Cover Letter Builder
Write the letter in the same typeface and template as your resume, so the two arrive looking like one application.
Runs in your browser. Your letter is never uploaded.
Your details
Who it is for
The letter
What a cover letter is for
Not to repeat your resume. The reader already has that, and a letter that summarises it wastes the one chance you have to say something the resume cannot: why this employer, why this role, and what you would bring that is not obvious from a list of jobs and dates.
Three or four short paragraphs is the whole of it. Say which role you are applying for and what draws you to this particular company. Give one concrete thing you have done that bears directly on the job — with a number in it, if you have one. Deal with anything the resume leaves hanging: a career change, a gap, a move. Then ask for the conversation and stop.
Why it should look like your resume
Because they arrive together, and often merged into a single PDF. Two documents set in different fonts with differently-styled headers look like two documents that happened to turn up in the same email. Setting both from the same template costs you nothing and makes the application read as one considered thing.
The same applies to the text layer. Employers who ask for one document tend to merge the letter and the resume, and if the letter parses as a blank page it can take the resume down with it. Everything here is drawn as real text, in a single column, like the rest of the site.
Frequently asked questions
Will the letter match my resume?
Yes, if you use the same template. The letter is typeset by the same engine, in the same templates and the same fonts, so a letter set in Traditional looks like a resume set in Traditional. You can also pull your name and contact details straight across from the resume editor with one click, so the two headers cannot drift apart.
How long should a cover letter be?
Three or four short paragraphs, and never more than one page. The editor counts the words as you type and tells you when you have gone past about 400, which is where most letters stop being read. Brevity is not a stylistic preference here — the letter is competing with a stack of others for a couple of minutes of someone’s attention.
What should each paragraph actually say?
The first says which role you are applying for and why this employer specifically. The second gives one concrete thing you have done that bears on the job, with a number in it if you have one. The third, if you need it, deals with anything the resume leaves open — a career change, a gap, a relocation. The last asks for the conversation. Anything that merely repeats your resume can be cut.
Is my letter uploaded anywhere?
No. It is stored in your own browser, exactly like your resume, and it is never sent to a server. Use Export JSON to keep a copy you control, because clearing your browser data will lose it.
Who do I address it to?
A name if you can find one — the job advert, the company’s team page or LinkedIn will often give you the hiring manager. "Dear Hiring Manager," is a perfectly acceptable fallback and far better than "To Whom It May Concern", which reads as though you did not look.
Does the PDF have a real text layer?
Yes, the same as the resume. The text is drawn as text rather than rendered to an image, so it can be selected, searched and parsed. Employers who ask for a single document often merge the two, and a letter that parses as a blank page would take the resume down with it.