Cover Letter Examples for 2026 (With Templates to Copy)

A cover letter is not a summary of your resume in paragraph form. It is the one place you get to explain, in your own voice, why you want this job and why you are a good bet for it. The examples below show what that looks like for a few common situations. Read the one closest to yours, then use the structure underneath to write your own.

The structure behind every example

All four letters below follow the same simple shape. Once you can see it, writing your own is mostly filling in the blanks:

Keep the whole thing to half a page or so. A hiring manager reading dozens of applications quietly appreciates one that respects their time.

A general cover letter example

This is the version to start from when you have relevant experience and are answering a normal job posting. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details.

Cover letter example for a career change

When you are moving into a new field, the cover letter does more work than the resume, because it is where you connect the dots the reader cannot connect on their own. Lead with the skills that carry over.

If a career switch is where you are, our guide on the career-change resume covers how to set up the resume that goes with this letter.

Cover letter example with no experience

A first job or an entry-level role does not need a long history. It needs you to show that you are capable, motivated, and easy to train. Use coursework, projects, volunteering, or part-time work as your evidence.

For more on building the resume itself with a thin history, see our guide on writing a resume with no experience.

A short email cover letter

When the application is an email and the resume is attached, you do not need a full one-page letter. Three tight paragraphs in the body of the email do the job. Put the role in the subject line.

How to adapt these to your job

The examples are a starting point, not a script. A letter you could send to any company is one that convinces no one. For each application, change three things at minimum:

1. The company name, the role, and the person you are writing to.
2. One genuine reason you want to work there, in particular.
3. The one or two achievements that line up best with this specific posting.

That third step is the same instinct behind tailoring a resume. Our guide on tailoring a resume to a job description walks through how to spot which of your wins to lead with.

Common cover letter mistakes

• Repeating your resume word for word. Add the context and the reasoning your bullets leave out; do not just restate them.
• Opening with “To Whom It May Concern.” Find the hiring manager's name if you can. A real name shows you did the small amount of homework most applicants skip.
• Making it all about you. Connect what you want to what the employer actually needs from the role.
• Going too long. If it spills past one page, cut. Half a page of sharp writing beats a full page of filler.
• Forgetting to change the company name. It happens more than you would think, and it is an instant rejection.

Write the resume that goes with it

A strong cover letter still needs a sharp resume behind it; the two should read like one consistent pitch. If you have not written the resume yet, our guide on how to write a cover letter covers the writing itself, and a master profile keeps your experience in one place so each new application is quick to assemble.

With Speed Resumes, you fill in that profile once and generate a tailored, ATS-ready resume for each role in seconds, which gives you a focused base to pair your cover letter with.