A cover letter is a one-page letter that goes with your CV and argues, with evidence, that you fit this job at this organisation. How to write a cover letter is a question careers services mostly agree on: keep it to a page, answer "why this job", "why us" and "why you", and tailor every letter. EdCitation, which publishes this guide, took each rule from the careers services of Oxford, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Manchester (UK), Harvard, Yale, Penn and Duke (US), Sydney and Toronto Scarborough, read on 27 September 2026. No letter guarantees an interview or a job.
The employer's own instructions come first. On EdCitation, the free Check your paper turns the application instructions in a job advert into a checklist (word limit, font, margins), quoting the line each item came from. EdCitation will not write, rewrite or edit a single line of your letter, and every careers service below wants that letter to sound like you.
How long should a cover letter be?
A cover letter should be one page: every careers service read for this guide says so or sets the page as the ceiling.
| Careers service | Length | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford (UK) | No more than one side of A4, unless the employer sets its own length | Introduction, why this job, why you, conclusion |
| Edinburgh (UK) | One page | About three to five concise paragraphs |
| St Andrews (UK) | About 250 to 400 words, no more than one side of A4 | Five, the middle three in any order |
| Manchester (UK) | A single page | Not fixed |
| Yale (US) | One page | Three or four; opening and closing one to three sentences, body three to five |
| Penn (US) | One page for non-academic jobs, font 10 to 12 point | Opening, middle, closing |
| Duke (US) | More than half a page, no more than a full page | Not fixed |
| Sydney (Australia) | One A4 page | Structured paragraphs |
| Your own application | Whatever the advert states | Listed for you by Check your paper on EdCitation, at no cost |
Of these, only the University of St Andrews Careers Centre (2026b) gives a word count. Oxford adds the rule that overrides the table: if the organisation gives specific instructions on structure, length or content, follow those. Academic posts differ: Penn limits its one-page rule to non-academic jobs, and Oxford keeps separate advice for academic letters.
How to structure a cover letter, paragraph by paragraph
A cover letter opens with what you are applying for, argues your case in the middle, and closes by asking for the next step.
The opening
Name the job, give its reference number, and say where you saw it. Edinburgh warns against the flat opening most applicants use and suggests saying in the first paragraph why you want the job. Duke agrees: the final paragraph is too late for your strongest point.
Why this job and this organisation
Show your research. Oxford asks for knowledge beyond the employer's website, such as a conversation with their staff at a careers event. Edinburgh and St Andrews warn against copying an employer's mission statement or promotional material back to it; say what genuinely appeals to you instead.
Why you
Match a few skills to the job description and prove each one. Oxford suggests about three to five skills, and Duke two or three claims at most, arguing that more trades depth for breadth. Oxford says to state explicitly how you meet the criteria rather than leaving the reader to infer it, and Manchester that a bare claim to a skill convinces no one.
The close
Restate your interest, thank the reader, and say you look forward to hearing from them.
Who do you address a cover letter to?
Address a cover letter to a named person whenever you can find one, such as the contact on the advert or the hiring manager. The services disagree on what to write when no name can be found.
| If there is no name | Recommended by |
|---|---|
| "Dear Hiring Manager" | Yale, Duke |
| "Dear Recruitment Manager" or "Dear Recruiter" | Oxford; Edinburgh (recruitment manager) |
| "Dear recruiter/recruiting team" | Manchester |
| "Dear Sir or Madam" | Sydney, only when no name can be found; St Andrews, ending "Yours faithfully" |
| "RE: [Position Title]", not "To Whom It May Concern" | Toronto Scarborough |
In British letters the sign-off follows the greeting: "Yours sincerely" to a named person, "Yours faithfully" otherwise, as Oxford, Manchester and St Andrews all say. Yale, writing for US employers, offers "Sincerely", "Yours truly" or "Best regards". When the advert names a recipient, that wins.
How to match a cover letter to the job advert
Take the requirements from the advert, find evidence for the most important, and describe it in the employer's words, following steps from Penn, Yale, Oxford and Edinburgh.
- Read the application instructions first. Paste them into Check your paper, free on EdCitation, and the word limit, font and margins come back as a list, each with the line behind it.
- List the requirements. University of Pennsylvania Career Services (2022) suggests noting every requirement in the advert, then picking the two or three that matter most. Edinburgh adds the desirable skills where you can.
- Write one example beside each. The situation, what you did, and what came of it.
- Use the advert's vocabulary. Yale and Penn both advise using keywords from the position description.
- Add your research. One reason for this organisation that could not be said of its competitors.
- Test it. Oxford's check: swap in another company's name. If the letter still reads the same, tailor it further.
