How To Write A Cover Letter That Gets Interviews

The best cover letters answer one question the resume can't: why this company, specifically. Generic enthusiasm reads as generic — reference something concrete about the team or product.

Lead with your strongest, most relevant accomplishment rather than a summary of your resume. The hiring manager already has your resume; the letter should add something new.

A useful test: if you could swap out the company name and the letter would still make sense, it's too generic. The strongest letters would fall apart if you tried to send them to a different company, because they're built around something specific to that one.

Keep it under 300 words. Longer letters signal that you couldn't prioritize, which is the opposite of what most hiring managers are looking for.

Close with something more specific than "I look forward to hearing from you." A line that references what you'd want to dig into first in an interview shows you're already thinking about the actual work, not just the process of getting hired.