Do I still need a cover letter in 2026?

For roughly half of applications, yes. Where a posting asks for one, not sending it is a filter you fail before anyone reads your resume. Where it's optional, a letter is worth writing when you're changing field, when there's a gap or something else that needs explaining, when you have a referral, or when the role is competitive enough that the marginal effort matters. For a high-volume portal application to a role you match exactly, it's usually the lowest-value thing you could spend the next hour on.

How long should a cover letter be?

Between 200 and 350 words — three or four short paragraphs on half a page. A full page of prose gets skimmed rather than read, and the parts that get skipped are always the middle, which is where your evidence is. If you can't make the argument in 350 words, the problem is usually that you're restating your resume rather than adding to it.

Should I address it to a named person?

If you can find the name in about five minutes, use it. Beyond that, stop looking — "Dear Hiring Manager" is completely acceptable and much better than getting the name wrong or using "To Whom It May Concern", which reads as a form letter. Never guess at a title or a gendered honorific you aren't sure about.

Can I use AI to write my cover letter?

To draft and to edit, yes — that's what the assistant in the editor is for, and it works from your resume so it has your actual history to draw on. What it can't invent is the specific detail that makes a letter worth reading: the story with the number in it, and the sentence about this company that couldn't apply to any other. Those have to come from you, and a letter without them reads as generated whether or not it was.

Is my cover letter used to train an AI model?

No. Nothing you write here — resume or cover letter — is used to train a model. Your drafts are yours, they stay in your account, and you can delete them at any time.

Should the cover letter repeat what's on my resume?

No, and this is the most common way a letter wastes its length. The reader has the resume. The letter's job is to do the thing a resume structurally cannot: connect one specific achievement to one specific requirement of this job, and explain anything that needs explaining. If a paragraph could be reconstructed from your bullet points, cut it.

Cover letters

A cover letter does the one thing a resume structurally can't: connect a specific thing you did to a specific thing this employer needs, and explain anything that would otherwise raise a question. That's the whole job. Everything below is about doing it in under 350 words.

Updated 31 July 2026

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Is it worth writing one?

Not always, and advice that says otherwise is wasting your time. A cover letter is roughly half an hour done properly. Here is where that half hour returns something and where it doesn’t.

Write one

The posting asks for it — this is a filter, and skipping it fails before anyone reads your resume
You're changing field or job title and the jump needs explaining
There's a gap, a short tenure, or a relocation that raises an obvious question
Someone referred you and their name belongs in the first sentence
The role is competitive enough that a marginal effort is worth making
You're writing on spec, where the letter is the entire application

Skip it

A high-volume portal application to a role you already match exactly
The posting says not to send one
You'd be writing something generic — a form letter is worse than no letter
You have an hour and your bullet points still don't have results in them; fix those first

The four paragraphs

Every letter on this site follows the same shape, because it is the shape that survives being skimmed. Each part has one job, and each has a characteristic way of going wrong.

The opening

Say what you're applying for and why you, in two sentences.

Name the role, then lead with the single most relevant thing about you — the years in the field, the specific system you've run, the result closest to what they're asking for. This is the only paragraph you can assume is read in full, so the strongest fact you have goes here rather than in the middle.

How it goes wrong: "I am writing to express my keen interest in the Software Engineer position I saw advertised on your website." This sentence contains no information. It tells the reader what they already know, and it spends the one paragraph guaranteed to be read.

The evidence

Prove the claim you just made, with one specific story.

One example, told properly, beats four listed. Give the situation, what you did, and the number that moved. Choose the example that maps most directly onto the posting's first or second requirement — not the achievement you're proudest of, if they're different.

How it goes wrong: Restating your resume in prose. If a paragraph could be reconstructed by reading your bullet points, it's costing you the reader's attention and returning nothing.

The fit

Show you know what this company actually does.

Two or three sentences that could not appear in a letter to anyone else. A product decision they made, a market they're moving into, something specific about how they work. This is the paragraph that separates a letter from a form, and it's the one most people skip.

How it goes wrong: "I have long admired your company's commitment to innovation and excellence." Swap in any other employer's name and the sentence still works, which is exactly the problem.

The close

Ask for the interview and stop.

One or two sentences. Say you'd welcome the chance to discuss it, thank them, sign off. No new arguments, no summary of what you just wrote, no apologising for your gaps.

How it goes wrong: A closing paragraph longer than the opening one, or a final line that undercuts everything above it — "I know I don't have all the experience listed, but…"

Examples by role

Full letters, each paired with the resume example for the same role so you can see how the two documents divide the work between them.

Software engineerTechnical depth without turning into a list of technologies. The stack appears once, in service of a story about reliability.Registered nurseCredentials handled early and briefly, so the letter can spend its length on judgement rather than on licensure.Product managerA decision the writer got wrong, used as evidence. Judgement is the thing being hired for, and admitting a wrong call demonstrates it.Digital marketing managerNumbers everywhere, but each one attached to a decision rather than listed as a credential.TeacherWritten for a reader who will hire on philosophy as much as on results, without becoming vague about either.Customer service representativeAn entry-accessible role written without filler. Volume and quality metrics both appear, because either alone is misleading.

Common questions

Do I still need a cover letter in 2026?: For roughly half of applications, yes. Where a posting asks for one, not sending it is a filter you fail before anyone reads your resume. Where it's optional, a letter is worth writing when you're changing field, when there's a gap or something else that needs explaining, when you have a referral, or when the role is competitive enough that the marginal effort matters. For a high-volume portal application to a role you match exactly, it's usually the lowest-value thing you could spend the next hour on.
How long should a cover letter be?: Between 200 and 350 words — three or four short paragraphs on half a page. A full page of prose gets skimmed rather than read, and the parts that get skipped are always the middle, which is where your evidence is. If you can't make the argument in 350 words, the problem is usually that you're restating your resume rather than adding to it.
Should I address it to a named person?: If you can find the name in about five minutes, use it. Beyond that, stop looking — "Dear Hiring Manager" is completely acceptable and much better than getting the name wrong or using "To Whom It May Concern", which reads as a form letter. Never guess at a title or a gendered honorific you aren't sure about.
Can I use AI to write my cover letter?: To draft and to edit, yes — that's what the assistant in the editor is for, and it works from your resume so it has your actual history to draw on. What it can't invent is the specific detail that makes a letter worth reading: the story with the number in it, and the sentence about this company that couldn't apply to any other. Those have to come from you, and a letter without them reads as generated whether or not it was.
Is my cover letter used to train an AI model?: No. Nothing you write here — resume or cover letter — is used to train a model. Your drafts are yours, they stay in your account, and you can delete them at any time.
Should the cover letter repeat what's on my resume?: No, and this is the most common way a letter wastes its length. The reader has the resume. The letter's job is to do the thing a resume structurally cannot: connect one specific achievement to one specific requirement of this job, and explain anything that needs explaining. If a paragraph could be reconstructed from your bullet points, cut it.

Draft it from your resume

The assistant writes from what's already in your resume, so the letter starts with your actual history rather than a blank page.

Start your resume