Applications
Write a cover letter that sounds like you
Write a cover letter with a role-specific reason for applying, evidence from your work and wording you can explain in an interview.
Write a cover letter around one specific reason for applying and relevant evidence from your experience. Explain the connection in language you recognise, follow the employer’s instructions, and check accuracy before sending.
Explain why this role interests you
Start your cover letter with a reason for applying to this role. Identify a responsibility or piece of work that interests you, then connect it to your experience. The advert and your research should give you enough detail to explain that connection in a few sentences.
Follow the employer’s instructions
Read the application instructions before writing. If the employer requests a cover letter, answer the questions and respect the stated length or format. If they ask for a short response in a form, write for that space. Adapt your structure to the employer's requirements.
The National Careers Service recommends researching the organisation and connecting relevant experience with the job requirements. Refer to something you can identify in the advert or the organisation's published work. Keep any account of its culture within what your sources establish.
Choose an example that addresses a job requirement
Choose one or two examples that address the role's requirements. Describe the situation, your contribution and the result you can support. For a customer-facing role, you could explain how you resolved a specific enquiry. For a coordination role, describe how you handled a clash between deadlines.
Connect the role to a real example
For a fictional customer-onboarding vacancy that includes resolving incomplete handovers, an opening could read: 'Your advert identifies incomplete handovers as a problem for the onboarding team. In my current support role, I check new-customer records with account managers and resolve missing contact details before the handover.' This example connects a stated problem with a specific action. Use that wording only if both the advert and your experience support it.
Follow the example with an explanation of its relevance to the employer's work. Describe an outcome if you can support it with records or an observable result. Leave out percentages and other figures you have no basis for calculating.
Use language you would recognise in conversation
Use professional language you would be comfortable speaking in an interview. Name the work you did and explain why it relates to the vacancy. Replace abstract praise with a detail the reader can assess, such as the information you checked or the problem you resolved.
Read the draft aloud and mark sentences that are exaggerated or difficult to explain. A fictional applicant to a support-team vacancy might write: 'Your advert includes updating the support team's handover guidance. I revised our account-access checklist after new starters reported missing instructions.' The action and the vacancy detail give the reader something specific to consider. Include comparable details from your own work and the actual advert.
Review AI suggestions for accuracy
Harvard's advice on AI-assisted applications emphasises checking the output for accuracy and ensuring that you can explain what you submit. Treat an assisted letter as a starting point. Keep useful structure, remove invented details, and rewrite sentences that could belong to any applicant for any job.
Edit the letter for relevance and length
Remove sentences that repeat an earlier point or add no fact about your experience or interest in the role. Keep the context needed to understand each example. Replace repeated declarations of enthusiasm with the detail that explains your interest, such as a responsibility named in the advert.
Open with the opportunity and your reason for applying. Use the middle to connect an example from your experience with a requirement, then close briefly. The number of paragraphs depends on the employer's instructions. Give each paragraph a distinct purpose so you can cut repetition without losing evidence.
Check the details and save your letter
Before sending, check the organisation and role names, recipient details, contact information, dates and qualifications. Compare the letter with your CV for factual consistency. The National Careers Service recommends retaining a copy. Save the submitted letter with the job description and application record so you can refer to it before an interview.
VitAI can help prepare a draft from your professional background and the opportunity. Review each example for accuracy and check that its relevance to the role is clear. Edit the wording until you can explain the letter in your own words, then check the employer's submission instructions.
