---
name: cover-letter
description: Use when asked to write a cover letter — the narrative document submitted alongside a resume, covering an opening hook, why this role and company, relevant highlights, and a closing — as distinct from the resume itself, which lists structured facts rather than telling a story.
---

# Cover Letter

A cover letter is the narrative companion document a candidate submits
alongside a [[resume]]: a short piece of prose explaining why this
person wants this specific role at this specific company, and why
they're a fit for it. Where a resume lists facts for fast scanning, a
cover letter makes an argument.

## Structure

- **Opening hook** — a specific, non-generic first line that signals
  this letter was written for this role, not copy-pasted from a
  template; naming the role, a mutual connection, or a concrete reason
  for interest works better than "I am writing to apply for..."
- **Why this role and company** — what specifically drew the candidate
  to this opening and this organization, grounded in something real
  (the team's mission, a product they use, a problem they want to work
  on) rather than generic praise that could apply to any employer.
- **Relevant highlights** — two or three concrete stories or
  achievements that connect the candidate's background to what the
  role actually needs, ideally echoing language from the
  [[job-posting]] or [[job-description]] rather than restating the
  resume's bullet points in sentence form.
- **Closing** — a brief, confident call to action: availability,
  enthusiasm to discuss further, and thanks for the reader's time.

## How it differs from a resume

A resume is structured and factual — dates, titles, bullet
achievements — built to be scanned in seconds. A cover letter is
narrative and persuasive — built to be read start to finish, and to
carry tone, motivation, and personality that a resume's format can't.
The two should complement, not duplicate, each other: the resume proves
what happened, the cover letter explains why it matters for this
particular role.

## Tailoring

A cover letter only works written for one specific role and company at
a time. Generic filler that could be sent unchanged to any employer
undercuts the entire point of including one — a hiring manager reading
a stack of applications notices immediately when a letter references
nothing specific to the posting.

## Common pitfalls

- **Restating the resume in prose** — turning each resume bullet into a
  sentence wastes the letter's one real advantage: telling the reader
  something the resume's format can't, like motivation, context, or
  personality.
- **Generic opener or template leftovers** — "To Whom It May Concern"
  or, worse, a competitor's company name left over from reusing a
  previous letter, signals carelessness before the content is even
  read.
- **Too long** — a cover letter that runs past one page loses the
  reader; the highlights section needs two or three sharp examples, not
  a comprehensive career history.
- **Focused on what the candidate wants rather than what they offer** —
  a letter that's mostly about the candidate's own career goals reads
  as self-interested; the stronger version centers what the candidate
  brings to this specific team's problems.
- **No connection to the role's actual stated requirements** — praising
  the company in the abstract without tying any of it back to what the
  posting says the role needs.

## Learn more

- [[resume]] for the structured, factual document a cover letter accompanies.
- [[job-posting]] for the external advertisement a cover letter should respond to directly.
- [[job-description]] for the underlying role definition behind that posting.