How to write a cover letter that gets read

Your letter reaches more than one reader, and each is looking for something different.

• HR reads for the essentials HR checks the same minimum criteria for every applicant: the qualification, the minimum years, the right to work. Your letter should make those easy to find rather than make them a puzzle.
• The hiring manager reads for the work The hiring manager owns the role itself. They are reading for whether you have done this work before, whether you understood the problem behind the job title, and why this organisation rather than any organisation. That is what your letter is for.

The letter is a bridge between the advert and your CV

Read the advert as a list of requirements. For each one, find what your CV already shows. The letter carries the sentences that connect the two, and it handles the requirement your CV does not cover.

A worked example

The role and the person below are invented, so that the example teaches the method rather than handing you sentences to copy. A letter that is obviously a template is worse than a short letter in your own words.

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Kassala

• What the advert asks for At least three years in monitoring and evaluation

  What your CV already shows M&E Assistant, 2021 to 2024, listed under Experience

  What your letter says Name the three years and say what you measured, not just that you measured. One sentence.

• What the advert asks for Experience with donor reporting

  What your CV already shows Quarterly reports, 2023, listed under Experience

  What your letter says Say who the reports went to and what they had to prove. That is the part the hiring manager cannot see from your CV.

• What the advert asks for Working Arabic and English

  What your CV already shows Both listed under Languages

  What your letter says Do not repeat it. Your CV already says it, and repeating a met requirement spends a line you need elsewhere.

• What the advert asks for A driving licence

  What your CV already shows Not in your CV

  What your letter says This is the one that matters. If you have it, add it to your CV and mention it. If you do not, say what you do instead, briefly and without apology.

What the advert asks for by name

Some of what an advert asks for is a simple check: it is either there or it is not. Put those items in your first line and your last line, where the person checking will find them.

• The post title and the reference number Both go in your first line and in the subject line of the email. An organisation advertising six posts at once sorts by that reference before it reads anything.
• Where you are, and where the post is Say the city you are in now and whether you can work in the location the advert names. If moving there is possible for you, say so plainly instead of leaving it open.
• When you can start Give a date or a notice period. “Available immediately” and “one month’s notice” both answer the question. Saying nothing does not.
• The language the advert asks for Where the advert asks for the letter and the CV in English, send both in English, even if the interview will be in Arabic. Where it says nothing, follow the language of the advert itself.
• The attachments it names Send exactly what is listed, and put your name and the post in each file name, like “Amna Yousif - CV.pdf”. Some adverts also ask for a form, referee details, or copies of certificates, and an application missing one of them is set aside before anyone reads it.
• One page Three or four short paragraphs. If the letter runs longer, the part to cut is usually the part that repeats your CV.

What a hiring manager is looking for

• Evidence, not adjectives. 'I trained forty enumerators before the baseline' says more than 'I am highly motivated'.
• That you read the advert. Answering the criteria in the order the advert lists them is the cheapest way to show it.
• That you understand the work, not just the job title. One sentence about the problem the role exists to solve.
• Why this organisation. A letter that would fit any advert reads as one that was sent to all of them.

Avoid

• One letter sent to every organisation. It is the most common reason a letter is skipped.
• More than one page. The hiring manager is reading many of these.
• Repeating your CV in paragraphs. The letter adds what the CV cannot show.
• Leaving out what the advert asked for by name, such as the post title, the reference number, or your availability.