Cover letter structure and format

A standard cover letter is a one-page business letter with a header, a greeting, three or four short paragraphs, and a sign-off with your name. There is no single official format, but this layout is widely accepted.

From top to bottom:

• Your header: full name, phone, email, city and country, and optionally a LinkedIn or portfolio link.
• Date.
• Employer details: hiring manager's name and title, company name and city (optional for online applications).
• Greeting: "Dear Ms Rahman," or "Dear Hiring Manager,".
• Opening paragraph: the role and why you are applying.
• One or two middle paragraphs: evidence that you fit the role.
• Closing paragraph: thanks and interest in an interview.
• Sign-off: "Kind regards," followed by your full name.

Use a clear font, left-aligned text, a blank line between paragraphs and normal margins. Keep it to one page and use the same header style as your resume so the two documents look like a set.

Three to five short paragraphs is the usual range. Most good letters follow a simple pattern: one opening paragraph, one or two middle paragraphs with evidence, and one closing paragraph.

A typical four-paragraph letter:

• Paragraph 1: the role, where you found it and your main reason for applying.
• Paragraph 2: your strongest relevant experience, with an example.
• Paragraph 3: a second example, or why you want this employer specifically.
• Paragraph 4: thanks and a line about meeting to discuss the role.

Keep each paragraph to about three to five sentences. If a paragraph covers two separate ideas, split it; if two paragraphs say similar things, merge them.

Your name and the contact details the employer needs to reach you: phone number, email address and location. Optionally add a LinkedIn or portfolio link.

Example header:
"Leila Haddad
+971 50 123 4567 | leila.haddad@email.com | Abu Dhabi, UAE
linkedin.com/in/leilahaddad"

Tips:

• Use the same name format and contact details as on your resume.
• City and country are enough; a full street address is rarely needed.
• Include your country code in the phone number if applying internationally.
• Use a professional email address based on your name.

Below your header, add the date and, if you know them, the recipient's details.

It is optional. In a traditional printed letter, the employer's name and address appear below the date. For online applications and email, many people include only the recipient's name, title and company, or skip the block entirely.

If you include it, keep it simple:
"Mr Daniel Okafor
Head of Finance
Brightway Engineering Ltd
Lagos, Nigeria"

Include it when:

• The letter will be printed or posted.
• You want a formal, traditional look.
• The advert gives a specific person and office.

Leave it out if you do not have reliable details. A guessed or outdated address looks worse than none.

Yes, in an attached or printed letter it is normal to include the date, placed below your header and above the recipient details or greeting. Use the date you send the letter, not the date you first wrote it.

Write the date in full to avoid confusion between countries:

• "14 March 2026" (common in the UK, Gulf, India, Australia).
• "March 14, 2026" (common in the US).

Avoid formats like "03/04/2026", which some readers will see as 3 April and others as 4 March. In an email cover letter, you do not need to type a date because the email itself is dated.

Before each application, check the date is updated; an old date suggests a reused letter.

Use a neutral, professional greeting such as "Dear Hiring Manager," or one that names the team, such as "Dear Recruitment Team," or "Dear Finance Hiring Team,". These are widely accepted when no name is available.

Good options, roughly in order of preference:

• "Dear [Name]," if you can find the right person.
• "Dear Hiring Manager,"
• "Dear [Department] Team," for example "Dear Marketing Team,"
• "Dear Recruitment Team,"

Options to avoid:

• "To Whom It May Concern," which feels distant and old-fashioned to many readers.
• "Dear Sir," which assumes the reader's gender.
• "Hi there," or "Hey," which are too casual.

Before settling on a general greeting, check the advert, the company website or a professional networking profile for the hiring manager's name. If you find one, use it with the right title. If not, a neutral greeting is perfectly acceptable and will not count against you.

It is still understood and is not a serious mistake, but it sounds old-fashioned to many readers. "Dear Hiring Manager," or "Dear Recruitment Team," is a more modern neutral choice.

"Dear Sir or Madam" is still seen in:

• Formal letters in some UK, European and Gulf organisations.
• Public-sector or very traditional employers.

Avoid "Dear Sir," on its own, as it assumes the reader is a man. If the advert is very formal and names no team, "Dear Sir or Madam," is acceptable; otherwise choose a greeting that does not assume gender and sounds current.

It is acceptable but not ideal. It sounds impersonal and suggests you did not try to find out who would read the letter. A greeting like "Dear Hiring Manager," feels more direct and is just as safe.

