main tools or skills], and I'm applying for the [Job Title] role at [Company].
Technical fit: The post asks for [the one duty it cares about most]. At [Employer] I [did that duty] and [result with a number].
Intersection point: [One true line: why this company, or where you've met it before]
I'd be glad to talk. Thank you for reading.
[Your Name]
Filling this once takes 20 minutes. Filling it for every job you apply to is the part nobody has time for. There's another way, after the examples.
Cover letter format for US jobs
A US cover letter is a one-page business letter. It uses the same header and font as your resume, so the two look like a set. Here is what goes where, top to bottom.
HeaderYour name, city and state, phone, email and LinkedIn. No street address.
DateWritten out: October 24, 2026.
RecipientName and title when you have them. Otherwise the team and the company.
Greeting"Dear Ms. Alvarez," or "Dear Data Team,".
IntroTitle, years, the role. Two lines.
Body in 3 partsTechnical fit, culture fit and the intersection point. This is the part that changes for every job.
Close and sign-offOne line, then "Sincerely," and your name.
US cover letter format rules
Part
Rule
Header
Name, city and state, phone, email, LinkedIn. No street address
Date
"October 24, 2026"
Recipient
Name and title when you have them, else the team and company
Greeting
"Dear Ms. Alvarez," or "Dear Data Team,". Not "To Whom It May Concern"
PDF named "Firstname-Lastname-Cover-Letter.pdf", unless the post asks for .docx
Email version
Subject "Application: Job Title, req 4821". Skip the address block. The letter is the email body, resume attached
Form text box
Skip the header, date and greeting. Start with the intro line
Most applications are online now, so the letter often lands in a text box or an email. The last 2 rows cover those cases.
How to write a cover letter in 6 steps
The Larkspur letter at the top of this page took 6 steps. Each step below ends with the sentence it produced.
Read the post and pick its 1 most important dutyIt's usually the first responsibility, or the one the post repeats.Your post puts A/B tests on the onboarding funnel first.
Find your matching result with a numberSame duty, your past job, one number. Tests run, time saved, revenue, a rate.41 tests in two years, and a new order of the sign-up steps that lifted paid conversion by 2.3 points.
Find the culture hook that is true for youSomething the company says or does, tied to how you work.I read Larkspur's post on why you show fees before the account is opened.
Find the intersection pointTheir product, an event, a talk or a person. The more specific, the better.I've had a Larkspur account since 2024 and use its export for my own budgeting.
Write the intro and the close in 2 lines eachTitle, years, role. Then thanks and a door left open.I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company.
Cut to one page, then read it as the recruiterAsk of every sentence: could it go to any other company? If yes, rewrite it or cut it.The Larkspur letter: 148 words, one page.
10 cover letter examples by job and situation
Each letter answers one job post, quoted above it. The marked sentences are the ones that change from job to job. Copy the structure, then swap in your own facts.
Cover letter example: software engineer
CPayments company · Austin, TX · posted on Greenhouse"Own the reliability of the card-auth API."
I'm a backend engineer with 4 years of Go and PostgreSQL at Tallyhop, a B2B invoicing platform, and I'm applying for the Senior Backend Engineer, Card Authorization role.
Technical fit: Your post asks for someone to own the reliability of the card-auth API. At Tallyhop I owned our payments API for 2 years, and I cut p99 latency from 840 ms to 210 ms. I moved retries to idempotency keys and added load shedding before peak hours. Sev-1 incidents fell from 9 in 2024 to 2 in 2025.
Culture fit: Your engineering blog's postmortem on last year's holiday outage named the fix and the owner, with no blame. We run postmortems the same way, and I wrote 6 of them last year. I'm on call one week in five, so I know what a 3 am page costs a team.
Intersection point: I used your Go SDK in a side project, a tip-splitting app for my climbing gym, and sent a pull request that fixed a timeout default in the retry client. It was merged in March.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Daniel Reyes
What the recruiter sees
The first body sentence repeats the post's main duty, so the match is clear on the first read.
Two numbers, latency and incident count, do the work that adjectives can't.
The merged pull request is a touchpoint the hiring manager can check in a minute.
Cover letter example: data analyst
LFintech · Austin, TX · posted on Greenhouse"Run A/B tests on the onboarding funnel and report weekly to product."