Where an Australian advert lists selection criteria, Sydney asks for a short example of each, with a positive outcome.
How to write a cover letter with no experience
A cover letter with no relevant experience argues from transferable skills gained in study, part-time work and volunteering. Duke University Career Center (2026) says to consider transferable skills and how they would benefit the employer, and that coursework can show them when experience is thin.
Framing matters. Edinburgh lists phrases that weaken a letter, such as "I had to" and "I believe", and prefers a café worker offering that busy, customer-facing experience to one apologising for lacking the exact experience asked for.
Where the services disagree
Sydney says a cover letter should not introduce experience missing from your resume. Edinburgh suggests using the letter to explain matters such as extenuating circumstances, and the US federal jobs site, run by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (2026), says a letter can highlight anything not in your resume. To settle it, put every experience you mention on your CV too, and use the letter to explain rather than add.
How to write a speculative cover letter
A speculative cover letter asks an organisation whether it has suitable opportunities when no job has been advertised. The University of Edinburgh Careers Service (2025) describes it as a one-page letter for that purpose, and says a named contact matters most when you write speculatively.
What changes from an ordinary letter
Sydney suggests two changes: in the opening, mention anyone known to the recruiter who referred you and name the kind of work you want; in the close, you may say which day you will follow up, and then do so. Manchester asks the letter to show how you researched the company (LinkedIn, a careers fair, an alumni event), what draws you to their work, what opportunity you want and what you offer, on no more than one side of A4.
Can I use AI to write a cover letter?
Check the employer's rule before using any AI tool: theirs is the rule that counts. Edinburgh calls the employer's position on generative AI "the most important thing" to understand, and warns that ignoring it could mean a rejected application or a withdrawn offer. St Andrews says some employers discourage or even ban AI in applications.
Oxford has its own figure. In its Careers Annual Employer Survey of May 2025, only 15% of recruiters said they allow or encourage AI tools in applications, and half said no, as the University of Oxford Careers Service (n.d.) reports. It offers a test: would you be comfortable telling the employer how and where you used AI?
Where AI is allowed, the Mignone Center for Career Success (2026) at Harvard finds it useful for editing a draft, yet warns that it "should not be the primary author": what it produces tends toward the generic. St Andrews warns that it can invent things that sound true but are not. For wording a declaration, see our guide to disclosing AI use.
A cover letter template
EdCitation wrote this template. It sets the order of the parts; every sentence is yours.
[Your name] · [email] · [phone] · [date]
[Named person, their title] or [the recipient the advert names] [Organisation]
Reference: [job title and reference number]
Dear [name, or your fallback from the table],
Opening, two or three sentences. The job, where you saw it, and the strongest single reason you fit.
Why this role and organisation, one paragraph. Something specific from your research that connects to your own interests.
Why you, one or two paragraphs. Two or three requirements from the advert, each with one example: the situation, what you did, what came of it.
Close, one or two sentences. Your interest, thanks, and that you look forward to hearing from them.
Yours sincerely (named person) or Yours faithfully (no name), [Your name]
A worked example (made up)
EdCitation invented the applicant, the employer and the job. Jordan Miller, a final-year geography student, is applying to be a Graduate Data Analyst at Kestrelmoor Data (reference KD-2026-14). The advert says analysts work with clients from their first month, and asks for a letter of at most 400 words, addressed to the Recruitment Team, saying why you want the role and giving one example of using data to answer a question.
Dear Recruitment Team,
Reference KD-2026-14, Graduate Data Analyst
For the past year my dissertation has turned untidy public data into answers a council officer can act on, and your advert describes that work. I finish my geography degree in June 2027 and saw the post on your careers page.
What draws me to this role is working with clients from the first month. When I presented early findings to a local transport group in May, their questions changed what I analysed next, and I want that contact to be part of the job.
The group had asked whether late buses cluster at particular times. I joined eighteen months of published arrival records to the timetable in Python, removed about 4,000 duplicate rows, and found that most late running fell in two afternoon hours on one route. I set the result out in a two-page summary with one chart, which the group used in a letter to the operator.
Thank you for considering my application. I would welcome the chance to discuss it.
Yours faithfully, Jordan Miller
It answers both questions the advert set, quotes the reference, uses the greeting asked for, and stays well under the limit. With no named person, it ends "Yours faithfully".
Which EdCitation tool helps with a job application?
For an application, Check your paper is the strongest place to start: it shows the line of the advert behind every rule it reports, and it never touches the letter. It costs nothing and needs no account; paste in the advert's instructions or upload them as a file. It picks out what can be tested (limits on words or pages, required headings, how many sources and how recent, the citation style, and font, spacing and margins) and keeps a second list of everything else.