Better alternatives:

• "Dear Hiring Manager,"
• "Dear Recruitment Team,"
• "Dear [Company name] Team," for example "Dear Zenith Pharma Team,"

"To Whom It May Concern" is more suited to general reference letters or certificates that may be read by anyone. For a job application, aim for a greeting addressed to the person or team handling the role.

Use a title and surname, such as "Dear Mr Patel," or "Dear Dr Al Mansoori,", unless you already know the person or the company culture is clearly informal. A surname with a title is the safest professional choice.

When the first name may be fine:

• You have spoken or emailed and they signed with their first name.
• The advert or company clearly uses first names, as some start-ups do.

When unsure of the title, use the full name without one: "Dear Priya Sharma,". This avoids guessing and still sounds polite.

For names where you are not sure which part is the family name, the full name is again the safest option.

Use "Ms", which does not depend on marital status and is the standard business title in English. "Dear Ms Fernandes," is correct and polite.

Other rules of thumb:

• Use "Mrs" or "Miss" only if the person uses it herself, for example in her email signature.
• Use a professional title if she has one: "Dear Dr Hussain," or "Dear Professor Lim,".
• If you are unsure of the gender, use the full name: "Dear Sam Morgan,".

In British English, "Ms" and "Mr" are usually written without a full stop; in American English, "Ms." and "Mr." are common. Either is fine if you are consistent.

Both are acceptable. A comma ("Dear Ms Lopez,") is standard in British and international business letters; a colon ("Dear Ms Lopez:") is common in formal US business letters.

What matters most:

• Use one style consistently.
• Match it to the spelling style of the rest of your letter.
• Start the first paragraph on a new line after the greeting.

Avoid an exclamation mark ("Dear Hiring Manager!"), a semicolon or no punctuation at all. If you are using British spelling throughout (organise, colour), a comma is the natural choice.

In most cases, use "Dear" instead. "Hi" or "Hello" can sound too casual for a first contact with an employer, especially in formal industries such as banking, law, government or healthcare.

"Hello [Name]," may be acceptable when:

• You are replying to a recruiter who wrote to you in a casual way.
• The company is clearly informal, such as some creative agencies or start-ups.
• You are writing a short email message rather than a formal letter.

When in doubt, "Dear" is never wrong. Avoid "Hey", "Hiya" and "Greetings" in any application.

Name the team in the greeting: "Dear Recruitment Team," "Dear Engineering Hiring Team," or "Dear Human Resources Department,". This is a good choice when the advert says applications go to a team rather than a person.

Tips:

• Use the department name from the advert if it gives one.
• Capitalise the team name as a proper noun.
• Keep the rest of the letter addressed naturally to "you" and "your team".

Example: "Dear Customer Experience Team, I am applying for the Contact Centre Supervisor role advertised on your careers page."

If you later find a named contact, switch to their name for a more personal touch.

Use the person's full name without a title: "Dear Jordan Lee," or "Dear Noor Haidari,". This is polite, correct and avoids a wrong guess.

Other tips:

• Check a professional profile or the company website; people sometimes show their preferred title.
• If they have a professional title, use it: "Dear Dr Ashby,".
• Do not use "Dear Sir/Madam" when you already know the name.

Using the full name is widely accepted and much better than guessing "Mr" or "Ms" incorrectly in the first line of your letter.

Use the professional title the person uses: "Dear Dr Rao," for a medical doctor or PhD holder, "Dear Professor Ahmed," for a professor. "Engineer" (often written "Eng.") is used as a title in some Gulf and Middle Eastern workplaces; use it if the person uses it in their own signature.

General guidance:

• Copy the title exactly as it appears in the advert, email signature or staff page.
• Do not combine titles, such as "Mr Dr".
• If unsure, "Dear [Full Name]," is always acceptable.

Getting a title right is a small detail that shows care and respect for the reader.

It is optional but helpful. A short line between the recipient details and the greeting, or just above the greeting, can state the job title and reference number so the letter is matched to the right vacancy.

Example:
"Re: Application for Payroll Officer (Ref. HR-2291)"

Use it when:

• The advert gives a reference number.
• The employer is hiring for several similar roles.
• The letter is printed or attached separately from your email.

In an email application, the email subject line does this job, so a "Re:" line inside an attached letter is optional. Keep it to one line and in plain text.