148 words · 1 page
Maya ChenAustin, TX · (512) 555-0147 · maya.chen@example.com · linkedin.com/in/mayachen-exampleOctober 24, 2026Dana Alvarez, Head of Growth Analytics Larkspur
Dear Ms. Alvarez,
I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, a meal-kit subscription company, and I'm applying for the Data Analyst, Growth role at Larkspur.
Technical fit: Your post puts A/B tests on the onboarding funnel first. At Plateful I ran the test program for sign-up and checkout: 41 tests in two years, and a new order of the sign-up steps that lifted paid conversion by 2.3 points. I write the SQL, size the test and present the result to product on Monday.
Culture fit: I read Larkspur's post on why you show fees before the account is opened. That is how I think about a funnel too: fewer sign-ups, better ones.
Intersection point: I've had a Larkspur account since 2024 and use its export for my own budgeting, so I know the product from the user side.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Maya Chen
What the recruiter sees
The fit paragraph answers the post's first line with a number of tests and a lift in points.
The culture line quotes something the company wrote, then ties it to how she works.
She uses the product, which makes the letter impossible to send to anyone else.
This is the Larkspur letter from the top of the page, in full. Looking for this role? See data analyst jobs open in the US today.
Cover letter example: registered nurse
RHospital · Columbus, OH · posted on Workday"Accurate charting at a 1:3 or 1:4 patient ratio on nights."
176 words · 1 page
Alicia Moore, RNColumbus, OH · (614) 555-0139 · alicia.moore@example.comOctober 24, 2026Nurse Recruitment, Progressive Care Unit Riverside Mercy Hospital
Dear Progressive Care hiring team,
I'm a registered nurse with 3 years on a 32-bed med-surg unit at Franklin Valley Hospital, and I'm applying for the RN, Progressive Care Unit (nights) role. I hold BLS and ACLS, and I finished a PCCN review course in September.
Technical fit: Your post asks for accurate charting at a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio. I carry 5 patients on nights, and our charting audit has scored me at 98% or higher for 6 quarters in a row. I also train new grads on our early warning score. This year I flagged 2 patients sliding toward sepsis before their rapid-response trigger.
Culture fit: Riverside Mercy posts its fall rate by unit on its patient page. I start every bedside hand-off with a fall check, and our charge nurses made it the unit standard in 2025.
Intersection point: I did my senior clinical rotation on your 4 West unit in 2022. The bedside hand-off I learned there is the one I still use.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Alicia Moore, RN
What the recruiter sees
The ratio and the audit score answer the post's first requirement in its own words.
The culture sentence is a habit she has, which says more than "compassionate" ever could.
A past rotation on their own unit is a link the nurse manager can confirm with one call.
Cover letter example: high school teacher
CPublic school district · Sacramento, CA · posted on the district job board"Teach Algebra 1 as the district moves to a problem-based curriculum."
177 words · 1 page
Marcus BellSacramento, CA · (916) 555-0164 · marcus.bell@example.comOctober 24, 2026Dr. Elena Ruiz, Principal Lincoln Park High School, Cedar Hollow Unified School District
Dear Dr. Ruiz,
I'm a math teacher with 5 years of Algebra 1 and Geometry at Westfield High School, and I'm applying for the Mathematics Teacher (Algebra 1) opening at Lincoln Park. I hold a California Single Subject Credential in Mathematics.
Technical fit: Your post says the district moves to a problem-based Algebra 1 curriculum next fall. I piloted a problem-based unit sequence at Westfield in 2024, and my students' pass rate on the district Algebra 1 final rose from 61% to 78% over 2 years. I now coach 3 colleagues on running the group tasks.
Culture fit: Your school profile says every student takes Algebra 1 by 9th grade, with support classes in place of a lower track. I teach one of our support sections by choice, because that is where the pass rate moves most.
Intersection point: I heard your department chair, Mr. Okafor, speak about de-tracking at the county math conference in March. I changed my homework grading policy the next week because of his talk.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Marcus Bell
What the recruiter sees
A classroom result has a number too: the pass rate, before and after.
He names the change the district is making and shows he has already done it.
The conference talk proves he follows the department, and the principal can ask the chair.
Cover letter example: customer service representative
PSoftware company · Remote (US) · posted on Lever"Chat and email support with a CSAT target of 90%."
154 words · 1 page
Jordan LeeTampa, FL · (813) 555-0127 · jordan.lee@example.comOctober 24, 2026Support team Pinegrove Software
Dear Pinegrove Support team,
I'm a customer support representative with 2 years of chat and email support at Harbor Home Insurance, and I'm applying for the Customer Support Specialist role.
