Write the cover letter American recruiters expect: 250–400 words on US Letter, a month-first date, no photo and no personal details, and evidence that answers the specific posting. Free, with no sign-up.
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United States · cover letter
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Sets the paper size, date format, layout and length recruiters in United States expect.
Use United States conventions
Writes the local greeting, sign-off for a cover letter.
Off: an international English letter on United States paper. Turning it on writes the local greeting and sign-off below.
Preview — cover letter
Dear Hiring Manager,
Sincerely,
Add the hiring manager's name to personalise the greeting.
Tone
Measured and businesslike. The safe default for corporate, finance, legal and public-sector roles.
Career level
2–7 years. Leads with ownership and delivered results.
Letter length
240–320 words. The length most recruiters expect. In this market letters usually run 250–400 words.
Layout
Meridian · US & EU
Technology, product, marketing and most corporate roles.
Single column, plain text, no tables or images.
Paste the job description to begin.
Vocabulary
Using the wrong word for the document is the first small signal that an application was not written for United States. These are the terms you will see in job adverts.
cover letter
English (US)
The standard name. Sent with a resume, never with a 'CV'.
letter of interest
English (US)
Used when there is no advertised opening — a speculative approach to one employer.
application letter
English (US)
Common in public-sector and academic postings.
The conventions
An American cover letter is a sales document with strict manners. It sits next to the resume — the word 'CV' is reserved for academic and medical applications — and its job is narrow: explain why the results already on that resume matter to this employer. Recruiters in the United States read it in well under a minute, so the first two sentences decide whether the rest is read at all.
The format is settled enough that deviating from it reads as carelessness rather than personality. US Letter paper, one side, 1-inch margins, a month-first date ('September 16, 2026'), the recipient's name where you can find it, three or four paragraphs, and a formal sign-off. Nothing about your age, nationality, marital status, religion or health appears anywhere in the application: US anti-discrimination practice keeps those out of the hiring process entirely, and a photo on the resume is unusual outside modelling and acting.
Salary is the other American particularity. A growing number of states and cities require employers to publish a range, and several forbid them from asking what you earned previously. Unless the posting asks for your expectations, leave money out of the letter; it is negotiated later, from a stronger position, once they have decided they want you.
At a glance
What recruiters expect
01
American readers expect the point immediately. Name the role, name the company if the letter is not going into a portal field, and give one concrete reason you fit — ideally a result with a number in it. 'I am writing to express my interest in' wastes the only sentence guaranteed to be read.
02
Anything past 400 words is skimming territory. Three paragraphs of four lines each plus a close fits comfortably with room to breathe; if you need a second page, the material belongs in the resume instead.
03
US hiring runs through applicant tracking systems, and the letter is stored alongside the resume in the same record. Use the posting's exact terms for the tools and methods you genuinely have — 'customer success' if they say customer success, not 'client services'.
04
Date of birth, marital status, nationality, religion and a headshot all stay out. This is not a style preference: it keeps the employer on the right side of equal-opportunity practice, and a letter that volunteers those details can be set aside unread.
05
If you need sponsorship, say so in one short line near the close rather than leaving the employer to discover it at offer stage. If you already have authorisation, a simple 'authorised to work in the United States' removes the only doubt a recruiter may have about an international-looking application.
06
When the letter is the body of an email, the subject carries the role and your name — 'Application: Senior Analyst — J. Doe'. When you upload a file to a portal, drop the subject line: the portal already knows.
Paragraph by paragraph
The generator follows this order. You can see it in the preview before you export anything.
Your name, email, phone, city and state, then the date in month-first form. The employer's address block is optional in US practice and is usually dropped for emailed applications.
Two to three sentences: the position, the hook, and one result that proves the hook. Reference a referral by name here if you have one — it is the single highest-value sentence available to you.
One accomplishment in full: the situation, what you did, and the measured outcome. Tie it to a requirement the posting states in its own words.
A different capability — leadership, a technical depth, a market they are entering — again with a number where one honestly exists.
Restate interest in one line, note availability or work authorisation if relevant, and ask for the conversation. 'Sincerely,' then your full name.
The shape on the page
Layout only — the generator fills this with your own facts, never with placeholder text you have to remember to delete.
Jane Doe
jane.doe@email.com · (415) 555-0134 · Oakland, CA · linkedin.com/in/janedoe
September 16, 2026
Dear Ms. Alvarez,
[Opening: the role, the company, and one measured result that shows you already do this work.]
[Evidence 1: situation → action → outcome, using the posting's own term for the skill.]
[Evidence 2 or fit: a second capability, or why this employer specifically.]
[Close: availability, work authorisation if relevant, and the next step you are asking for.]
Sincerely,
Jane DoeReady to use
Copy one straight into the letter — the generator already uses the greeting and sign-off for this market when conventions are on.
Named recipient
Dear Ms. Alvarez,
You found the hiring manager's name — the default when you can.
Named, gender unknown
Dear Alex Alvarez,
The name is ambiguous; the full name is safer than guessing a title.
Team-level
Dear Hiring Manager,
No name is published. Better than 'To Whom It May Concern', which reads as a mass mailing.
Start-up register
Hi Jordan,
Small companies and engineering teams; match the tone of the posting.
Subject line
Application: Senior Frontend Engineer — Jane Doe
Email applications only.
Sign-off
Sincerely,
Formal and always correct.
Sign-off, warmer
Kind regards,
Most industries outside law, government and finance.
Referral opening
Maria Chen suggested I write to you about the analyst opening.
First sentence, when someone inside referred you.
Before you send
Finding the posting
LinkedIn Easy Apply
The letter often lands in a single text field: use 'Copy for email' without the subject line.
Greenhouse / Lever / Ashby
Start-up and tech portals; a PDF upload field is standard and 'Dear Hiring Manager' is accepted.
Indeed
Volume channel; a concise letter that names the role beats a long one.
USAJOBS
Federal applications: follow the announcement's page limits exactly and address the stated qualifications.
Questions
Many do, and where they do not read every one, a strong letter still changes what a recruiter looks for in the resume. Treat it as the place to explain a career change, a gap, a relocation or a result the bullet points cannot carry.
Use 'resume'. In the United States a CV means the long academic document, so 'CV' in a corporate application reads as a non-American habit rather than a synonym.
Not for ordinary corporate roles. Anti-discrimination practice keeps photographs out of the process, and including one can get the application discarded before it is read.
Leave them out unless the posting explicitly asks. Several states and cities restrict employers from asking about previous pay, and a number in the letter anchors the negotiation before you have any leverage.
Month first: 'September 16, 2026'. The day-first form is a British and continental European habit and reads as a formatting slip on an American application.
For an emailed or uploaded letter, no. A full block with the employer's street address is still expected in law, academia and government correspondence, where the letter is a formal document.
Applying elsewhere
Each guide sets the generator up for that market: paper size, date format, layout, length and the local greeting.