Yes, if the advert gives one. It helps the employer file your application under the correct vacancy, especially in large organisations or recruitment agencies handling many roles.

Where to put it:

• In a "Re:" line above the greeting: "Re: Senior Pharmacist (Ref. PH-045)".
• Or in the first sentence: "I am applying for the Senior Pharmacist position (reference PH-045) advertised on your website."

Copy the reference exactly, including letters and dashes. If there is no reference number, the job title and where you saw the advert are enough.

Left-aligned is usually the better choice. Fully justified text can create uneven gaps between words, especially in narrow layouts or with long words, which makes it harder to read.

Recommended layout:

• Left-align all text, including the header and sign-off.
• Leave a blank line between paragraphs instead of indenting.
• Use consistent margins on all sides.

Some traditional formats place the date and sign-off on the right side; this is acceptable but not necessary. A clean, left-aligned block style is the most common and easiest to read on screens and in print.

Use the same clear, professional font as your resume, such as Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Garamond or a similar standard font. Matching fonts makes your application look like a set.

Good font choices are:

• Easy to read on screen and in print.
• Widely available, so the file looks the same on other computers.
• Simple, without decorative or handwriting styles.

Avoid fonts like Comic Sans, script fonts or very condensed fonts. Use one font for the whole letter; you can make your name slightly larger or bold in the header. If you save as a PDF, the font will display as you intended.

Use 10.5 to 12 points for the body text, depending on the font. Most standard fonts read comfortably at 11 points. Your name in the header can be larger, around 14 to 18 points.

Practical tips:

• Keep the body text the same size throughout.
• Do not shrink the font below 10 points to squeeze the letter onto one page; cut words instead.
• Match the body size to your resume where possible.

Print one copy or view it at actual size to check readability. If you need to squint, the text is too small.

Use margins of about 2 to 2.5 cm (around 0.75 to 1 inch) on all sides. That leaves enough white space for the letter to look balanced and readable.

Tips:

• Keep all four margins similar.
• Do not reduce margins below about 1.5 cm to fit more text; edit the letter instead.
• Match the margins to your resume for a consistent look.

If your letter is short, you can add a little extra space between the header and the greeting so the text is not crowded at the top of the page, but avoid stretching it with large gaps.

Use single or slightly more than single line spacing (around 1.0 to 1.15) within paragraphs, with one blank line or extra space between paragraphs. This makes the letter easy to scan without wasting space.

Layout summary:

• Single or 1.15 spacing inside paragraphs.
• A clear gap between paragraphs, rather than first-line indents.
• A gap between the header, date, greeting, body and sign-off.

Double spacing makes the letter too long and is rarely used for cover letters. If your text looks dense, shorten the paragraphs rather than increasing the spacing.

Yes, a short list of two to four bullets can work well, especially when you want to match several requirements from the advert. But most of the letter should be in paragraphs.

When bullets help:

• The advert lists clear requirements, and you want to show how you meet each one.
• You have several brief achievements that would be clumsy in one sentence.

Example:
"In my current role at Northgate Hotel, I:

• Manage check-in for up to 150 guests a day.
• Train new front desk staff on the booking system.
• Handle VIP arrivals and special requests."

Avoid turning the whole letter into a list; that makes it look like a second resume.

Use them sparingly. A cover letter is a letter, not a report, so headings inside the body are usually unnecessary. Bold is best kept for your name in the header and, if used, a "Re:" line.

Possible exceptions:

• A long, criteria-based letter for a public-sector or academic role, where short headings can help the reader find each criterion.
• Bolding a single short phrase, such as a qualification the advert asks for, but only once or twice at most.

Too much bold makes a letter look busy and can distract from your examples. Let clear writing do the work.

Yes. Using the same header, font, colours and margins on both documents makes your application look organised and professional. It also helps the reader recognise the two documents as one application.

What to match:

• Header: your name, contact details and link formatted exactly as on your resume.
• Font and sizes: the same body font and similar sizes.
• Accent colour: if your resume uses one colour for headings or lines, use it lightly in the letter header.
• Page size and margins: the same on both.

What not to copy:

• Resume section headings, columns or skill bars; the letter should still read as a letter.

If you write your letter in the builder's cover letter tab, it sits alongside the resume it belongs to, which makes it easier to keep your name, title and contact details consistent across both documents.

Before sending, open both files side by side and check that the details match, including your phone number and email.