Technical fit: Your post asks for chat and email support with a CSAT target of 90%. Over the last 12 months my CSAT averaged 96% across 4,100 chats, and my first-contact resolution was 81% against a team goal of 70%. I also wrote 14 of our help center articles.
Culture fit: Your help center answers in plain words and puts a real name on every article. I write replies the same way: short, with the next step first.
Intersection point: I've used your planner app since 2023 and once reported a sync bug through your chat. The agent fixed it in 6 minutes and told me why it happened. That's the kind of reply I'd like to give.
Thank you for reading. I'd be glad to talk.
Sincerely, Jordan Lee
What the recruiter sees
Every job has numbers. Here they are CSAT, chat volume and first-contact resolution.
Each number sits next to the target in the post, so the recruiter doesn't have to compare.
A support story from the customer side shows the reply style the team wants.
Cover letter example: project manager
NHealth system · Minneapolis, MN · posted on Workday"Lead the EHR rollout across 9 clinics in 2027."
194 words · 1 page
Sarah Kim, PMPMinneapolis, MN · (612) 555-0191 · sarah.kim@example.com · linkedin.com/in/sarahkim-exampleOctober 24, 2026Tom Hendricks, Director of Clinical Applications Northline Health
Dear Mr. Hendricks,
I'm a project manager with 6 years in healthcare IT at Meridian Clinic Partners, and I'm applying for the Senior Project Manager, EHR Implementation role. I've been PMP certified since 2022.
Technical fit: Your post asks for someone to lead the EHR rollout across 9 clinics in 2027. At Meridian I led the EHR move for 14 outpatient clinics and 380 users, and 12 of the 14 went live on the planned date. We finished $140,000 under a $2.1 million budget, with no unplanned downtime in the first 30 days. I ran the go-live command center and trained 60 super users.
Culture fit: Northline says it measures a rollout by how fast clinicians get back to a full patient schedule. I tracked the same number at Meridian, and all 14 clinics were back to full schedules within 3 weeks.
Intersection point: I saw your informatics team present on super-user training at the regional health IT conference in Chicago this spring. I used their 2-week shadow schedule for our last 3 clinics, and help desk tickets in week 1 fell by a third.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Sarah Kim, PMP
What the recruiter sees
Scope, dates and budget: the three numbers every project manager gets asked about.
The culture line uses the company's own success measure, then reports hers.
She used an idea from their own team's talk and shows what it changed.
Cover letter example: entry level, no experience
BHome goods brand · Charlotte, NC · posted on Greenhouse"Plan social content and report on it every week."
I graduated from Piedmont State University in May with a B.A. in communication, and I'm applying for the Marketing Coordinator role at Bramble & Co.
Technical fit: Your post asks for someone to plan social content and report on it every week. For 2 years I ran the Instagram and TikTok accounts of our campus outdoor club and grew them from 900 to 6,200 followers. I planned 3 posts a week and sent the officers a one-page report every Monday with reach, saves and sign-ups. Our spring trip sold out in 4 days, the fastest in the club's history.
Culture fit: Bramble shows the people who make each product in their own workshops. That kind of post gives people a reason to save it, and my best club post worked the same way: a 30-second video of a member fixing a tent, with 4 times our usual saves.
Intersection point: I bought your linen throw last winter after a reel about the weaver in Asheville, and I've followed your stories since. I'd like to help make the next one.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Emily Carter
What the recruiter sees
No job yet, so the fit comes from a club account with real numbers.
The weekly report proves she can do the second half of the post, not only the fun half.
She is a customer, and she names the exact post that sold her.
With less experience, the letter matters more. Ten resumes from people with 10 years of experience look very different. Ten junior resumes look alike, so the letter is where you get to be the one they remember.
Cover letter example: career change
TSoftware company · Denver, CO · posted on Ashby"Build weekly pipeline and quota reports for the sales team."
198 words · 1 page
Kevin O'BrienDenver, CO · (720) 555-0173 · kevin.obrien@example.com · linkedin.com/in/kobrien-exampleOctober 24, 2026Sales Operations team Trailhead Software
Dear Sales Operations team,
I've managed a $6.8 million retail store at Summit Outfitters for 5 years, and I'm applying for the Sales Operations Analyst role at Trailhead Software. This year I finished a data analytics certificate and an SQL course, and I want to do this work full time.
