How to write a Cover Letter

You can be pretty much guaranteed that at some point in your life, you’re going to need to sit down and right a professional looking cover letter. Therefore, we’ve put together an example of how a formal letter should be laid out in the United States.

This kind of format is known as a Modified Block Format and includes a few unique features when compared to the standard UK Letter Format:

• Date is written in Month/Day/Year format
• A semi-colon is used when greeting the recipient

July 18, 2011

Your contact name
Company Name
Your contact address 1
City and Zip Code

Dear Mr Karlsen;

Paragraph 1 should be used to introduce yourself and explain why you’re writing. It should be short and succinct while being entertaining enough to hook the reader and convince them to carry on reading.

Paragraph 2 should expand on what you’ve just mentioned. If you’re applying for a job now is the time to show the research you’ve done and start talking about any relevant experience that you have and why you think you’d be perfect for the role. This should be done in an enthusiastic yet professional manner.

Paragraph 3 is optional but is useful for clarifying exactly what you believe you can bring to a particular organisation. If you’re going to do this though, make sure you can back up what you’re saying with specific examples from your CV.

Final Paragraph is used to thank your reader for his/her time and attempt to encourage them to take action by leaving your email address/phone number of even informing them, that you will be following up this letter with a phone call of your own.

Yours sincerely,

*Sign your name in ink*

(Print your name here)