Cover letter builder Your facts, a clear structure, nothing invented.
Pick your situation, fill in what is true, and get a draft you can edit. Choose a role to see what the job involves, from O*NET, beside your letter. No sign-up; nothing you type leaves your browser.
A cover letter names the job and company, gives one or two true examples of your work, says why this employer, and asks to talk. Keep it to one page. This builder drafts it from your own facts and leaves a placeholder wherever a fact is missing, so it never makes anything up.
The builder
Build your letter
Advice Template wording is TryHired's suggestion; edit anything.
What goes in a cover letter
The seven parts
Advice
Header
Your name and contact line. The date and the employer's address are optional for an emailed or uploaded letter.
Greeting
Use the hiring manager's name only if you know it. "Dear hiring team" is fine when you don't.
Opening
Name the exact job title and the company in the first sentence, and where you found the job if it helps (a referral, for example).
Proof
One or two true examples: what you did and what changed. This is the part that makes the letter yours; nothing in a template can replace it.
Fit
Why this company: one specific, true reason. A reason that would fit any employer adds little.
Close
Say you'd like to talk, and thank them. One or two sentences.
Sign-off
"Sincerely" or "Best regards", then your name.
Length and format. One page or less; the builder shows a live word count as you type. Use the same font and header as your resume, and send a PDF unless the posting asks for something else.
Do you need one? If the posting asks for a cover letter, send one. If it's optional, a short, specific letter is a chance to explain something your resume can't, such as a career change or a referral.
Examples
Cover letter examples, annotated
Advice
Standard letter
Illustrative example: the person, employer and details are invented to show the structure. Your letter must use your own facts.
Dear hiring team,
I'm applying for the Accounts Payable Specialist position at Northwind Supply. I found the opening on the company's careers page.
Here is what I would bring. I built a weekly reconciliation checklist that my team still uses to catch duplicate invoices before payment. I also trained two new coworkers on our invoice-approval workflow.
My skills include Excel, QuickBooks and vendor communication.
I'm interested in Northwind Supply because your team serves independent hardware stores, and I've spent my career supporting small businesses.
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jordan Lee
Why it works
Exact job title and company in the first sentence.
Two true examples, each about something the writer did.
Only tools the writer actually uses.
A reason that names something specific about this employer.
Career change letter
Illustrative example: the person, employer and details are invented to show the structure. Your letter must use your own facts.
Dear Ms. Patel,
I'm applying for the Project Coordinator position at Brightline Health, moving into this field from retail store management.
What carries over: for three years I planned weekly staff schedules and inventory deliveries across two locations, which is coordination work under deadlines.
Here is what I would bring. I organized a store remodel that stayed open for business throughout.
I'm interested in Brightline Health because your clinics serve my community, and I want my planning work to support patient care.
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Sam Rivera
Why it works
The move is named in the opening, not hidden.
"What carries over" ties past work to this job with one true example.
The years are the writer's own fact; the tool never adds them.
No-experience letter
Illustrative example: the person, employer and details are invented to show the structure. Your letter must use your own facts.
Dear hiring team,
I'm applying for the Medical Assistant position at Lakeside Family Clinic.
My background: a medical assistant certificate program at Riverside Community College, finished this spring.
During my externship I roomed patients and recorded vital signs under a nurse's supervision.
I'm interested in Lakeside Family Clinic because you offer evening hours for working families, which I'd like to be part of.
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Alex Morgan
Why it works
Training is stated exactly as completed; nothing is upgraded.
Supervised work is described as supervised.
Short email version
Illustrative example: the person, employer and details are invented to show the structure. Your letter must use your own facts.
Subject: Application: Data Analyst, Casey Kim
Dear hiring team,
I'm applying for the Data Analyst position at Harbor Logistics. I built a dashboard that cut my team's weekly reporting time from a full day to an afternoon.
I'm interested in Harbor Logistics because of your work on same-day delivery routing. My resume is attached.
Thank you,
Casey Kim
Why it works
One example, one reason, one line about the resume.
The time saving is the writer's own figure; use a number only if it's true.
Templates
Copy a template
Advice Replace every bracket with a true fact, or delete the sentence.
Standard template
Dear [Hiring manager's name, or: hiring team],
I'm applying for the [Job title] position at [Company]. [Where you found the job.]
Here is what I would bring. [Your strongest true example.] [A second true example.]
My skills include [skills you actually use].
I'm interested in [Company] because [one specific, true reason].
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Contact line]
Career change template
Dear [Hiring manager's name, or: hiring team],
I'm applying for the [Job title] position at [Company], moving into this field from [your previous field].
What carries over: [one true sentence linking your past work to this job].
Here is what I would bring. [Your strongest true example.]
I'm interested in [Company] because [one specific, true reason].
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
No experience yet template
Dear [Hiring manager's name, or: hiring team],
I'm applying for the [Job title] position at [Company].
My background: [training or education, exactly as completed or enrolled].
[A project, class, job or volunteer role related to this job.]
I'm interested in [Company] because [one specific, true reason].
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the role. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Short / email template
Subject: Application: [Job title], [Your name]
Dear [Hiring manager's name, or: hiring team],
I'm applying for the [Job title] position at [Company]. [Your strongest true example.]
I'm interested in [Company] because [one specific, true reason]. My resume is attached.
Thank you,
[Your name]
Next
Before you send it
Method
How this builder works
Method
How this page is built
The draft is assembled in your browser from the fields you fill in plus fixed template sentences. No AI writes it, and nothing you type is sent or stored. Empty fields stay as [bracketed placeholders]; the builder never fills them with a guess.
Role context comes from O*NET 31.0: the occupation's three Core task statements with the highest O*NET importance rating, its three highest-rated skills (importance scale 1 to 5; estimates O*NET flags Recommend Suppress are excluded), and up to three technology examples O*NET flags "In Demand". It describes the occupation in general, not any employer, and it is never added to your letter.
Roles listed: the 160 careers with a published TryHired career page and complete O*NET task and skill ratings.
What this page can't tell you
Whether a particular employer reads cover letters, or how much weight it gives them.
How likely any letter is to get you an interview: no reliable public data measures that, so the builder makes no such claim.
What a specific employer wants: O*NET describes occupations, not job postings. Read the posting itself.
Sources
O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
Disclosure. TryHired sells HIRED, a paid job-search program. The builder, templates and examples are free and don't require it.