Technical fit: Your post asks for an analyst who can build weekly pipeline and quota reports. I built the weekly sales and labor report in Excel that our district now uses for 11 stores. By matching staff schedules to hourly sales, I cut labor cost from 14.2% to 11.9% of sales in one year. My audit work also took shrink from 2.1% to 1.2%.
Culture fit: Your careers page says the sales team plans by the numbers and resets the plan every quarter. That's how I ran my store: targets from last year's data, a check every Monday, and people moved when the numbers said so.
Intersection point: Our district uses Trailhead's scheduling tool, and my store tested its forecasting feature in the 2025 pilot. I wrote the feedback memo that your customer success manager shared with your product team.
I'd welcome a conversation about the role. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Kevin O'Brien
What the recruiter sees
He names the change and the training in one line, with no apology.
Retail results become analyst results: a report 11 stores use, labor cost, shrink.
He has used their product from the customer side, which most analyst candidates can't say.
A short side project or founder stint belongs in the letter when it is relevant to the company, even if it doesn't earn a line on your resume.
Cover letter example: internship
HInvestment firm · Philadelphia, PA · posted on Workday"Strong Excel modeling and clear writing for a summer analyst."
166 words · 1 page
Aisha RahmanPhiladelphia, PA · (215) 555-0146 · aisha.rahman@example.comOctober 24, 2026Campus Recruiting team Halvorsen Capital
Dear Campus Recruiting team,
I'm a junior at Delaware Valley University studying finance with a minor in statistics, and I'm applying for the 2027 Summer Analyst internship in Corporate Finance.
Technical fit: Your post asks for strong Excel modeling and clear writing. In our student investment fund I cover industrials and built a three-statement model for a mid-cap freight company. My pitch was one of 2 the fund bought this year. I also tutor 6 students a week in intro accounting.
Culture fit: At your campus info session, the speaker said interns join a real deal team with real deadlines from week 1. I learn fastest when someone depends on the result, so I'd pick that over a rotation.
Intersection point: After the session on September 18, your associate Ben Torres told me the industrials group is hiring interns this year. That is the sector I already follow in our fund, and he suggested I mention it here.
I'd welcome a conversation about the internship. Thank you for reading.
Sincerely, Aisha Rahman
What the recruiter sees
The intersection point does the heavy lifting: a date, a name and a group.
A student fund pitch is a real model with a real decision behind it.
The culture line quotes the info session, which proves she was there and listened.
Cover letter example: short cover letter for a job application form
FE-commerce startup · Denver, CO · posted on Ashby"Move the order data from spreadsheets into a warehouse."
Why do you want to work at Fernway? (max 1,000 characters)
101 words · 1 page
October 24, 2026
I'm a data engineer with 4 years of Python, SQL and Airflow, and I'd like to join Fernway as your first data engineer.
Technical fit: Your post asks for someone to move the order data from spreadsheets into a warehouse. At Copperleaf Foods I moved 3 years of order history into Snowflake with 40 Airflow jobs and tests on every table. The daily report now lands at 6 am instead of noon.
Intersection point: I've bought 3 of your weekly drops and read every maker story, so I know the data behind them matters to you.
I'd be glad to talk. Thank you for reading.
What the recruiter sees
Four sentences, and each one carries a fact.
It skips the header, date and greeting, because the form already knows who you are.
It still has the fit sentence with a number. That is the part that gets read.
What not to write in a cover letter
Recruiters see the same 3 mistakes again and again. Each pair below shows the template version and the version written for the job.
1. A biography
Template
After college I spent two years in retail, then found my love for analytics while helping my manager with reports, and I've been on that path ever since.
Written for the job
I built the weekly sales report that 11 stores use, and I cut labor cost from 14.2% to 11.9% of sales.
2. Your resume, retold
Template
In my current role I am responsible for dashboards, SQL queries, stakeholder reporting and ad hoc analysis. Before that I was a junior analyst.
Written for the job
You need patient-flow dashboards for 4 hospitals. I built the 12 dashboards that 60 people open every morning.
3. Template phrases
Template
I am a results-driven team player, passionate about joining your innovative company and its amazing team.
Written for the job
I read your post on showing fees before the account is opened. That is how I think about a funnel too.
