Cover letter or CV: what goes where?
Most people writing a cover letter stumble over the same confusion: the text repeats in prose what the next page already lists in bullet points. That throws away the one page of your application where you are actually allowed to argue your case.
The division of labour is clear:
- The CV answers what and when – roles, dates, qualifications, skills.
- The cover letter answers why – why this job, why this employer, and why you are the right person for it.
In practice: pick out two or three roles that fit the advertised job and explain what you achieved there. Everything else is in your CV and does not need telling twice. How to build that, you can read in our guide to writing a CV.
The formal layout
A cover letter is a business letter, and readers are used to a particular shape. Following that expectation is not a rule you must obey, but a letter that does looks careful at first glance. These elements belong in it, in this order:
- Your details – name, job title and contact details
- Recipient – company, contact name, address
- Date – written out, for example “21 July 2026”
- Subject line – for example “Application for Media Designer”
- Reference – if the advert quotes a job reference number
- Greeting – by name wherever possible
- Body – three to four paragraphs
- Sign-off – “Yours sincerely” with a named greeting, “Yours faithfully” without
- Your name – typed; a scanned signature is optional
- Enclosures – optional note, e.g. “Enclosed: CV”
Get the greeting right and be consistent with it. British convention pairs “Dear Ms Mayer,” with “Yours sincerely,” and “Dear Sir or Madam,” with “Yours faithfully,”. US letters usually take a colon after the greeting (“Dear Ms. Mayer:”) and close with “Sincerely,”. Pick one convention and stick to it throughout.
The four-part structure
Staring at a blank page is easier with a fixed frame. These four building blocks cover everything a cover letter has to do – in this order:
1. Opening: connect to the job
Name the position and say in one sentence why it appeals to you. Skip “I hereby apply for the position advertised” – it is empty and appears in almost every application. A concrete hook works better: a task from the advert that matches something you enjoy doing anyway.
2. Main part: two achievements, at least one with a number
This is where the application is won or lost. Name two things you achieved that relate to the advert – ideally with a verifiable figure: team size, budget, timeline, volume, percentage. A duty describes what you were responsible for. An achievement describes what changed because of it.
3. Why this employer: one honest sentence
One sentence on what interests you about this particular employer – the product, the direction or the way they work. One sentence is enough, but it has to be true. Invented enthusiasm is easy to spot, and you will be asked about it at the interview.
4. Closing: offer to talk and your availability
Finish with an offer to talk and, if relevant, your earliest start date. Hedged constructions like “I would be delighted if …” weaken the sentence for no reason – write plainly that you look forward to hearing from them.
Wording: concrete beats generic
Cover letters rarely fail on layout and almost always on interchangeable sentences. Phrases like “team player”, “resilient” or “highly motivated” appear in practically every application and therefore say nothing. The way out is always the same: replace the trait with the action that proves it.
“In my current role I cut the turnaround time on customer enquiries from three days to one by rebuilding our ticket templates.”
“I am a committed team player with high resilience who always works in a solution-oriented and independent manner.”
A second lever is perspective. Many cover letters are a run of sentences all starting with “I”. Turn some of them around so the benefit to the employer comes first – not “I have experience with X”, but what that experience will actually do for the new team.
The most common mistakes
- Retelling the CV. A cover letter is an argument, not a summary.
- A stock opening. “I hereby apply for the position you advertised” says nothing the subject line has not already said.
- No link to the employer. A text that fits a hundred companies convinces none of them.
- No numbers. Without concrete figures, achievements stay claims.
- The wrong greeting. A misspelt name, or “Dear Sir or Madam” when a contact is named in the advert, stands out immediately – and not in a good way.
- Longer than one page. Having to cut quickly shows you what actually matters.
Writing a cover letter with AI
The hardest part is nearly always the first draft. If you want to write your cover letter and do not know how to start, MakeCVForFree gives you two features – one without AI, one with.
Insert structure: the frame without AI
If the text field is empty, the “Insert structure” function drops in a frame that follows the four-part structure above: opening with a link to the job, two achievements, why this employer, offer to talk. You fill in the placeholders yourself – in many cases that alone is enough to get past the blank page.
Generate a draft from the job advert
The AI function “Generate” produces a complete draft. You give it:
- the position and the company
- the job advert to paste in – by far the best results, because the AI then knows the requirements
- your own notes, for example achievements that must appear
- two switches that pass your work experience and education from your CV along with it
You can append the result to your existing text or take it over as a new cover letter. For a finished text that still reads awkwardly there is also “Improve text” – it polishes grammar and sharpness without overturning the content.
The AI is deliberately set up so that it invents no facts, numbers, employers or qualifications. It works exclusively with what you give it. Which also means: the more concrete your notes, the better the draft – and the text stays yours. The app sets the greeting and the sign-off itself; the AI only supplies the body.
What it costs
Writing a cover letter is free. The AI features and any number of further cover letters are part of premium – and that is a one-off payment with no automatic renewal: from $9.95 for one month with 300 AI credits, $19.95 for three months with 750 credits or $39.95 for twelve months with 2,500 credits.
Every click on “Generate” or “Improve text” costs one credit, regardless of how long the text is. For a sense of scale: an active job search with around 20 applications uses roughly 120 credits – comfortably within even the smallest package.
One design, one file
At MakeCVForFree the cover letter is not a separate document; it is tied to your CV. It picks up its accent colour, fonts and sender details automatically, so you do not have to laboriously match two documents to each other. Switch it on in your CV settings and it lands as the first page of the same PDF. That way you send one file instead of two, and it cannot come apart in an application portal.
The preview builds up as you type and everything is saved automatically. For a signature you can upload an image or have your name set in a handwriting font.
Frequently asked questions
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One page, no more. Reckon with three to four paragraphs and around 250 to 400 words. Anyone spilling onto a second page has usually retold their CV instead of selecting from it.
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Use it: “Dear Ms Mayer,” or “Dear Dr Chen,”. A named greeting shows you have actually looked into the company. Only fall back on a general opening when you genuinely cannot find a name.
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“Dear Hiring Manager,” is the safest option; “Dear Sir or Madam,” still works in more formal settings. Before you settle for either, check the job advert, the careers page or make a short phone call – a name is worth the effort.
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For digital applications, no. Your typed name below the sign-off is enough. A scanned signature does no harm, but nobody expects one, and in the UK and US it is unusual.
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Unless the job advert says otherwise, a single PDF with the cover letter as the first page is the most practical solution. It cannot come apart in an application portal and it reaches the recipient complete.
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As a draft yes, as a finished product no. AI can give you structure and phrasing, but it does not know your motivation or your achievements. Whatever it produces you have to check, correct and fill with your real examples – otherwise the result reads like everyone else’s.
If your cover letter and CV are meant to match, start with the CV – the cover letter then picks up its design automatically. Have a look at our templates or read how to build your CV.