What our made-up advert returned
On 27 September 2026 we pasted the seven lines of Kestrelmoor Data's invented application instructions, which are ours and no employer's. It found six rules, each paired with the line it was read from:
| Rule | Read as |
|---|---|
| Word count | "No more than 400 words" |
| Page count | "No more than 2 pages" |
| Margins | "0.79 in" (from "2 cm margins") |
| Font | "Arial" |
| Font size | "11 pt" |
| Line spacing | "1 ×" |
The first two came from "How to apply: send your CV (no more than two pages) and a cover letter of no more than 400 words, together as one PDF." The other four came from "Use Arial, 11 pt, single line spacing and 2 cm margins." Four lines went to its list of what no rule can test:
- "Address your letter to the Recruitment Team and quote the reference number."
- "In your letter, tell us why you want this role and give one example of using data to answer a question."
- "Applications close at 5 pm on 30 October 2026."
- "Do not use AI tools to write any part of your application."
Two results show why each rule carries its sentence. The two-page limit came from the CV's "no more than two pages", not the letter's; the letter still belongs on one page. And the closing date is listed, not checked, so diary the deadline yourself.
Holding a finished document to such a checklist, rule by rule, is the job of Theoretics QA, which comes with the Max plan ($24 a month, see pricing). If an academic application asks for a writing sample with references, the free Verify references on EdCitation checks every one against the publisher's record. Researchers submitting a manuscript need a different letter: see how to write a cover letter to a journal editor. For a place on a course, read the personal statement guide.
Quick questions
How long should a cover letter be?
A cover letter should be no more than one page. St Andrews suggests about 250 to 400 words, and Duke more than half a page; an employer's own limit always comes first.
Is "Dear Sir or Madam" still acceptable?
Sydney accepts "Dear Sir or Madam" only when no name can be found, and St Andrews pairs it with "Yours faithfully". Yale and Duke prefer "Dear Hiring Manager".
Do I need a cover letter if it is optional?
Oxford advises sending one whenever you have the chance, and Duke says an optional letter can help.
Is it acceptable to use ChatGPT for a cover letter?
Check the employer's rule first: in Oxford's May 2025 survey half of employers said no to AI in applications. Even where it is allowed, Harvard's advice is to let AI help edit your draft, not write it.
Can EdCitation check my cover letter?
EdCitation checks the instructions, not the letter. Its Check your paper lists, free, the limits and formatting an employer asks for with the line behind each; the letter's words stay yours, and we never write or edit them.
References
- Duke University Career Center. (2026, September 16). Cover letter guide. Career Hub. https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/cover-letter-guide/
- Mignone Center for Career Success. (2026, July 10). AI for resumes and cover letters. Harvard University. https://careerservices.fas.harvard.edu/ai-resumes-and-cover-letters/
- Office of Career Strategy. (n.d.). Cover letters & correspondence. Yale University. https://ocs.yale.edu/channels/cover-letters-correspondence/
- University of Edinburgh Careers Service. (n.d.). Guidelines on the use of generative AI in the application process. https://careers.ed.ac.uk/cvs-and-applications/guidelines-on-the-use-of-generative-ai-in-the-application-process
- University of Edinburgh Careers Service. (2025, July 29). Writing a cover letter. https://careers.ed.ac.uk/cvs-and-applications/writing-a-cover-letter
- University of Manchester Careers Service. (n.d.-a). Covering letters. https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/applicationsinterviews/cl/
- University of Manchester Careers Service. (n.d.-b). Speculative cover letter. https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/applicationsinterviews/cl/speculativecoverletter/
- University of Oxford Careers Service. (n.d.). Cover letters. https://www.ox.ac.uk/careers/careers-guidance/job-search-and-applications/writing-applications/cover-letters
- University of Pennsylvania Career Services. (2022, June 7). Cover letter writing guide. https://careerservices.upenn.edu/cover-letter-writing-guide/
- University of St Andrews Careers Centre. (2026a, April 1). Using generative AI to apply for jobs and explore careers. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers/how-to-apply/ai/
- University of St Andrews Careers Centre. (2026b, August 27). Cover letters. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers/how-to-apply/cover-letters/
- University of Sydney. (n.d.). How to write a cover letter. Careers Centre. https://www.sydney.edu.au/careers/students/applying-for-jobs/how-to-write-a-cover-letter.html
- University of Toronto Scarborough Academic Advising & Career Centre. (n.d.). The cover letter. https://utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/cover-letter
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2026, July 10). What documents do I need to provide when I apply? USAJOBS Help Center. https://usajobshelp.opm.gov/hc/en-us/articles/52840076907923-What-documents-do-I-need-to-provide-when-I-apply