A biography gets interesting only after you've sold yourself. The hobby story belongs in the letter only when it is the intersection point, for example when the company's careers page talks about the same hobby. For the full list of tired phrases, see our resume examples by job, which flag them line by line.
When an AI cover letter generator helps, and when it hurts
An AI generator writes only as well as its input. Give it your resume alone, and it writes the template letter recruiters skip. Give it the job post and your real results, and it can write the 3 parts that get read.
A generator that sees only your resume
−Writes the same letter for every company
−Retells your resume in longer sentences
−Fills gaps with phrases like "excited to contribute to your mission"
−Invents a result when you don't give one
One that reads the job post and your real results
+Finds the post's most important duty and answers it first
+Uses your real numbers, in the post's own words
+Writes the culture and intersection lines only from facts you gave it
Check every fact it writes. If you don't give it a result, it will make one up, and then the interviewer asks about it.
AirCareer. Writes each letter from the job post and your profile. Keeps your employers and dates exactly as they are.
This is the cover letter Andrey sent to Brilliant, an online platform for math, science and computer science courses, for a data scientist role. It is a couple of paragraphs, and each one carries a fact.
Real letter · edited for length
Dear Brilliant,
My name is Andrey, and I am a Senior Product Data Scientist with over 5 years of experience. In my current role, I lead the analysis of complex user data to drive product decisions in products that are very similar in nature to Brilliant's platform (apps with Health & Fitness content using a subscription-based monetization model). Technical fit: I know firsthand how important it is to make the right product decisions quickly [...]
Culture fit: Additionally, I run an educational YouTube channel [...] featuring content on data science, careers, and the tech industry. [...]
Intersection point: I have been passionate about education all my life and have used Brilliant's product in the past (your courses on probability theory are amazing!). I would love the opportunity to contribute to your mission of building a world of great problem solvers.
[...]
Best regards, Andrey
Andrey's cover letter for a data scientist role at Brilliant. [...] marks a cut.
Why it worked as a letter:
The technical fit is about speed of product decisions, in a product like theirs.
The culture hook was true. An education company got a letter from someone who runs an education channel.
The intersection point was real. He had taken their probability courses.
It isn't perfect by this page's rules. It opens with "My name is", and one sentence uses "passionate". The 3 marked parts carry it anyway.
Questions about cover letters
How long should a cover letter be?
We recommend about 150 to 300 words, a couple of paragraphs on one page, because a recruiter reads a short, pointed letter. In a form text box, 80 to 120 words is enough.
What are the 3 parts of a cover letter?
Intro, body and close. The body has its own 3 parts: technical fit (why you can do the job), culture fit (why this company) and the intersection point (where you've met them before). The intro and the close take 2 lines each.
Do employers read cover letters?
Surveys disagree, and most are run by resume companies, so we don't quote one. Our founder's view from 1,000+ interviews conducted as a hiring manager: a letter written for the job gets read, and a template letter doesn't. When the post marks it optional, send a short one.
Can I use the same cover letter for multiple jobs?
Yes for the header, the intro and the close. No for the 3 body sentences: they answer one job post, so they change every time. That is the part AirCareer rewrites for every job it applies to.
AirCareer. It rewrites the 3 body sentences for each job, and keeps your employers and dates exactly as they are.
With your title, your years and the role: "I'm a data analyst with 3 years at Plateful, and I'm applying for the Data Analyst, Growth role at Larkspur." Skip "I am writing to apply for." The recruiter already knows why you wrote.
How do I address a cover letter without a name?
Use the team ("Dear Data Team,") or "Dear Hiring Manager,". Look for the name on the company's team page or on LinkedIn first. It takes 2 minutes. Avoid "To Whom It May Concern", which reads like a form letter.
Is a cover letter necessary in 2026?
If the post requires one, yes. If it's optional, send a short one when you have a real fit sentence. If your resume still needs work, fix the resume first, because a letter won't rescue it.
Can I write a cover letter with ChatGPT?
Yes, for the first draft. Give it the job post and your real results, and ask for the 3 body parts. Then check every fact, because it will invent a result if you let it.
Get more interviews with a cover letter written for each job
AirCareer finds matching jobs the day they are posted, writes a cover letter and rewrites your resume for each one, and submits the application on the employer's own form. You approve each one, or auto mode sends strong matches. Free to start.
186,769 open jobs on the seven hiring systems AirCareer submits on (counted October 24, 2026).
