A CV lists what you've done. A cover letter explains why it's relevant to this specific employer, right now. Sent together, they answer two different questions a hiring manager has, which is exactly why a cover letter that just repeats the CV wastes the opportunity.

What Your Cover Letter Should Do That Your CV Can't

  • Explain a transition or gap the CV alone can't contextualize.
  • Connect your background directly to what this specific posting is asking for.
  • Show you've actually read about the company, not just the job title.
  • Add a layer of voice and motivation a bullet-point CV can't convey.

A Format That Works

Paragraph 1, Hook: Role, where you saw it, one sentence on why you're a strong fit.

Paragraph 2, Proof: Your strongest, most relevant achievement, told as a short story with a result.

Paragraph 3, Why this company: Something specific, a product, a value, a recent move, that shows genuine interest.

Paragraph 4, Close: Restate interest, reference your attached CV, invite next steps.

Full Example

Dear [Hiring Manager's name],

I'm writing to apply for the Operations Analyst role at [Company]. With three years of experience streamlining supply chain workflows for a logistics startup, I was excited to see a role focused specifically on process optimization at scale.

In my current position, I identified a bottleneck in our warehouse-to-delivery handoff that was adding 1.5 days to average fulfillment time. I redesigned the handoff process and worked with our ops team to implement it, cutting fulfillment time by 30% within two months.

I've followed [Company]'s expansion into same-day delivery over the past year, and the operational complexity that comes with that scale is exactly the kind of problem I want to work on next.

I've attached my CV with more detail on my background, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss how I could contribute to your operations team.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Formatting Details That Matter

  • Match your CV's font and header style so the two documents look like a single, cohesive application.
  • Address a named person whenever you can find one, "Dear Hiring Manager" is the fallback, not the default.
  • Keep it under one page, ideally 200-300 words.
  • Save as PDF unless the application specifically asks for another format, so formatting doesn't shift on their end.

The real time cost: writing one good cover letter takes maybe 20 minutes. Writing a genuinely tailored one for every application, different proof point, different company research, is what most people skip, and it's exactly what separates a form-letter application from one that gets read closely.